His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani's official visit to Italy reflects the depth of the two countries' relations in all fields, and comes at a very important stage for the ties between them.
The talks between the Amir and the Italian president are expected to contribute to the development of co-operation between the countries, and to move them to broader horizons in all fields, and to establish an advanced stage of economic co-operation, including increasing the volume of trade exchange.
Qatar and Italy's relations are old and remarkable at all levels, including political, economic and even military. They are built on the bases of mutual respect and trust, as well as common interests, which took them to a strategic level.
Ever since the opening of embassies in Doha and Rome in 1992, Qatar and Italy have witnessed rapid and solid development in all fields, especially in the economic and commercial sectors.
The two countries relations see mutual and continuous visits at the highest levels to strengthen and develop these ties; most notably, the Amir's state visit to Italy in November 2018, his official visit to Italy in January 2016, and the state visit of President Sergio Mattarella to Doha in January 2020.
In a milestone in the Qatari-Italian close diplomatic relations, the first round of strategic dialogue between the two countries was held in Rome in February of 2022, under the co-chairmanship of HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, and former Italian minister of foreign affairs and international co-operation Luigi Di Maio.
The launch of the strategic dialogue was an affirmation of the two countries' determination to deepen their partnership in areas of common interest, as it tackled bilateral relations and the latest regional developments and international developments, in addition to exchanging views on issues of common concern.
The dialogue provided an opportunity to discuss the relations between the countries, especially in matters related to defence, security and economy, and showed the convergence of the Qatari and Italian positions on issues that serve to realise international peace and security.
The economic relations saw a remarkable development after the official opening of the Adriatic LNG station off the Italian coastal city of Rovigo in October 2009, which receives 8bn cu m of Qatari LNG every year.
The Doha-Rome political and institutional contacts continued to expand and recently witnessed co-operation in energy through the partnership between Italy's Eni and Qatar Energy in the North Field LNG expansion project, the world's largest natural gas field.
These relations were also bolstered by Qatar's successful participation in Expo Milano 2015, where the State's pavilion organised several events that greatly contributed to introducing the Qatari economy and its broad investment prospects. The bilateral co-operation also covers the military field and includes Qatar's 5bn euro deal with Italy for seven navy vessels, as well as its purchase of NH90 helicopters, the largest military helicopter programme.
The Qatari-Italian relations are linked by a set of agreements and memorandums of understanding covering co-operation in the economic, political, diplomatic, defence, investment, scientific, educational, health, youth, sports, artistic, cultural and tourism sectors and in the fields of energy, agriculture and strategic projects related to food security, in addition to the establishment of a joint Qatari-Italian businessmen council, to strengthen economic relations and explore areas of bilateral co-operation.
Italy is an important partner for Qatar, as the volume of trade exchange between the two countries has witnessed remarkable development in recent years and the economic partnership between the two parties has grown over the past 10 years by more than 320%. Italy is the eighth largest trading partner of Qatar, its seventh supplier, and one of the most important destinations for Qatari investments that have entered into various sectors and economic activities there, embodying Qatar's keenness to harness part of its resources to invest in the economies of strategic partners where there are promising investment opportunities.
The Qatari investments in Italy are focused on the sectors of real estate, hotels and some residential areas development, in addition to the investments of Qatar Airways.
About 250 Italian companies are operating in Qatar, including 200 companies with joint Qatari-Italian capital and 50 companies with 100% Italian capital and ownership.
The Italian companies play an important role in supporting the development plans and projects in Qatar, focusing mainly on the building and construction market, due to the diversity of the activities of its companies operating in this field, such as the manufacture of raw building materials, especially the production of Italian marble and the manufacture of construction machinery and equipment, information technology, trade, services and other vital sectors.
The Italian companies operating in Qatar attach great importance to renewable energy, which is a matter of mutual interest, especially in light of Qatar's tendency to consolidate reliance on clean and environmentally friendly energy in all its development projects.
