Doha and Bishkek established diplomatic ties in 1998.

Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov witnessed the signing of a number of agreements and memoranda on Wednesday in the capital Bishkek.

According to an Amiri Diwan statement, the two countries agreed to establish and operate cultural centres and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate in sports.

Other MOU’s covered cooperation between the two countries’ ministries of finance and justice ministries, cooperation in prevention and elimination of emergencies, banking, agriculture, and food security.

Agreements also covered cooperation in military, agriculture, veterinary medicine, health care and medical sciences. 

Doha and Bishkek also signed an agreement on the “mutual administrative assistance for the optimal application of customs legislation” and another on “the contradiction of investigation and combating customs crimes”.

The amir landed in Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday as part of his Central Asian tour, where he was welcomed by President Japarov in Bishkek.

Japarov was in Doha in December for the final 2022 FIFA World Cup match.

Doha and Bishkek established diplomatic ties in 1998 and the Gulf state opened its embassy in Kyrgyzstan in 2012. The Central Asian country then opened its embassy in Doha in 2015.

According to Bishkek’s embassy in Doha, cooperation between the two countries “received an impulse for further deepening” more than a decade ago. 

The amir’s Central Asian tour started off in Uzbekistan on Monday, in which he met with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and held official discussions on bilateral relations. 

Sheikh Tamim is scheduled to visit Kazakhstan next, where he will attend the Astana International Forum, before ending his tour in Tajikistan. The forum’s website listed Qatar’s amir as one of the speakers during the event’s opening day.