The two leaders discussed cooperation across various sectors, particularly energy, industry, and investment.
Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides have discussed prospects in Nicosia to expand trade and investment relations between the two countries.
During their discussions on Tuesday, both leaders focused on cooperation across various sectors, particularly energy, industry, and investment, as outlined by a statement from the Amiri Diwan.
They also addressed regional and international matters of mutual interest, with a particular emphasis on the ongoing Israeli conflict in Gaza.
Sheikh Tamim is also scheduled to later travel to Greece on Tuesday.
Christodoulides praised Doha and Nicosia’s relations while describing his country as “Qatar’s ambassador in Brussels“.
“We have excellent relations, but there is a lot of untapped potential for our bilateral relations, but also for working together in the region,” he said. “At the same time Cyprus is a member state of the European Union, you can consider us as your ambassadors in Brussels.”
The talks also covered the “Amalthea” initiative for humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to state media in Cyprus.
The visit comes as Qatar continues to play a central role as a mediator alongside Egypt in the hopes of achieving a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel’s war on the blockaded coastal enclave has persisted for nearly eight months.
Last March, Cyprus led a maritime aid initiative in an attempt to ensure the entry of humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip, with the main backing of the United Arab Emirates.
This came after United States President Joe Biden directed the US military to establish a $320m floating pier off the coast of Gaza for the delivery of aid. The move has been criticised as a costly and complicated alternative that is deflecting attention from a much simpler solution, which requires Israel to fully open all land crossings to Gaza and to secure aid trucks going in.
Qatar had expressed interest in financing the aid entry mechanism while stressing that the port was “not an alternative” to the need for the unhindered delivery of aid into Gaza.
Qatar-Cyprus ties
The ties between both countries date back to 2001 and have since witnessed key developments, especially in the field of trade.
Qatar’s previous leader, the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, had visited Cyprus in 2010 in a bid to strengthen the two countries’ ties.
Then, in 2014, former Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades visited Qatar with a number of ministers and more than 60 businessmen from the country.
Cypriot companies have played a key part in major infrastructure projects across Doha, including Qatar Foundation’s Education City Stadium, one of the venues that hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup matches.
In aviation, Qatar Airways operates 14 weekly flights from Larnaca International Airport in the summer and seven weekly flights during the winter, according to Doha’s state news agency (QNA).
Doha and Nicosia also share strong ties in the energy sector.
In 2021, QatarEnergy entered a consortium that included ExxonMobil for exploration and production sharing in Block Five, located southeast of Cyprus, which marked the Qatari entity’s second such exploration block in the country.
