Amir visit will add momentum to ties, says Qatari ambassador
Qatar’s ambassador to Turkey Salem bin Mubarak al-Shafi said that QatariTurkish ties are governed by a moral reference and have gone through many challenges before reaching the stage of strategic relations and comprehensive partnership.
In his statement to Qatar News Agency, al-Shafi said what strengthened the status of that relationship was the great convergence at the level of leaders and the people, the common denominators between the two countries, the unlimited solidarity in times of crises, the converging and harmonious political visions in many files and on many issues, as well as the sincere and continuous efforts made by the two sides to preserve this distinguished level of relations.
The official visit of His Highness
the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Turkey yesterday to chair the sixth meeting of the Supreme Strategic Committee with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in addition to meetings, talks and agreements that will result from it, will add great momentum to the bilateral relations and lead to exploring new horizons, as it will contribute to strengthening and developing the existing cooperation mechanisms, the ambassador said.
In December 2014, the Amir and Erdogan signed the agreement to establish the Supreme Strategic Committee.
Under this agreement, a large number of ministries, governmental and private institutions in the two countries, in addition to several sectors, have engaged in talks to prepare for bilateral agreements, memorandums of understanding and co-operation protocols.
The Higher Strategic Committee has also acted as an important mechanism to strengthen bilateral relations, al-Shafi added.
These meetings resulted in opening new horizons of cooperation and also contributed to enhancing trade exchange and co-operation in the economic, financial, commercial, educational, agricultural, technological and defence fields.
In addition, there were beneficial measures that accompanied all this for the citizens of the two countries, such as easing restrictions on investments, preventing double taxation and joint exemption from visas for holders of regular passports from citizens of the two countries.
Al-Shafi said the latest visit of the Amir comes at a time when the world is suffering from severe polarisation and challenges, in addition to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the negative effects that this has left.
He stressed the visit reflects the stability and firmness of the two countries’ relationship, in a turbulent world in which alliances and lineups change all the time.
The ambassador said this visit will witness the signing of several agreements.
Turkish companies have won huge contracts to implement infrastructure projects devoted Qatar’s preparations to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022, as well as various Turkish and Qatari investments in real estate, contracting, tourism, manufacturing and media, in addition to projects financed by joint capital between the two sides, he added.
The ambassador said the Amir’s visit and the meetings and agreements will have a great impact on consolidating and stabilising the gains that have been achieved, codifying and organising various aspects of co-operation, developing legal and implementation frameworks for it, finding other prospects for co-operation and providing more beneficial measures.