Qatar will invest in the Spanish recovery plan
The Spanish Foreign Minister, Arancha González Laya, has concluded her tour of the Gulf with a visit to Qatar. It was her third stop, following her visits to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The minister thus brought to a close a trip that seeks to encourage investment from the Gulf countries in Spain, in a delicate economic context due to the pandemic, as well as to strengthen trade relations and cultural ties with the region.
González Laya met in Doha, the Qatari capital, with Emir Al-Thani, with whom she discussed the state of bilateral relations between the two countries and their great potential. In particular, they pointed to the economic sphere as one of the sectors in which the relationship is closest. They also highlighted investment and trade relations between Doha and Madrid.
Later, and continuing in the field of bilateral economic relations, Laya met with the CEO of the Qatari sovereign wealth fund QIA, Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al Mahmoud, given that this fund is present in the capital of some Spanish companies. She also held a meeting with the co-president of the Qatar-Spain Business Committee, Sheikh Fisan bin Qassim al-Thani. The minister is seeking to attract investment to Spain, within the framework of the Economic Plan developed by the Spanish government, in the same way as she did in the Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
On a more political and international level, González Laya met with her Qatari counterpart, Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thanim, who also holds the post of deputy prime minister. The two foreign ministers discussed developments in the region, as well as issues such as the upcoming Palestinian elections, the recent normalisation of relations between the Gulf countries following the Al-Ula declaration, relations between Doha and Tehran, and the status of the Afghan peace talks underway in the country.
The two ministers held a joint press conference in which they expressed the good harmony that exists between the two countries and the "great interest in Qatar" in Spain, due to the investments that the country is making in Spanish companies. They announced the creation of a mechanism to promote Qatari investment in the country.
Finally, as in the Emirates and Saudi Arabia, González Laya has held meetings with authorities from the cultural sphere and other sectors. Laya met with the Qatari Minister of Culture and Sports, Salah bin Ghanem, with whom she signed a cultural cooperation agreement and a memorandum of understanding on Youth and Sports, the first in the field of sports between the two countries. The Spanish minister also met with the president of the Qatar Foundation for Science, Education and Community Development. She discussed investment in R&D and youth-related policies.
Another of the visits made by the Spanish minister was to one of the stadiums that will be part of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Specifically, she visited the Ras Abu Aboud Stadium, developed by the Spanish architectural firm Fenwick Iribarren, which will be the first dismountable and reusable stadium in the world, in a clear commitment to sustainable architecture.
