Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The Prime Minister Meets With His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Heir Apparent of the State of Qatar

Prime Minister Taro Aso held talks with His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Heir Apparent of the State of Qatar, at the Prime Minister's Office.

At the beginning, Prime Minister Aso welcomed the visit to Japan by the Heir Apparent and his delegation, saying, "I welcome Your Highness' visit to Japan. I earnestly hope that this visit will help develop our close bilateral relations in a multilayered, broad range of areas through such means as the Japan-Qatar Joint Economic Committee."

Prime Minister Aso also expressed his continued expectation for maintenance and expansion of bilateral cooperation in the field of energy, and for an increased flow of people and goods with direct flights of Qatar Airways connecting Narita and Doha to be launched in the spring of 2010. In response, Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim expressed his gratitude for Japan's invitation for his visit, and said that he welcomed the close cooperative relationship between the two countries and that he would like to further deepen the friendly bilateral relationship as instructed by H.H. Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar.

On the education front, Prime Minister Aso thanked Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim for Qatar's generous assistance in the reopening of Doha Japanese School under his initiative, and requested that the two countries should consult closely for further development of education cooperation. In response, Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim said that Doha Japanese School was symbolic of the friendly and cooperative relationship between the two countries, and that he would like to see the tie between the two peoples develop further by having Qatari children study together with Japanese children in the school.

They also discussed matters such as bilateral economic relations and regional situations.

Related Link

• Japan-Qatar Relations (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)