Doha: Undersecretary of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs for Bilateral Relations and Asean Affairs Maria Theresa Lazaro appreciated Qatari diplomacy’s important role in resolving regional issues and its endeavours to promote dialogue, security, and peace regionally and globally.
The Philippines admires Qatar for its active role in mediation, in particular brokering peace agreements involving conflicting parties, she expressed.
Talking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), she added that Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, for the first time in the Middle East, has put the country on the map of the sporting world. Just like in the case of diplomatic, economic, and development aspect, it has once again proved that it is a force to be reckoned with in organising and hosting global sporting events, working on more than one level and in multiple directions.
Lazaro stressed the importance of her visit to Doha in promoting and developing relations between Doha and Manila, describing the Philippines-Qatar Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) on Political Consultation as a “milestone event”. It is the first political consultation between the two countries.
The JCM allows opportunities to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interests to both sides such as political and economic cooperation, migration, climate change issues, and regional and international issues, she added.
Qatar and the Philippines have enjoyed excellent relations spanning 41 years. In addition to a number of existing bilateral agreements, the two countries are discussing new ones through the JCM, which is to be held on an annual basis to advance bilateral relations to broader horizons, she told QNA.
She expressed her hope to enhance trade and investment exchange between the two countries and to benefit from the resources, expertise, and strength of the two countries to address the negative effects of the current global political and economic challenges. She also pointed out that her country attaches great importance to achieving food and energy security through partnerships and cooperation with Qatar.
