Qatar has turned a crisis into an opportunity overcoming the blockade and achieving a lot in self-sufficiency and food security areas in the last two years, South Korean ambassador Kim Chang-mo has said. Speaking to 'Gulf Times', the envoy said Qatar’s efforts are impressive and its achievements in several fields, including further strengthening of relations with other countries such as South Korea, since the start of the blockade on June 5, 2017 deserve high estimation.

“With the efforts by the Qatari government, amid regional diplomatic tensions, South Korea is importing liquefied natural gas and petroleum from Qatar on a very stable basis without any difficulty,” he noted. “In addition, I am pleased that South Korean companies have contributed to Qatar’s efforts for self-sufficiency and food security, participating in various construction projects such as desalination and power generation. I believe this shows solid relationship between Seoul and Doha,” Chang-mo stressed.

About the country’s efforts to step up several economic reforms, he said Qatar achieved enormous development and modernisation under the leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. “I am witnessing rapid changes everywhere in Qatar.”

On Qatar’s journey to achieving its National Vision 2030, Chang-mo expressed confidence that the two countries have huge potential to expand their relationship to other areas beyond energy and construction sectors. “I strongly believe, seven memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed between two states during His Highness the Amir’s visit to Korea early this year symbolise this potential,” he said.

Since arriving in Doha in May 2018, the envoy said he had visited many of Qatar’s infrastructure facilities, including Hamad Port, petrochemical industrial areas in Las Raffan, and high-tech cattle farms, among others.

“A couple of weeks ago, I also had chance to visit Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah to attend the Amir Cup final. Having experienced the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in Korea, I could see this state-of-the-art stadium is more than ready to host the mega event,’ he said. “In addition, since South Korean companies have participated in the construction, I am very happy to see the soft opening of the Doha Metro Red Line.”

“I am certain that these high-quality facilities will contribute to making the FIFA 2022 World Cup a great success.”

About the best solution to end the regional rift, Chang-mo said: “Traditionally, the Gulf states have kept very close and cordial relations among them as is symbolised by the GCC. It is with great sympathy that Koreans see the hardship the people in Gulf states are facing especially from the humanitarian aspect for the last two years.”

“We sincerely hope relations between Qatar and neighbouring countries will be restored as soon as possible through close dialogues and diplomacy,” he stressed.

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