The Kyrgyz Republic hopes to attract more visitors to the Eurasian nation as no visa is required for the Qatari citizens, said ambassador Nuran S Niyazaliev.

He was speaking to the Gulf Times on the occasion of his country's presidential elections, for which the country's Krygyz expatriates voted at the Kyrgyz embassy.
"In the recent months quite a number of Qatari citizens travelled to Kyrgyz Republic even though there is no direct air connectivity to the capital Bishkek from Doha," the envoy said.
Niyazaliev has been his country's ambassador in Doha since the Kyrgyz Republic opened its embassy in December 2015.
"Kyrgyz Republic and its people are looking forward to the visit of His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, which is expected to take place shortly," he said.
The current president of Kyrgyz Republic, Almazbek Atambaev, visited Qatar twice in as many years and the two countries have signed about 15 agreements, memoranda, protocols, on strengthening economic and trade co-operation, agreement on mutual encouragement and protection of investments, memorandum on co-operation in tourism.
Niyazaliev also recalled that Qatar ratified the agreement on mutual co-operation and protection of investments through an Emiri Decree (No 28/May 17, 2017) issued earlier this year.
While appealing to companies in Qatar to make investments in such areas as power generation, mining, infrastructure, agriculture, halal industries and tourism in the Krygyz Republic, the ambassador said such investments would be protected by law in their country and the rights of investors are on par with those of his compatriots.
"Foreigners could also easily repatriate their capital. Such countries as China, South Korea, Japan, Turkey, the EU nations, India and Iran have made several investments in our republic" he added.
"There are a lot of similarities between the two countries (Qatar and the Kyrgyz Republic) and hence there is enormous scope for strengthening ties in different areas in coming years," said Niyazaliev while explaining that a number of youngsters from his country are now employed in various fields in Qatar.
"We are now looking forward to the Qatar Airways introducing direct flights to Bishkek, which could be reached from Doha in less than four hours," said the envoy while exuding confidence that such a service would help attract tourists to his country.
The ambassador has no doubt that their country could have been able to supply large quantities of foodstuffs, in particular fruits and vegetables to help Qatar meet the requirements had there been a good and faster transportation and logistics arrangements.
Niyazaliev said until now there is no direct air connectivity from Qatar to any of the five Central Asian Republics, namely Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan besides his own country and the introduction of at least a cargo flight at this juncture to Bishkek would help move foodstuffs, especially fruits and vegetables to Qatar from that region on a regular basis.

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