Qatar and its residents have been so good to Georgia, Ekaterine Meiering-Mikadze, the ambassador of Eurasian country, who completed her nearly five-year-long stint in Doha, told Gulf Times.
The envoy is scheduled to leave Qatar early today. The new ambassador designate of Georgia, Nikoloz Revazishvili, is expected to arrive in December.
One of the most lively diplomats who served in Qatar in recent years, Meiering -Mikadze has no doubt that her stint in Doha was memorable all along and she firmly believes it helped her to enhance the familiarity of her country among the residents of this Gulf State.
"I am running out of words to thank Qatari officials and several other residents of this country who have always been very supportive,"she said while expressing happiness that Georgia has become a favourite tourist destination of a large number of Qatar residents in the last two years.
"Now Georgia is more familiar among the residents here because of such visits undertaken at regular intervals by Qatar residents. When I came here in December 2012, only a handful of the local people knew where Georgia was. Now many visitors from Qatar have been repeatedly visiting my country, according to the information I have received," said the ambassador who is hopeful that her young successor Revazishvili would do a remarkably good job in Doha.
The ambassador said in the last 4-5 years there have been increasing levels of co-operation at different levels between her country and Qatar and political, economical and cultural agreements were signed during the bilateral visits of officials in both Tbilisi and Doha.
"Some of the Qatari businesses have invested in Georgia and more are evincing interest to start ventures in our country, having found Georgia as a destination with potential on many fronts," said the envoy, who is equally happy at the growing number of students from Qatar being admitted to Universities in Tbilisi.
She also recalled the excellent support provided by the management of Katara, which helped in hosting a number of art and cultural events, involving leading Georgian personalities over the last three years. Meiering-Mikadeze was the first ambassador of her country after Georgia opened its embassy in Doha in December 2012.