Amir's visit will make a difference in Qatar-Spain ties

Ambassador of Spain to Qatar HE Belen Alfaro Hernandez affirmed that the visit of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to Spain epitomizes the great state of bilateral relations.

The visit will push the relations to the next level, strengthen cooperation between the two sides in the domains of education, health, culture and science, and seek new joint projects for the forthcoming years.

In exclusive statements to Qatar News Agency (QNA), she said that the visit of the Amir will be the only state visit that HM King Felipe VI of Spain will host this year, which is testimony of the importance attached to it by Spain, which indicates the importance Spain attaches to this visit, which is scheduled to envisage the signature of several agreements and memoranda of understandings which will open scope of joint action to new fields.

On the sports front, The Spanish Ambassador said that Qatar is going to host the FIFA World Cup 2022 later this year, which means that there will be room to enhance work in the field of sports and everything regarding this major global event.

She said that the total value of trade between Spain and Qatar in 2021 was worth 990 million Euros, and Spanish exports to Qatar accounted for 349 million Euros, while Spanish imports from Qatar increased to 641 million Euros.

On the economic front, she affirmed that Qatar is lately showing a bigger presence as investor in Spain in strategic sectors such as aviation, construction, distribution, finance, and energy, adding that the Qatari investment in Spain is related to the real estate sector, hotels, media, or long-term investments in big companies' capital equity, and that some of the most outstanding investments Qatar has done in Spain have resulted in becoming the second largest investor of the Spanish Stock Exchange, long-term investor in capital equity such as IAG, Iberdrola, Colonial and Banco Santander Brazil.

She said that the Spanish investment in Qatar is related to the settlement of the big Spanish construction and infrastructure companies, IT firms, energy and water contractors or facility management and other services providers.

Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Ambassador of Qatar to Spain HE Abdullah bin Ibrahim Al Hamar said that His Highness is making his first visit to Spain as the Amir, adding that the visit will open up the scope of cooperation in different fields, whether political, economic, cultural, or sports related.