His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arrived in London Tuesday 24 May 2022, as part of his European tour.

During his UK visit, His Highness met with HM Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle. His Highness and Her Majesty expressed their mutual admiration for one another’s country and its people. Their discussions explored an array of current issues as well as their desire to ensure the historic friendship and partnership between Qatar and the UK continues to develop and grow.

Alongside his visit with Her Majesty the Queen His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani was welcomed by HRH the Prince of Wales at Clarence House, in London. The engagement was an opportunity to renew both nations' eagerness to expand and develop relations.

 

At the top of His Highness the Amir’s visit was the signing of a Joint Communique where Qatar and the UK announced the Qatar-UK Strategic Investment Partnership between the United Kingdom’s Office for Investment and the Government of the State of Qatar.

The Qatar-UK Strategic Investment Partnership highlights the State of Qatar’s objective to develop opportunities that explore ‘the deployment of capital to invest in sectors which are vital for shared prosperity’, with both His Highness and the Prime Minister welcoming the joint efforts to increase investment flows between the two countries.

The meeting between His Highness and Prime Minister Boris Johnson was also an opportunity to witness the signing of key Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) in various sectors including expanding the already strong relations between Qatar and UK in education. The MOU aims to promote mutual understanding and exchange knowledge and experience.

During his meeting with the Prime Minister His Highness affirmed Qatar is looking forward to the joint opportunities offered by the strong bilateral cooperation between Qatar and the UK. The meetings discussed many issues of concern to both countries, such as security, energy, regional and international issues, foremost of which are the developments in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, reiterated his thanks to His Highness the Amir for the role the State of Qatar played in evacuating British nationals from Afghanistan. The prime Minister went on to declare that, “Qatar is a vital partner of the UK in the Middle East and in challenging times I believe there's much more we can do together, from boosting investment to diversifying our energy supplies.”

 

With the launch of the Qatar-UK Energy Dialogue, His Excellency the Minister of State for Energy Affairs of the State of Qatar, and CEO and President of Qatar Energy, Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi and the Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP UK Secretary of State of the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) signed a new MOU between Qatar Energy and BEIS with the objective ‘to enhance cooperation on energy security, renewable energy, and decarbonisation.’

 

Alongside the Qatar-UK Energy Dialogue a new MOU between Qatar Energy and BEIS was signed  to enhance cooperation on energy security, renewable energy, and decarbonisation.

 

In an interview with the Financial Times, H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed his hope that Qatar-UK energy corporation would bring new opportunities to the UK and Qatar, adding that in ‘areas of technology, fintech, sustainability, there’s great potential with zero-net happening,” his comments were made in relation to UK’s plans to cut net -carbon emissions by 2050.

His Highnesses’ visit coincided with the announcement by RAF and Royal Navy to support Qatar during the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace MP commented that ‘Britain and Qatar will join forces to provide air policing in the skies above the tournament.’ Further stating that, he is ‘delighted that our joint squadron with the Qatari Emiri Air Force of Typhoons will patrol the airspace during the tournament.’ His Highness’ meeting with the Secretary of State for Defense also reviewed the latest Qatar- UK relations with special focus on developing bilateral cooperation in the defence and military fields.

 

Other engagements included a meeting with UK Home Secretary, the Rt Hon Priti Patel MP in which they discuss expanding Qatar UK relations in the security sector.