The visit reflects the extent of the strong and sustainable partnership between Qatar and Germany and shows how keen the leaderships of the two countries are to enhance these ties to higher levels in various political, economic, investment, scientific and cultural fields. He explained that during his recent meetings with German officials, he noticed the interest of the political circles in Germany in His Highness' visit to Berlin.
Qatar has become an important player at the international and regional levels, especially after its great role in Afghanistan on the political and humanitarian fronts. The ambassador said that the Amir's visit will cover the energy field, given the recent developments taking place in Europe, represented in the major military escalation between Russia and Ukraine. Berlin wants Qatar to play an important role in meeting its gas needs during the coming period.
Qatar is an important partner for Germany, not only in the energy field and the Afghan crisis but in other fields too.Germans will remember a lot about the role of Qatar Airways, the national carrier of the State during Covid-19, which evacuated more than 70,000 Germans during that crisis, and evacuated German nationals in Afghanistan, which gained great media coverage in the country. He referred to the recent visit of German Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Economy and Climate Robert Habeck to Doha and the excellent impressions he got from Qatar in terms of the country's development.
Ambassador al-Thani considered that Germany was very late in transitioning to gas despite the previous serious attempts. Germany is currently looking at the plan to increase Qatari gas production and seeks to have a share in this field for a long time, expressing his belief that the visit of the Amir may witness a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to make a permanent agreement in the gas field. Regarding the cultural relations between Qatar and Germany, he explained that after the Qatari-German Cultural Year in 2017, and the accompanying great cultural momentum for the relations between the two countries, the inauguration of the Qatari Cultural House in Berlin came under the name 'Diwan Al Arab' to increase the momentum of those relations, but, the Covid-19 pandemic that engulfed the world during the past two years affected this field.
The current period is witnessing a new beginning for the resumption of various cultural activities, he added. During his interview with QNA, the Qatari ambassador revealed an agreement with the University of Darmstadt, one of the oldest German universities, to open a branch in Doha, in addition to the Goethe Institute, which is the most important German language institute, to open a branch in Doha. Additionally, many large projects are being prepared in the field of cultural relations between the two countries.
Ambassador al-Thani also revealed that the Cultural House organised many events before the start of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, such as the "Fan Zone" events on the sidelines of the tournament, the revival of the Cultural House from the World Cup gate, and the arrangement of the World Cup's mascot "Laeeb" at the top the embassy building and the Cultural House until the end of the World Cup as a meeting place for the German people to remind them of the most important world championship in football hosted by Qatar.
