Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with President of the Italian Republic H E Sergio Mattarella during an official reception ceremony at the Quirinale Palace in Rome yesterday.
Doha: In light of the distinguished friendship and growing cooperation between the two countries, and as part of the State of Qatar’s keenness and its strategy aimed at building strong and outstanding relations partnerships, and strengthening ties with allies and friends, Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani began an official visit to the friendly Italian Republic, during which His Highness is set to discuss, with H E President Sergio Mattarella, close bilateral relations and means of developing them in various fields especially energy, economy, education, health and culture.
H H the Amir’s visit to Italy reflects the depth of the two countries relations in all fields, and it also comes at a very important stage for the relations between them.
The talks that will take place during the visit are expected to contribute to the development of cooperation relations between the two friendly countries, and to move them to broader horizons in all fields, and to establish an advanced stage of economic cooperation, including increasing the volume of trade exchange and cementing cooperation on vital sectors.
Qatar and Italy’s relations are old and remarkable at all levels, including political, economic and even military. They are built on the bases of mutual respect and trust as well as common interests, which took them to a strategic level.
The Qatari-Italian relations culminated in the opening of embassies in the capitals of the two countries in 1992, and since then they have witnessed rapid and solid development in all fields, especially in the economic and commercial sectors.
The two countries relations see mutual and continuous visits at the highest levels to strengthen and develop these relations; most notably, the state visit of H H Amir to Italy in November 2018, the official visit of HH the Amir to Italy in January 2016, and the state visit of HE President Sergio Mattarella to Doha in January 2020.
In a milestone in the Qatari-Italian close diplomatic relations, the first round of strategic dialogue between the two countries was held in Rome in February of 2022, under the co-chairmanship Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, and former Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Di Maio.
The Launch of the strategic dialogue was an affirmation of the two countries’ determination to deepen their partnership in areas of common interest, as it tackled bilateral relations and the latest regional developments and international developments, in addition to exchanging views on issues of common concern. The dialogue provided an opportunity to discuss the relations between the two countries, especially in matters related to defense, security and economy, and showed the convergence of the Qatari and Italian positions on issues that serve to realize international peace and security.
The Qatari-Italian economic relations saw a remarkable development after the official opening of the Adriatic LNG station off the Italian coastal city of Rovigo in October 2009, which receives 8 billion cubic meters of Qatari LNG every year.
The Doha-Rome political and institutional contacts continued to expand and recently witnessed cooperation in the field of energy through the partnership between Italy’s Eni and Qatar Energy in the North Field LNG expansion project, the world’s largest natural gas field.
These relations were also bolstered by the State of Qatar’s successful participation in Expo Milano 2015, where the State of Qatar’s pavilion organized several events that greatly contributed to introducing the Qatari economy and its broad investment prospects.
The bilateral cooperation between the two countries also covers the military field and includes Qatar’s five billion euro deal with Italy for seven navy vessels, as well as its purchase of NH90 helicopters, the largest military helicopter program.
The Qatari-Italian relations are linked by a set of agreements and memoranda of understanding covering cooperation in the economic, political, diplomatic, defense, investment, scientific, educational, health, youth, sports, artistic, cultural and tourism sectors and in the fields of energy, agriculture and strategic projects related to food security, in addition to the establishment of a joint Qatari-Italian businessmen council, to strengthen economic relations and explore areas of bilateral cooperation.
Italy is an important partner for the State of Qatar, as the volume of trade exchange between the two countries has witnessed remarkable development in recent years and the economic partnership between the two parties has grown over the past ten years by more than 320 percent.
The Italian Republic is the eighth largest trading partner of the State of Qatar, its seventh supplier, and one of the most important destinations for Qatari investments that have entered into various sectors and economic activities there, embodying the State of Qatar’s keenness to harness part of its resources to invest in the economies of strategic partners where there are promising investment opportunities. The Qatari investments in Italy are focused on the sectors of real estate, hotels and some residential areas development, in addition to the investments of Qatar Airways.
The number of Italian companies operating in the State of Qatar is estimated at 250 companies, including 200 companies with joint Qatari-Italian capital and 50 companies with 100 percent Italian capital and ownership. The Italian companies play an important role in supporting the development plans and projects in Qatar, focusing mainly on the building and construction market, due to the diversity of the activities of its companies operating in this field, such as the manufacture of raw building materials, especially the production of Italian marble and the manufacture of construction machinery and equipment, information technology, trade, services and other vital sectors.
The Italian companies operating in the State of Qatar attach great importance to the field of renewable energy, which is a matter of mutual interest between the two countries, especially in light of the State of Qatar’s tendency to consolidate reliance on clean and environmentally friendly energy in all its development projects.
With an area estimated at 300,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 60 million, Italy was the world’s seventh-largest economy and the fourth in Europe in 2008, according to the International Monetary Fund. It is a member of the Group of Eight (G8) Industrialized Nations, the European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
