Ambassador of the French Republic H E Jean-Baptiste Faivre stressed the relationship between France and Qatar is historically rich and excellent.
In an exclusive statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), he said that Qatari-French relations rely on a strong mutual friendship and deep human ties.
The last three months were very intense in terms of bilateral meetings and events, both in Doha and in Paris and this sequence concluded with the visit of the President Emmanuel Macron on Dec. 3 to Doha, the Ambassador said, noting that this visit reaffirmed the strength of the friendship and strategic partnership between our the two countries.
The leaders of the two countries, the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and President Emmanuel Macron, decided to take the strategic partnership a step further by holding the 3rd meeting of the bilateral strategic dialogue at the beginning of 2022. They also agreed to relaunch two-way visits at a ministerial level and deepen the cooperation in many fields such as education, culture, and economy, His Excellency added.
President Macron reiterated France’s commitment to supporting the Qatar National Vision 2030, especially in the field of the energy transition strategy, the envoy said. “Our ambition is to develop further our relations and to invest in new areas of common interest, but also to build common ambitious projects which would reflect the long-term relationship between our two countries,” His Excellency added.
During his meeting with HH the Amir, the French President praised Qatar’s exceptional support in the operations carried out since the end of the summer to enable the departure of French nationals from Kabul to Paris via Doha, His Excellency explained.
On the other hand, His Excellency the French Ambassador stressed that Qatar successfully overcame the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The macroeconomic and public financial indicators show strong signs of recovery, including GDP growth for the first quarter of 2021, with a massive 4 percent increase for the second quarter, as well as a budget surplus, thanks to government measures to support the economy and budget discipline, HE noted.
According to the latest IMF forecasts, Qatars economic outlook is excellent as well, especially as a result of the sharp rise in oil and gas prices since the beginning of the year, making it all the more relevant and promising the heavy investments in this field, he said.
