QNA
The current official visit of the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to the United Kingdom is an extension of the historic friendship and alliance between the two friendly countries. It also comes in line with the State of Qatar’s keenness to strengthen and develop its relations with various countries of the world, especially strong and influential in terms of international relations.
The bilateral relations between Doha and London have strengthened and grown steadily over the years, from the early days of oil and gas exploration in the Gulf region, where British companies have played a key role in the development of the oil and gas industry in the State of Qatar and the region. These relations have expanded to include bilateral cooperation in all fields, especially political, economic, commercial, defense, cultural and educational spheres.
The visit of H H the Amir to the United Kingdom, which comes at the invitation of Prime Minister Theresa May, will focus on the bilateral strategic areas, which will strengthening the relations between the two countries and the two friendly peoples, and realizing common interests between them in the coming stage. The two sides will also discuss a number of regional and international issues of common concern.
This visit will provide an opportunity to open wider horizons for mutual investments at both public and private sector levels. The UK has been and continues to be the preferred destination for Qatari investments in various fields, particularly real estate.
The Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met with British Prime Minister Theresa May in London during his official visit to UK on 15 September 2016. His Highness also met with May at the United Nations Headquarters last September on the sidelines of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, where the two sides discussed bilateral relations and means of developing cooperation between the two countries in various fields, and exchanged views on various regional and international developments, especially the Gulf crisis and its latest developments and international efforts in support of Kuwait mediation to resolve the crisis through diplomatic dialogue.
The Qatari-British relations have a historical specificity that gives them weight and uniqueness, which is reflected in all areas of cooperation between the two countries. The two countries have a number of bilateral agreements and memorandums of understanding in various fields.
The Qatari wise leadership is keen to transform the State of Qatar into a global hub for knowledge-based industries and innovation, as well as building a sustainable economy capable of achieving high growth rates in the future. Qatar is also keen on expanding partnership with UK in education, health, sports and security, areas where the United Kingdom is a global leader.
In March last year, the State of Qatar and the United Kingdom held in London the fourth meeting of Qatar-UK strategic dialogue (Sharaka) , which is one of the most important mechanisms for the development of bilateral relations between the two countries, being in charge follow-up of decisions, files and projects, supporting the bilateral track and exploring opportunities for cooperation for the benefit of both countries.
The State of Qatar is one of the most important investors in the UK, investing more than GBP 40 billion across the Kingdom and planning to invest more GBP 5 billion in the British economy over the next few years through investment funds and other Qatari economic entities. These investments will be concentrated in the energy, infrastructure, real estate and other sectors.
The relations were made stronger in March 2017, by the Qatar-UK Business and Investment Forum in London and Birmingham. The forum confirmed the strength of the Qatari financial and banking sectors and gave UK companies the chance to know about the available investment opportunities in different sectors in Qatar.
The forum is a new aspect for the Qatari UK economic relations and an opportunity for further Qatari investments in the UK especially in Birmingham.
Birmingham was chosen as the location of the forum as it is the second largest city in the UK with more than 5 million residents. It also offers promising investments and is expected to hold fast railway network with London. An associating program to the forum took place to welcome investors and hold field trips for large investment opportunities. The forum also organized meeting between Qatari business with the local business society in Birmingham.
The forum attracted major investments in light of the interest from the Qatari side to invest in Birmingham and benefit from the opportunities available. Qatar is one of the main partners to UK in the energy sector, where it provides the UK with nearly 30 percent of its natural gas need. The UK is also ranked the sixth trade partner to Qatar.
There are more than 79 UK companies operating in Qatar in the field of oil, gas, infrastructure and information technology with a capital of QR 8.1 billion. There are 672 Qatari-UK companies with a joint capital operating in the Qatar in the fields of engineering consultancy, contracting, information technology, trade and services.
UK believes in Qatar’s strategic and economic importance and is keen to take full advantage of investment opportunities in various sectors through free and fair trade which benefits both countries. The UK also values Qatar’s investments in the UK
The UK seeks to provide more investments in the 2022 FIFA World Cup projects, especially in the stadium security and cyber security. Qatar is the largest market for UK exports in the Middle East and North Africa region. UK exports to Qatar in 2016 reached 2.38 billion English pounds, up 21.7 percent compared to 2014. While the Qatar’s exports to the UK in 2015 amounted to about 2.566 billion English pounds, up 20.4 percent compared to 2014.
From a cultural and educational aspect, UK remains one of the main destination for Qatari students to complete their education abroad and is continuously increasing. In 2014-2015, the proportion of Qatari students who went to UK to study increased by 20.4 percent. The number of Qatari students in UK has doubled since 2010.
The new partnership agreement signed in 2010 is a milestone in the Qatari-UK relations, under which it was agreed that the two countries would intensify their high-level dialogues by initiating regular ministerial-level consultation sessions on regional issues. In addition, they are both committed to international development which is strengthened through intensified dialogues between the ministers concerned with promoting the relations between Qatar and UK in the fields of education, sports and culture.
The historic partnership agreement also launched a new phase of the strategic relations between Qatar and UK on foreign policy, security and military cooperation in the Gulf region and affirmed their commitment to resolving global disputes peacefully.
