Qatar and Venezuela established diplomatic ties on 24 May 1973, with Doha opening its first embassy in Caracas in December 2001.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrived to Doha on Tuesday while on an official visit to the Gulf state.

Maduro met with Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Wednesday in an official talk session at the Amiri Diwan.

“We arrived in Qatar to continue with our International Work Agenda,” the Venezuelan leader said, according to Reuters.

In the official session, Sheikh Tamim welcomed Maduro and his accompanying delegation and expressed his hope for bolstering of relations between the two countries in various fields, describing his visit as an important one.

The president stressed Venezuela’s keenness to develop relations with Doha, expressing hope that his visit would contribute to such moves.

High on the agenda were discussions of ways to enhance ties in the fields of energy, economy, investment, agriculture and tourism, in addition to exchanging views on some sticking points on a regional as well as international scale.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Chief of the Amiri Diwan Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Minister of Transport Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, the Minister of Municipality Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi also attended the meeting.

As for Caracas’s side, the Minister of the People’s Power for Productive Agriculture and Land Wilmar Castro Soteldo, the Minister of the People’s Power for Tourism Ali Ernesto Padron Paredes and the Minister of the People’s Power for Transport Ramon Celestino Velazquez Araguayan joined the president in the session.

Doha and Caracas share a common position on the right of Palestinian people, with Venezuela also in full support for the establishment of an independent state, “with Jerusalem as its capital, and with full membership in the United Nations, as stipulated in international principles and resolutions,” state-owned Qatar News Agency said.

Diplomatic tour

Maduro left Kuwait on Monday in what is his first major tour abroad since visiting Russia back in 2019.

His current tour also includes Turkey, Algeria and Iran.

During his visit to Tehran, the two sides, both subject to crippling US sanctions, inked a 20 year cooperation document on Saturday which includes cooperation in the fields of oil, petrochemicals, defence, agriculture, tourism, and culture.

“Venezuela has shown exemplary resistance against sanctions and threats from enemies and Imperialists,” Iran’s Raisi said, according to Reuters.