The Ambassador of France to Qatar, Franck Gellet.
DOHA: Terming France-Qatar relations ‘trusted and consistent’, Ambassador of France to Qatar, Franck Gellet, has said that both countries would soon launch strategic dialogue at the Foreign Ministers’ level to bolster political relationships.
In an exclusive interview with The Peninsula, the recently appointed Ambassador said that the relations between France and Qatar had always been ‘trusted and consistent’ for decades and they kept on growing to new heights during tenures of successive French Presidents. “President Macron was in Doha six months after his election. H H the Amir was in France six months after.”
He said that political relations between two countries would take a new strength in the coming months in the form of a strategic dialogue at the Foreign Ministers’ level.
Gellet said that Qatar was the only country in the region with which France was going to start that kind of strategic dialogue at this level.
Commenting on the visit of H H the Amir to France in July this year, the French ambassador said that the visit of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in July 2018 was the most successful visit.
“The visit of H H the Amir to Mont-de-Marsan Airbase, the military facility where Rafale jet pilots are trained, was an expression of intensification of bilateral relations. We are honoured that Qatar procured world number one Rafale jets from France.”
The talks between H H the Amir and President Emmanuel Macron, he said, had strengthened bilateral relations. “Both leaders also exchange on regular occasions including at the FIFA World Cup final in Russia which they attended together.”
Gellet said that the meeting of H H the Amir with French Prime Minister was also very important in which both sides discussed growing scope of Qatari investments in France.
The French Ambassador noted that Qatari investors were taking special interest in investing in France and the volume of Qatari investments in his country was witnessing a constant rise.
Without sharing an exact figure, the Ambassador said that it amounted to billions of dollars. He said that currently four out of the five most important foreign investments in France from this region were from Qatar.
On the blockade and Gulf crisis, the French ambassador said that President Macron from the beginning had publicly called for the lifting of embargo measures, that are, first of all, affecting families. France was fully supporting Kuwait initiative for the resolution of crisis through dialogue. “We firmly believe that the solution of crisis is through dialogue.”
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