HE Ambassador Fahd bin Mohammad Al Attiyah indicated that in February 2023, the State of Qatar and the UK launched the strategic dialogue between them in the British capital, 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.
His Excellency 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 cooperation in the fields of defense, security, energy, trade and investment, in addition to cooperation 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.
The State of 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 approximately GBP 13.4 billion, an increase of 186.5 percent over 2021, His Excellency, said adding that the meetings of the third session of the Joint Committee for Economic and Trade Cooperation 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 health care, 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.
His Excellency went on saying that Qatar's bilateral relations with UK are growing and developing year after year, pointing that the State of Qatar has recently had fruitful cooperation with UK to present the best edition of the World Cup tournaments. This cooperation contributed to strengthening commercial, security, sports and international relations with the Kingdom, 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, His Excellency said that Qatari investments in UK are constantly growing, and HH the Amir's recent visit to UK in May 2022 culminated in the signing of a new agreement to invest GBP 10 billion 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 immunization programs 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.
HE 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.
His Excellency said that the State of 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 cooperated with UK to support treatment of vision problems for more than 6 million children in India and Bangladesh between 2016 and 2020 and recently in Ethiopia as part of the "Qatar Creates Vision" project.
Concluding his Statement to QNA, HE Fahd bin Mohammad Al Attiyah congratulated HM 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.
Source: Qatar News Agency