Qatar, UAE Sign Several Agreements, MoUs to Enhance Mutual Cooperation

Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan signed several agreements and memoranda of understanding aiming to promote mutual cooperation.

The deals and MoUs were signed during the 6th session of the meetings of the Qatar-UAE Joint Higher Committee. During the joint committee meeting, the Qatari minister noted that the meeting is held amid difficult regional situations experienced by the Middle East, which requires redoubling efforts to strengthen this cooperation in order to remove any obstacles poses its march to reach fruitful results to serve the common interests of the two brotherly countries, according to Qatar News Agency (QNA).

He affirmed that the agreements that have been signed between the two sides will push bilateral cooperation to wider horizons.

He voiced his appreciation for the businessmen for their efforts they have made and outcomes they have reached during the session which was held Monday morning by Qatar Chamber and Federation of UAE Chamber Of Commerce and Industry in order to develop trade, investment and industrial activities to serve the private sector in our countries.

The Qatari official said he discussed with his Emirati counterpart all regional issues and challenges, adding he is looking forward to the continuation of such fraternal meetings between the two countries.

Views on regional issues were exchanged, he said, adding that talks also dealt with the two countries relations in the international organizations and continuing consultations in all international forums.

On Qatar's call convening an extraordinary meeting of the Arab League Council on the situation in Syrian city of Aleppo, he said that the call received a strong support from the Gulf states, adding that the recent crimes committed against civilians in Aleppo obliges the international community to take an ethical and humane stance.

The purpose of the Arab League Council meeting at the invitation of the State of Qatar is to coordinate a common Arab position for moving through the Arab Group at the United Nations and the Security Council to take the measures that would contribute to resolving the conflict and stop the escalation by the Syrian regime, he noted. With regard to the Qatari-UAE coordination on Libya, he said that consultations and coordination will continue to pursuit the goal of realizing the unity and stability of Libya.

Meanwhile, the UAE minister thanked the State of Qatar for hosting the session. He added that he conveyed to Sheikh Tamim the greetings of President Sheikh Khalifa.

He said that the two countries share a historic relation based on mutual respect and understanding, adding that today's session was a good opportunity to discuss bilateral relations and the developments of bilateral cooperation.

He highlighted that trade balance between the two countries reached USD 6-7 billion, noting that there were about 1074 UAE companies operating in Qatar and the number of Qatari companies working in the UAE were 4200.

He also spoke about the strategic partnerships between the two countries, such as establishing Dolphin Energy. The company produced 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas by the end of March 2016, he said.

"In the field of air transport, the number of flights by the two countries national carriers to Qatar and UAE currently stands at 175 flights a week.

The number of Emirati visitors to Qatar was more than 117,000. While the number of Qatari visitors to the UAE was more than 231, 000," he said. Regarding the agreements, Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and Dubai Exports signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The CEO of QDB Abdulaziz Bin Nasser Al-Khalifa signed the agreement with his counterpart from Dubai Exports Saed Al Awadi.

The two sides have inked agreements in the fields of culture, organizing fairs, tourism, youth and developing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), he said, expressing hope to seeing the results of this session on the ground and to strengthen and deepen the two brotherly peoples' ties.

The UAE official stressed the importance of constant consultations between the two countries in light of the challenges facing the region.

He also underlined the keenness of the two countries to enhance bilateral cooperation. He said that he discussed bilateral cooperation in the field of renewable energy, during the meeting with Sheikh Tamim, noting that the potential of enhancing cooperation markedly in that field in light of the decline in oil prices.

Another reflection of the strong ties was the Minister's confirmation that the UAE will back Qatar's candidate to the UNESCO Director-General role. He referred to the GCC's statement released earlier regarding the matter.