President Armen Sarkissian wrapped up results of his official visit to the State of Qatar: new page in the Armenian-Qatari relations

“I know this country very well, have been visiting it for many years, have many friends here among the leadership of the country, in the business community, in the areas of education and science. I am glad that the relations of many years, meetings and ideas today serve our country, the state, our nation,” President Sarkissian said at the meeting with journalists referring to the course of the visit, meetings and reached agreements. President Armen Sarkissian is in the State of Qatar on official visit. “The visit has been pretty intensive. The results are very clear: both sides spoke about our very close relations. Among evident results is the abolishment of visa requirements for the citizens of Armenia, it means tourism from Armenia to Qatar and from Qatar to Armenia will increase rapidly. This will also open the door for the businessmen to come faster and more comfortable to Qatar, observe the opportunities which are pretty ample. And vice versa: Qataris will come to Armenia to see the existing investment opportunities.

Another component is Sheikha Moza’s invitation. She is the mother of Emir and is well-known all over the world as a person who has a vision, especially when it comes to the development of science and education. The results are exciting because the Foundation of Qatar was created and it is a huge international educational platform. As a result of our meetings, doors have been opened. I hope that our state figures, educational and research institutions and individuals, who wish to receive education here, can come to study. I will be glad if our young people receive high quality education here, and then come back to the Fatherland. As for practical ties, the areas are multiple.

First of all, Qatar is very interested in modern technologies. At the WISE (World Innovation Summit for Education) our first discourse was about artificial intelligence. Every one realizes that without artificial intelligence airspace shuttles will not be operational tomorrow, modern technologies cannot be managed, even education and science will not function. It is means that artificial intelligence is very important. I have invited the leader of Qatar to conduct an official visit to Armenia. I have also invited the partners and Sheikha Moza to participate in a number of international conferences which will take place in Armenia. Among them the Armenian Summit of Minds, next June, and STARMUS festival for science, technologies and universe. They are very interested in coming. They have great interest in new technologies, provide enormous sums of money to develop that area while we have potential. We don’t have that industry yet but we have talented software engineers who can become the base of that industry. However, we need to work hard and support that area because any area needs support if we want to elevate it to the world level. Our neighboring and other states, the entire world think that the future of their country and of the world is linked to new technologies. It means that we are also in competition and to provide for the best ideas and financial support, we need to create proper conditions – talented people, good universities, an excellent educational system as well as financial, possibly tax break support. We need to demonstrate that through us they will have the opportunity to sell their product at the larger Eurasian market. Another interesting topic was food safety which is significant for Qatar, Persian Gulf countries, and Armenia.

Food safety is not about the safety of food quality, it’s about its proportion distribution, sustainability, steady production and import. In case of Armenia, it is also true that we need to export not only the products produced in our country but also be able to sell products on the markets of third countries.

Thirdly, Qatar, which is one of the richest countries of the world, has different mechanisms and foundations which make investments in various countries and in various areas, ranging from mining, metallurgy to agriculture. Armenia can attract financial investments.”

Recapping his visit, President Armen Sarkissian said that in a sense it opened a new page in the Armenian-Qatari relations. There is support of Qatar and its leadership. “Upon my return to Yerevan, I will encourage for these relations to develop very dynamically,” the President of Armenia said.