Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to Qatar, Haja Ishata Thomas, highlighted the historic and strong bilateral relations between Qatar and her country over the past 40 years. Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the occasion of the visit of the President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Julius Maada Bio, to Qatar, the Ambassador said that given its strategic geographical location and the much revered diplomatic credibility that Qatar enjoys, Sierra Leone immediately expanded its diplomatic representation with Qatar since 1979.
Since that historic moment, Sierra Leone has always maintained warm and fraternal relations at all levels; diplomatic, bilateral, multilateral economic cooperation, 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 President Bio took office in 2018, the first country he visited was the beautiful state of Qatar. This shows the importance the government and people of Sierra Leone attach to Qatar.The friendly government and people of Qatar have provided development assistance to Sierra Leone, particularly in the education sector and recent support in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, Sierra Leone has also supported Qatar’s candidacies at the multilateral level. The Ambassador added that to further strengthen and deepen the trade and investment opportunities between the two countries, a team of experts from Sierra Leone has just completed a business visit to Qatar to showcase the trade and investment potentials. country’s investment.The Sierra Leone Business Delegation engaged private investors at the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and presented a list of potential investment projects, aimed at wooing (potential) investors and increasing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by 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.
Ambassador Thomas stressed that the President’s state visit to Qatar is an integral part of broadening and deepening bilateral relations in various sectors and fields.
