Qatar's ambassador to the UK, HE Fahd bin Mohamed al-Attiyah, has stressed that the invitation to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III reflects the strength of relations between Qatar and the United Kingdom, and also the strategic depth of bilateral relations, which include vital areas such as security, defence, energy security, conflict resolution efforts and international mediation.
The ambassador said in remarks to QNA that the Amir's attendance at the coronation ceremony indicates Qatar's keenness to further strengthen its outstanding relations with the United Kingdom, and the beginning of a new era for bilateral relations under the reign of King Charles III.
He added that it was also an occasion to develop bilateral relations in various fields, and to discuss new areas of co-operation.
The visit was also an opportunity to discuss the strategic relations between the two countries, the ambassador added, pointing out that His Highness discussed with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak the strategic relations and ways to develop them.
During the talks, a number of emerging regional and international issues were discussed. The two sides also discussed 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 common concern.
His Highness the Amir affirmed the strong partnership between the two countries, expressing his thanks to the UK government for its great co-operation during Qatar's hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar. He also expressed his pride with the level of partnership between the two countries and bilateral relations, and the joint success at all levels.
The Amir highlighted the strategic dialogue that will take place between the two countries this year, during which issues of security, energy and economic partnership will be discussed. He pointed out that the trade exchange between the two countries last year amounted to about £13.5bn, which is witnessing a steady increase annually, in view of Qatar's investments in the UK, where His Highness expressed his aspiration to continue working in this regard.
For his part, the UK prime minister expressed pride in the great partnership between the two countries in various fields, especially with regard to regional security and co-operation in the field of defence. He also affirmed that the talks with the Amir constituted a good opportunity to discuss the economic partnership between the two countries.
Ambassador al-Attiyah said that in February 2023, Qatar and the UK launched the strategic dialogue in London, which witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the Qatar-UK Strategic Dialogue, considering it as a remarkable development for the strong relations and multi-field partnership between the two countries.
He pointed out that the Qatar-UK Strategic Dialogue, has opened a new level for the course of bilateral relations, and would deepen continuous and steady co-operation in the fields of defence, security, energy, trade and investment, in addition to co-operation in the humanitarian and development issues, and in the science, innovation, education and health sectors, noting that the Dialogue sessions will be held annually to review the extent of progress in all areas.
Qatar is the third largest Gulf economic and trade partner of the United Kingdom, as the volume of trade exchange between the two countries in 2022 amounted to about £13.4bn, an increase of 186.5% over 2021, the ambassador said, adding that the meetings of the third session of the Joint Committee for Economic and Trade Co-operation were held in London in August 2022 to take steps towards deepening trade and investment exchange between the two countries, as they witnessed the signing of several MoUs, aimed at facilitating British companies' entry to the Qatari market in several areas, such as healthcare, life sciences and education; by providing information and guidance on strategic business opportunities, as well as exchanging expertise in the field of export financing and insurance products, and cooperating on projects involving British and Qatari goods and services.
Al-Attiyah said that Qatar's relations with UK are growing and developing year after year, pointing that Qatar has recently had fruitful co-operation with UK to present the best edition of the World Cup tournaments. This co-operation contributed to strengthening commercial, security, sports and international relations with the UK, he added, referring to that since 2018, Qatar Football Association has been partnering with its English counterpart to develop football in Qatar, share resources and expertise, and expand sporting initiatives to peoples around the world.
On political, economic and humanitarian partnerships between Doha and London, the ambassador said that Qatari investments in UK are constantly growing, and His Highness the Amir's visit to UK in May 2022 culminated in the signing of a new agreement to invest £10bn in vital sectors of the British economy, including: finance technologies, clean energy, life sciences, and cybersecurity.
He pointed that investment partnerships between Qatar and UK stem from the common goals of the two countries on many issues, such as: the need to tackle climate change, the gradual shift towards clean energy, and the need for cooperation at the global level to support stability and economic recovery in the fields of energy security; education; sports; humanitarian programs; or the partnerships to support immunisation programmes in low-income countries, as evidenced by constructive bilateral partnerships over the past two years.
He noted that Qatar is a long-term partner of UK in the field of energy, and contributes to energy security and diversity in it, adding that bilateral partnerships with Royal Dutch Shell and Rolls-Royce announced last year will advance innovation in green technologies and accelerate energy growth.
The ambassador said that in addition to the gas production, the Qatar National Vision 2030 includes the long-term and sustainable development of renewable energy, which needs investment in research and development, and that is why Qatar announced in November a partnership with the Rolls-Royce Group to invest billions in green engineering projects to finance entrepreneurs, hoping to find new ways to help the transition to net-zero carbon emissions, and looking forward to more similar partnerships, which would help achieve Qatar National Vision 2030.
He said that Qatar has a proven track record in supporting humanitarian and development projects in the region in cooperation with the UK, pointing out that since 2016, Qatar has been conducting programs to support education in refugee camps in Syria through the Education Above All Foundation and has co-operated with UK to support treatment of vision problems for more than 6mn children in India and Bangladesh between 2016 and 2020 and recently in Ethiopia as part of the "Qatar Creates Vision" project.
Ambassador al-Attiyah congratulated King Charles III, the UK government and the friendly British people on this great festive and historical event in the United Kingdom, wishing the relations between the two countries further development and growth.
