Doha: The Ambassador of the Republic of Sierra Leone to Qatar, HE Haja Ishata Thomas, emphasized that Sierra Leone and Qatar have enjoyed historic, fruitful and strong bilateral relations over the past 40 years.
Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the occasion of the visit of the President of Sierra Leone HE Dr. Julius Maada Bio to Qatar, the Ambassador said that given its strategic geographical location and revered diplomatic credibility enjoyed by Qatar, Sierra Leone immediately expanded its diplomatic representation to Qatar since 1979.
Since that historic moment, Sierra Leone has always maintained warm and fraternal relations at all levels; diplomatic, bilateral, multilateral economic as well as close cooperation with Qatar, which has further strengthened and deepened the relations between the two countries effectively, she added.
The Ambassador pointed out that when the President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Julius Maada Bio, took office in 2018, the first country he visited was beautiful Qatar, which shows the importance that the government and the people of the Republic of Sierra Leone attach to Qatar.
He said the friendly government and people of Qatar have provided a lot of development assistance to Sierra Leone, especially in the education sector and the recent support in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ambassador said that to further strengthen and deepen trade and investment opportunities between the two countries, a team of experts from the Republic of Sierra Leone has just completed a business visit to Qatar to make presentations to to highlight the commercial and investment potential of the country.
He said the Sierra Leone business delegation engaged private investors at the Qatar Chamber to showcase Sierra Leone’s business and investment potential and presented a list of potential investment projects, aimed at wooing the (potential) investors and increase foreign direct investment (FDI) in Sierra Leone. .
Similarly, the delegation met with officials from the Qatar Investment Authority and discussed a number of business opportunities, focusing primarily on brownfield projects, which involved investing in existing projects. Both sides have also highlighted the construction of seaports, hotels and renewable energy as possible investment projects.
