London, February 21 (QNA) - The State of Qatar and the United Kingdom agreed to continue progress on areas of ongoing and regular collaboration and to review progress through the Strategic Dialogue at least once a year, looking forward to concluding the Strategic Dialogue Sessions and reviewing their progress at the next Strategic Dialogue, planned for Doha in 2024.
The Joint Communique for the first Strategic Dialogue Between the two countries, which kicked off in London, UK, indicated that the two countries agreed to continue progress on areas of ongoing and regular collaboration through official level engagements, including on defense and security, energy, regional security, trade and investment, humanitarian and development assistance, the human rights agenda, science and innovation, and health and education.
HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and HE Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, the Rt Hon James Cleverly MP, launched the first annual Qatar-UK Strategic Dialogue in London on 20 February 2023, in celebration of the robust and expanding bilateral relationship.
The two Ministers reviewed areas of collaboration between the two countries. They affirmed that the Qatar-UK relationship has maintained a positive trajectory and committed to further strengthening the Qatar-UK partnership. They agreed to continue progress on areas of ongoing and regular collaboration through official level engagements, including on defense and security, energy, regional security, trade and investment, humanitarian and development assistance, the human rights agenda, science and innovation, health and education. To underline this, Qatar and the United Kingdom signed an MoU to launch the Strategic Dialogue, a new platform to deepen cooperation.
Both Ministers agreed to review progress through the Strategic Dialogue at least once a year. The Ministers discussed the State of Qatar's recent successful hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the first to be held in the Arab world.
HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani thanked the UK for its security partnership in preparation for and during the tournament. The United Kingdom is committed to building on this cooperation and supporting the State of Qatar as it seeks to sustain a positive tournament legacy, encompassing the areas of sports economy, tourism, and labor reforms. (MORE)