 The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, and his wife, Barbara Mikliè Türk, met the Emir of the State of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned, who arrived on a two-day official visit to Slovenia. After an official reception with military honours and a short talk between the two couples, the Slovenian President and the Emir of Qatar had a one-to-one meeting, followed by plenary talks between the delegation of the Republic of Slovenia and the delegation of the State of Qatar, led by the Slovenian President and the Emir of Qatar. |
 Dr Türk described Qatar as a friendly country, with which Slovenia is developing very intensive and promising relations. He emphasised that the two countries are similar in size and that they both strive for just solutions in international relations. To this end, the Slovenian President called for cooperation between the two countries in various international and regional initiatives, in which also smaller countries can take part with specific projects. He emphasised that Slovenia appreciates Qatar's contribution to stabilization in the Balkans and highlighted the highly important role of Qatar in efforts to achieve a durable peace in the Middle East.
In Dr Türk’s words, Slovenia also wishes to help resolve the problems of the Middle East. In addition to political activities pursued within the European Union and multilateral forums, Slovenia also takes part in these efforts through a humanitarian project to rehabilitate children who suffered disability during the recent war in Gaza. This project, launched on the initiative of the Slovenian President, has already been running for a year and a half. In this respect, Dr Türk expressed his hope that the project would develop further, thus providing a firm basis for aid to the most innocent and most affected by this war. He added that, through this humanitarian aid, Slovenia wishes to demonstrate its will to help in finding just solutions. |
 The Emir of the State of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, expressed his support for bilateral cooperation and positively evaluated Slovenia's efforts in the Balkans and the Middle East. He particularly highlighted the importance of the project to rehabilitate disabled children from Gaza, which the State of Qatar will support with a donation.
During their talks, the Slovenian President and the Emir of Qatar also touched on possibilities of further developing economic cooperation, particularly in the field of direct investment. The plenary talks were attended by the Slovenian Minister of Finance, Dr Franc Kri¾aniè, and the Minister of Health, Dorijan Maru¹iè, who presented to the Qatari guests possibilities of investment in infrastructure, telecommunications, the pharmaceutical industry and tourism, particularly health tourism. The Emir of Qatar emphasised that his country is willing to invest in long-term and strategic projects. Moreover, he mentioned the possibility of joint action by the two countries on third markets. |
 Later in the visit, in the presence of the Slovenian President and the Emir of Qatar, the Republic of Slovenia and the State of Qatar signed several bilateral agreements:
Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of a Joint Ministerial Committee between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the State of Qatar, signed on behalf of Slovenia by the Minister of Finance, Dr Franc Kri¾aniè;
Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism Co-operation between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the State of Qatar, signed on behalf of Slovenia by the Minister of the Economy, Ms Darja Radiæ, MSc;
Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the State of Qatar on Cooperation in the Field of Health, signed on behalf of Slovenia by the Minister of Health, Dorijan Maru¹iè;
Protocol on Consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, signed on behalf of Slovenia by the Director-General for Economic Diplomacy and Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vladimir Ga¹pariè;
Agreement on a Donation of EUR100,000 for Rehabilitation of Children from Gaza at the Soèa University Rehabilitation Institute in Ljubljana, signed on behalf of Slovenia by the Director of the Slovenian International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF), Dorijan Mar¹iè;
Memorandum of Understanding in the Field of Sport between the Olympic Committee of Slovenia and the Olympic Committee of Qatar, signed on behalf of Slovenia by the President of the Olympic Committee of Slovenia, Janez Kocijanèiè, MSc, and
Agreement on Mutual Cooperation and Exchange of News between the Slovenian News Agency (STA) and the Qatar News Agency (QNA), signed on behalf of Slovenia by the General Manager of the Slovenian Press Agency, Bojan Veselinoviè. |
 The signatories of the above-mentioned bilateral agreements on the Qatari side were the Minister of Business and Trade of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Jassim Bin Abdul Aziz Bin Jassim Al Thani, and the Minister of State for International Cooperation, Dr Khaled Bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah.
In his statement to the press after the signing of the bilateral agreements, the Slovenian President recalled that, during his official visit to Qatar on 11 January this year, the two countries concluded an agreement on economic cooperation and a convention on the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of tax evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital. In Dr Türk’s words, these additional seven agreements also establish a framework for intensive cooperation in other areas. His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani similarly considered the signed agreements to be a significant contribution to the development of cooperation between the two countries. |
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