Italian envoy lauds record trade relations with Qatar

On the occasion of the “Festa della Repubblica” – Italian National Day, ambassador Paolo Toschi hosted a ceremony at the St Regis Doha on Tuesday in memory of the Republic Day, which was celebrated for the first time in 1947.
The Italian envoy welcomed Qatar's Minister of Commerce and Industry HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim al-Abdullah al-Thani, HE the Minister of State and Qatar National Library president HE Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of Protocol director ambassador Ibrahim Fakhro and a number of other dignitaries.
Ambassador Toschi began his welcome address in Arabic and then switched to English to stress the excellent bilateral between Italy and Qatar and the record 2022 trade exchanges.
Speaking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of the event, the Italian envoy said: "It is a pleasure to celebrate the “Festa della Repubblica”, the National Day, in Doha among many Italian and Qatari friends. We celebrate a strong friendship, many important achievements including a record in our trade plus a 140% last year (2022) on the previous record which was 2021 and a stronger relationship blessed by the visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Rome in February meeting with President Sergio Mattarella. We had a very busy year full of initiatives and you can count on the embassy of Italy as a friend and as partner.”
Having arrived in Qatar on the opening day of the FIFA World Cup 2022, ambassador Toschi recalled that big success of the event. "We celebrated with our Minister of Defence coming here and lauding the Qatari organisation and signifying that we respected the work and the achievement as an international tournament that have no precedent. Our armed forces were here to help guarantee security, and we are very proud of the work they did.”
Ambassador Toschi urged Qatari tourists to visit Italy. "This is a fantastic season of tourism in Italy with many new offers in the cultural world, on the coast, in our cities, in our little villages, on the Alps. I encourage in particular tourists to visit the region of Amelia Romania that was hit by floods and storms over the last month, but being rebuilt successfully. It is the place where the amazing cars and motorbikes that are on display tonight are designed, dreamed and made,” he concluded while referring to an exhibition of Italian automobiles at the event venue.