Qatar, Saudi set a model for ties

The visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia to Qatar, due to begin today, comes within HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani’s keenness to promote the excellent relations between the two countries and take them to greater heights for the benefit of the two brotherly peoples.
The Qatari-Saudi relations are an excellent model for co-operation and integration between the two countries, which share historic ties and deeply-rooted bonds of love and brotherhood.
Bilateral relations between the two countries enjoy a permanent coordination in most issues of concern for the  Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) or the Arab region, particularly the situation in Syria, Yemen and the Palestinian cause along with the need to achieve an international solution to the Libyan issue based on the United Nations resolutions.
This historic visit is a an extension for several meetings, which brought together the two leaders this year, including the friendly meetings held on the sidelines of GCC forums or private visits as well as the continuous and permanent communications which clearly reflect the depth of relations between the two countries.
King Salman’s recent visit to Doha to offer condolences on the death of HH the Grandfather Emir Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani reflected as well the strength and durability of these distinctive bilateral ties.
This year witnessed as well continuous and ongoing meetings and communication between HH the Emir and his brother the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques over various official occasions, including their meeting on the occasion of HH the Emir’s participation at the closing ceremony of Raad Al-Shamal Exercise in Hafr Al-Batin in March at the invitation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and King Salman also met at the summit of the GCC leaders and the US President Barack Obama in Jeddah in May before meeting again in August at King Salman’s residence in the Moroccan city of Tangier.
The meetings which brought together HH the Emir and his brothers Prince Mohamed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and Deputy Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defence stress the continuous communication between the leaders of the two countries.
Confirming the unity of destiny of the two brotherly countries, Qatar took part in the North Thunder Exercise within the Arab coalition forces to protect the legitimacy in Yemen against the Houthi coup in support of the unity of the Gulf and Arab rank while stressing that what threatens the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a threat to the State of Qatar.
Qatar was keen to participate in the North Thunder Exercise, in which 20 Arab, Islamic and friendly countries took part, in addition to its participation in the Peninsula Shield Force aimed at consolidating the concept of Islamic Arab Force troops’ strength to face any provocative attempts.
The establishment of the Qatari-Saudi Co-ordination Council in 2008 came as a step toward activating and developing the co-operation to realise the aspirations of the leadership in the two countries and agreeing on full co-ordination on various fields in addition to developing bilateral relations in political, security, fiscal, economic, trade, investment, cultural, media and other fields to achieve interests of the two countries and the two brotherly peoples.
The council is considered to be a furtherance to the march of the GCC and realisation to its objectives of achieving co-ordination, integration and interconnection in all fields between the member states and strengthening the co-operation between the peoples of the GCC countries in various fields.
The council held four sessions the first of which was in Riyadh and most recent was in Doha 2013 when ways to develop co-operation in military, security, economic, trade, agriculture, cultural and media areas were discussed.
Reflecting the meanings of integration between Doha and Riyadh HE the Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said that the competent authorities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia will implement the directives of the leaders of the two countries with regard to the continuous co-ordination for the implementation of joint projects in order to achieve the Qatar National Vision 2030 as well as the vision of Saudi Arabia 2030.
The strong relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia are reflected on the overall popular and economic relations between the two countries.
Figures indicate that Qatar is the favourite tourist destination for families from Saudi Arabia.
The country received 2.18mn visitors during the first nine months of 2016, of which more than 1mn visitors were from the GCC countries and Saudi Arabia topped the list with more than 740,000 visitors between January and September 2016, representing an increase of 8% compared to the same period last year.
The trading volume between the two countries in 2015 reached about QR7bn - QR1.8bn for Qatar and QR5.1bn for Saudi Arabia.
On the corporate and investment level 315 companies fully owned by Saudis are operating in Qatar in addition to 303 joint companies with a total capital of QR1.252bn.
These companies work in several fields including trade, contracting, engineering, construction, jewellery, transport, medical services and other fields of investments.
Thanks to this activity, Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry chose Riyadh as the first foreign station for the “Made in Qatar” fair which was held in November with the participation of more than 200 Qatari industrial companies.
Doha and Riyadh agree on the need to restore the balance to international oil prices.
The two countries join efforts in and outside the Opec in order to set a fair price for oil to revive global economy and bring gains for producing and exporting countries.
It is worth mentioning that Doha hosted the international negotiations on oil prices, and co-ordinated positions with Saudi Arabia to bring momentum to Qatar’s efforts on this important topic.