 The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, arrived on an official visit to the State of Qatar accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel ®bogar; the Minister of Finance, Dr Franc Kri¾aniè; the state secretary at the Ministry of Health, Ivan Er¾en; and a 68-member economic delegation. Today, President Türk attended the Qatar-Slovenian business forum, where he addressed an audience of business people from the two countries. In his address, he stressed the role of Qatar as an important international centre and expressed the interest of the Republic of Slovenia in widening economic cooperation between the two countries.
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 President Türk noted that Slovenia had won the seat of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and that the South Stream gas pipeline will run through its territory. The energy industry is therefore one of the important areas offering possibilities for cooperation. Among the areas of interest, President Türk mentioned construction, information technology, logistics, trade and the food industry. He placed particular stress on health services linked with health tourism and on the financial services sector, where Slovenia has great potential as a financial centre of South Eastern Europe. President Türk invited the Qatar entrepreneurs to visit Slovenia and expressed the expectation that his official visit to Qatar, which is the first by a Slovenian president, would contribute to creating new partnerships that would bring good long-term results to the benefit of both countries.
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 President Türk was then received by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani; the two statesmen headed plenary talks between the Qatar and Slovenian delegations, followed by a brief one-to-one meeting. Their talks focused mainly on the possibilities of developing economic cooperation between the two countries and on topical international issues. President Türk presented the potential of Slovenia as an entry point to the European Union for the Qatar economy. The Emir of Qatar highlighted Qatar's interest in investing financial resources in various parts of the world, notably in the Euro area, as well as interest in cooperating with Slovenian banks and business systems, and in developing infrastructure. According to the Emir, Qatar is willing to make long-term investments in these fields under the appropriate conditions. |
 After the talks, the Agreement between the Government of the State of Qatar and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on Economic Cooperation and the Agreement between the Government of the State of Qatar and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income were concluded. On behalf of the Republic of Slovenia, the agreements, which provide a framework for developing economic cooperation between the two countries, were signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel ®bogar, and the Minister of Finance, Dr Franc Kri¾aniè. |
 As part of his official visit to Qatar, President Türk visited the Education City of the Qatar Foundation and the Qatar Science and Technology Park; he gave a lecture titled "Democracy, Human Rights and Dialogue between Civilisations" at Georgetown University – Qatar. In the evening, President Türk met with Slovenian businessmen and citizens of the Republic of Slovenia residing in Qatar.
On the second day of his visit, President Türk visited the Al Jazeera television station, where he met with the station’s management and gave an interview.
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