The tour will witness the signings of agreements and memorandums of understanding in a number of fields.
Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani landed in Uzbeikstan on Monday, hours after setting off on a Central Asian tour where he is set to meet with the various leaders and officials.
According to the Amiri Diwan’s announcement on Saturday, the tour will start in Uzbekistan, followed by Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and will end in Tajikistan.
“During the tour in Central Asia, His Highness the Amir will hold talks with leaders and senior officials of these countries on ways to strengthen cooperation relations, in addition to discussing a number of issues of common concern,” the Amiri Diwan said in a statement.
The statement said a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding across a number of fields and sectors.
In Kazakhstan, the amir is scheduled to attend the Astana International Forum, which will take place between Thursday and Friday. The forum’s website listed Qatar’s amir as one of the speakers during the event’s opening day.
In October last year, Qatar’s amir visited Kazakhstan for the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in the Kazakh capital of Astana.
Notably, Qatar was among the first Arab countries to recognise Kazakhstan’s independence.
Speaking to the Qatar news agency (QNA) on Saturday, Chairman of the Committee on Internal and External Affairs of the Shura Council Ali bin Fetais Al Marri said the tour would open “broad, future prospects” for partnerships between Doha and the countries listed.
Al Marri added that the tour represents “great support for the Shura Council and for all other sectors of the state”.
Separately, experts told QNA that the amir’s visit to Uzbekistan “opens a new chapter in Arab and Central Asian relations and paves the way for a transitional phase in bilateral cooperation.”
Executive Director of the Development Strategy Center in Uzbekistan Eldor Tulyakov told QNA that the amir’s visit is “an important and strategic milestone”. The visit would also come after the opening of the premises of the Qatari embassy in Uzbekistan last month.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al-Thani told the news agency that the visit to Uzbekistan would pave the way for more mutual investments.
“We have great interest in developing trade and economic relations with Uzbekistan, due to the importance of the agricultural sector,” he told QNA.
