Reflecting the good relations and historical friendship between Qatar and the United Kingdom, the visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is visiting the UK to participate in the coronation ceremony of King Charles III as King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in London Saturday.
His Highness the Amir met with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street. They dealt with a number of regional and international developments, in addition to discussing the friendship and co-operation relations between the two countries, and ways to enhance them, in addition to exchanging views on a number of issues of joint interest.
Bilateral relations between Doha and London have strengthened over the years, since the beginnings of oil and gas exploration in the Arab Gulf region, where British companies have played a fundamental and pivotal role in the development of the energy industry in Qatar and the region, and these relations have expanded to include bilateral co-operation in all fields, especially political, economic, commercial, defence, cultural and educational, as generations of Qataris have studied in the United Kingdom from Sandhurst to Wales.
The Qatari-UK relations have a strong history that is reflected in all areas of co-operation between the two countries. Qatar's wise leadership seeks to transform the country into a global centre for knowledge-based and innovation-based industries, to build a sustainable economy capable of achieving high growth rates in the future, and to expand our partnership in the fields of education, health, sports and security, which are areas in which the United Kingdom is a world leader.
In May of last year, His Highness the Amir paid a working visit to the friendly United Kingdom, and at the end of the visit a joint statement was issued, a final communique was released emphasising the strength of bilateral relations. The statement said that both leaders welcomed the launch of the annual Qatar-UK Strategic Dialogue, to be co-chaired by the UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar. The Strategic Dialogue will progress areas of further collaboration including regional security, trade and investment, humanitarian and development co-operation, energy, science and innovation, health, and education.
On trade ties, the statement said that the UK and Qatar share an important trade and investment relationship, with total trade of 4.8bn pound in 2021. Qatari investment in the UK economy is estimated to be over 40bn pound and significantly supports jobs, innovation, levelling up and economic development in both countries. It also noted that Qatar is looking for opportunities to invest around 10bn pound in the United Kingdom over the next five years, following the signing of the Qatar-UK Strategic Investment Partnership between the United Kingdom's Office for Investment and the Government of Qatar.
The joint statement stressed the importance of co-operation in security, defense and counter-terrorism.
"Qatar remains the only partner with which the RAF operates joint squadrons the Joint Hawk Training Squadron at RAF Leeming, and the Joint Typhoon Squadron at RAF Coningsby which further strengthens co-operation between the UK and Qatar armed forces and enhances the two countries abilities to tackle shared security challenges," the statement said.
The statement added that the UK and Qatar will continue their partnership to work on promoting global conflict resolution efforts, humanitarian, and development initiatives, and to address the security threats that the world faces from both state and non-state actors. The British PM acknowledged Qatar's active role in peaceful conflict resolution in various regional crises and both leaders underlined their shared commitment to effective multilateralism. The leaders agreed to continue their close co-operation, including on foreign policy, security, development and humanitarian affairs, and reaffirmed their commitment to regional security and stability.
Last February, the opening session of the first strategic dialogue between Qatar and the United Kingdom was launched in the British capital, London, during which the two sides affirmed the deep and close partnership between them, which enables them to jointly face regional and global challenges.
The two countries expressed their commitment to increasing the pace of co-operation on a set of common priorities, starting with increasing support for de-escalation and working to promote peace in the Middle East, directing relief after earthquakes to Turkey and Syria, in addition to Ukraine and the Horn of Africa, and the two countries agreed as two leading economies., to work more closely on firm support for de-escalation and peace, as well as co-operation in facing global challenges, and the two sides expressed their firm support for the peace process in the Middle East on the basis of the two-state solution and in accordance with the 1967 borders.
The two countries highlighted their efforts with all other parties to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, expressed concern over attacks or measures aimed at escalating tensions in the Gulf region, and called for restraint by all parties. On Afghanistan, the agreement was reached. between the two countries on the continuation of humanitarian aid without discrimination.
