WATCH: HH The Amir's visit to the UK in summary
HH The Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani went on an important tour of the United Kingdom (UK) this July. HH The Amir met a number of top-ranking officials, including British Prime Minister Theresa May on July 23.
The leaders, upon meeting, discussed different ways to strengthen strategic bilateral relations and co-operation between the nations in different fields in order to achieve interests of the two friendly countries and peoples, reported Gulf Times.
The discussions, which were held at the UK government’s headquarters — 10 Downing Street — also touched on the ongoing illegal siege of Qatar and the unity of the Gulf region.
HH The Amir, posting on Twitter, said that his visit to the UK and his meeting with the British Prime Minister was a huge success.
My visit to London was great and the talks with Prime Minister Theresa May have focused on security, military and investment. We also discussed key regional issues including inter-Gulf states relations, the Palestinian cause and the situation in Syria pic.twitter.com/BRLCuOCbbD
— تميم بن حمد (@TamimBinHamad) July 24, 2018
“My visit to London was great and the talks with Prime Minister Theresa May have focused on security, military and investment. We also discussed key regional issues including inter-Gulf states relations, the Palestinian cause and the situation in Syria,” he noted on Twitter.
The two leaders witnessed the signing of a letter of intent for cooperation in the field of combating terrorism between the Qatari and UK governments.
The initiative will look to facilitate exchange information and intelligence on terrorism, cooperation in the field of law enforcement in issues related to terror activities and cooperation in tackling threats facing the transport sector, including airport security, aviation and combating financial crimes, reported The Peninsula.
On the financial front, trade and investment relations have also been growing like never before. The British Government’s official site said the relation was set to strengthen even further.
“The two leaders agreed that trade and investment relationship between the UK and Qatar was already strong, welcoming the fact that half of Qatar’s £5bn investment commitment in 2017 had already been allocated to projects in the UK.”
“There is a shared desire to see investment flow (both ways) continue to grow, and there are significant commercial opportunities on offer for both countries across a wide range of sectors. The Prime Minister also welcomed Qatar’s commitment to continue to invest not just in London, but across the country,” said a spokesman for Downing Street, according to Gov.UK.
During his visit, HH the Amir also visited the Imperial College London for sciences, technology, engineering and medicine, where he was welcomed by UK Minister of State for Health Caroline Dinenage, UK Minister of State for International Development and the Middle East Alistair Burt and Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation Professor Lord Ara Darzi.
During the visit to the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery at the college, HH the Amir was briefed by the centre and senior college officials specialised in health care technology, education and training on the features of the centre.
HH the Amir was also briefed on the existing cooperation areas in the health sectors of the State of Qatar and the UK, especially on 'Qatar Creating Vision' project to fight blindness and eye illnesses for children in developing countries such as India and Bangladesh. The project was signed in 2015 between Qatar Fund for Development and 'Orbis'.
He was also told of the cooperation fields with World Innovation Summit for Health which is sponsored by Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Health.
HH the Amir held a meeting with the officials where they discussed the ways to promote the current partnership between both parties in health and medical care and the ways to develop it.
HH the Amir was accompanied by several members of the official delegation.
Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!
