Qatari business owners express their interest to José Manuel Albares in stepping up their investments in Spain

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has held a busy schedule of meetings today in Doha with Qatari business owners who expressed their interest in stepping up their investments in Spain after enquiring after the recovery plan of the Government of Spain.

José Manuel Albares, who travelled to the capital of Qatar to continue analysing in situ the crisis in Afghanistan and its consequences, also took the opportunity to relaunch so-called 'economic diplomacy'. Over the course of the day, he held meetings with the CEO of the Qatar Investment Authority, Mansoor Bin Ebrahim Al Mahmoud; with the President of the Qatari Businessmen Association, Sheikh Faisal Al Thani, and with other members of this association, who expressed their interest in studying new investments in our country.

The minister recalled that Qatar 'is one of the main investors in Spain of the countries in the region which collaborates in many areas' (trade, multilateral, cultural and sporting affairs). In this regard, José Manuel Albares stressed that 'a lot more can still be done and Qatari business owners are committed to continue stepping up these relations'.

Qatari investors are also very familiar with the performance of Spanish companies in their country, the representatives of which the minister also had the chance to meet with at the start of the day. The representatives of Spanish companies in the country conveyed their interest in collaborating to attract this new Qatari investment in Spain, along with their intention to address new projects in the emirate, to which end they requested the collaboration of the Spanish authorities. José Manuel Albares stressed the support of the Government of Spain to this goal in his response.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation was given an audience by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, with whom he had the chance to review the situation in the region, in particular following the evacuation from Afghanistan. After offering an invitation to visit Spain, José Manuel Albares passed on Spain's recognition to the Emir for the role that Qatar played in evacuating those Afghans who managed to leave the country.

At a subsequent meeting with the Vice-President and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulraham Al Thani, the Spanish minister addressed the channels for working even more closely in the next phase of the evacuation and jointly analysing the situation in Afghanistan in-depth.

Following his meeting with his Qatari counterpart, who has just come back from Kabul after making one of the first visits by a foreign affairs minister to Afghanistan, José Manuel Albares declared Spain's concern over the current situation of instability in Afghanistan and stated that 'it is necessary for us to all remain committed and trust in the key role being played by Qatar to help stabilise the country'.

'Spain is not just committed to Afghanistan but to the whole region and we advocate maintaining the progress achieved in human rights in recent years, particularly for women and girls', stated the minister, who closed off his working day in Qatar with a visit to the residences of Afghan refugees where he was able to see first-hand the situation of Afghan families evacuated from Kabul.

-NON OFFICIAL TRANSLATION-​​

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