By Ayman Adly/Staff Reporter
The relationship between Egypt and Qatar is stronger beyond description, HE the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah, said at the celebrations held at the Egyptian embassy to mark the first anniversary of the January 25 revolution .
Minister al-Attiyah and Abu Dunia with other officials at the event held to mark the anniversary
Egyptian Ambassador Mohamed Fawzi Abu-Dunia highly praised the supportive stand of Qatar to the revolution from its beginning, saying that HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani was the first Arab leader to visit Cairo after the revolution. Also, HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani paid a subsequent visit to Egypt.
“Qatar was the first country to congratulate Egyptians on the success of the revolution and the statement came from the Emiri Diwan,” said the ambassador.
“HH the Emir always helps people and reaches out to support people everywhere,” Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah said.
Abu Dunia pointed out that the relations between the two countries have improved dramatically and Qatari investments in Egypt have gone up from $350mn before the revolution to about $500mn a year after the revolution.
“The current disturbances in Egypt have not discouraged Qatari firms from further investing in Egypt. Qataris love Egypt and have established growing businesses there. The current situation in Egypt is just a temporary stage that would soon pass leaving Egypt more powerful and stable,” the ambassador said hoping that the situation is considerably improving and heading towards the right path.
“The revolution has inspired Egyptians in Qatar to take part in voluntary work to serve other Egyptians. It has awakened in them the sense of national solidarity. They come to me to help them in implementing this, and I reach out to them at their locations within Doha and outside it,” the ambassador said.
He said that the creation of the Egyptian Women’s Association in Qatar was an example of this. Further, the embassy assisted young expatriates to form the Egyptians’ Association in Doha last April. The community after January 25 revolution has become active in taking part in community service.
During the first half of the current year, the Egyptian embassy will be moving to its new headquarters in the New Diplomatic Area near the British embassy in a better and well-equipped building.
“We are working hard to guarantee that the new headquarters of the embassy would be equipped with modern technology to offer better and more comfortable consulate services to the public. Accordingly, we want to make our services easily accessible to address any complaints in this respect,” he said.
Qatar and Egypt have already agreed upon a considerable number of investment projects. Al-Attiyah affirmed that Qatar has ambitious investment programmes in Egypt, which may exceed $10bn.
