The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, signed yesterday in Madrid a Joint Declaration which, among other issues, establishes “a framework for regular and structured political dialogue” and advocates “a stable and fruitful cooperation in the field of energy and gas” in the context of “the current international energy crisis”.
The Emir Al Thani made yesterday the second and last day of his state visit to Spain. At the end of the first day, the Qatari head of state took advantage of his toast during the gala dinner offered by the King and Queen of Spain at the Royal Palace to express his confidence in “the solidity of the Spanish economy” and to announce an increase of “investments in Spain by 5 billion dollars (4.7 billion euros)”, investments that “will have an added value to our already existing successful investments in Spain, taking into account that Qatar is considered one of the largest Arab investors in Spain”.
As expected, the Emir’s announcement was the main protagonist of the event which opened the second day, the Spain-Qatar business forum, held at the headquarters of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) and attended by Pedro Sánchez and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto. In statements to the press, the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, affirmed that the investment of almost 5,000 million euros in Spain announced by Al Thani constitutes “great news” for Spain, “firstly because of the amount, and secondly because it shows that Spain is worthwhile”.
Subsequently, Pedro Sánchez received the Emir at the Moncloa Palace, in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares. During the meeting, the two leaders agreed to raise the level of their bilateral relations to the category of strategic partnership and to deepen economic and political ties between the two countries. Likewise, according to Moncloa, during the meeting a collaboration agreement was signed between the sovereign wealth fund QIA and the Spanish public financial institution COFIDES “which will foster a flow of investment in Spain in green and digital economy projects aligned with the Transformation and Resilience Recovery Plan promoted by the Government of Spain.”
Sánchez and Al Thani also signed a Joint Declaration “which creates a framework for regular and structured political dialogue on the common agenda of the two countries on regional and global issues.” “Qatar maintains this type of strategic dialogue with very few countries -USA, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Japan, Turkey and China-, which, together with the current geopolitical context after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, redoubles the transcendence for Spain, taking into account energy security criteria”, continued Moncloa, which recalled, in this regard, that Qatar “is the world’s second largest producer of natural gas”.
In fact, the Joint Declaration -in addition to highlighting “the opportunities that exist to increase Qatari investments in Spain and the interest of Spanish companies in expanding their activities in Qatar” and welcoming “with satisfaction” the signing between QIA and COFIDES and the 5. billion in investments announced by the Emir for the coming years- dedicates a chapter to “the importance of a stable and fruitful cooperation in the field of energy and gas, as Qatar is one of the main gas suppliers to Spain and has always proven to be a loyal and responsible partner.”
“Spain recognizes Qatar’s fundamental role in the current international energy crisis by contributing to gas production and helping to maintain price stability,” the text continues. This point is especially important in the current European context of disconnection from Russian gas in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin’s regime. Qatar is the world’s second largest exporter of liquefied gas after the United States and is among the top five suppliers of natural gas to Spain, below the United States and at the same level as Algeria and Nigeria.
In addition, during yesterday’s business forum, the two countries signed several collaboration agreements with the Madrid Chamber of Commerce, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and the CEOE. Iberdrola and the Qatar Investment Promotion Agency (IPA Qatar) also signed an agreement to strengthen their strategic alliance in innovation, which will enable the Spanish company to expand its Research, Development and Innovation (R&D&I) activities through its Iberdrola Innovation Middle East center, based in Doha, as announced by Iberdrola’s chairman, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, during the CEOE business meeting.
