OREANDA-NEWS. October 29, 2010. President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov received Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry of Qatar Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah at Oqsaroy residence.

Welcoming the guest, the President noted that Uzbekistan and Qatar had a huge potential to develop bilateral cooperation.

Islam Karimov expressed his deep respect to the Emir of Qatar and gratitude for welcoming him to visit Qatar.

The President said Qatar’s example of efficient and rational use of natural resources and successful modernization of economy with use of innovative technologies deserved attention.

Vice Prime Minister of Qatar said his country was interested in expansion of all-round cooperation with Uzbekistan.

“His Majesty Emir of Qatar expresses high interest in strengthening ties with Uzbekistan. We are expecting your visit to our state and have many expectations of it,” Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah said.

The State of Qatar considers its relations with Uzbekistan among priority directions, highly evaluating the constructive character of Uzbekistan’s policy on the regional and international levels.

The mutual partnership covers areas like rated, investments, energy, IT, telecommunications and tourism. A recent Uzbekistan-Qatar business forum held in Doha identified prospective directions of bilateral cooperation.

The book of President Karimov “High spirituality is an invincible power” was published in Qatar in the Arabic language. Its presentation was held at Doha University.

During his recent official visit to Turkmenistan, the head of Uzbekistan highlighted the importance of developing of the prospective project of transport and communication corridor Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Oman-Qatar. The initiative, that would link the Central Asian region with the Gulf states, has already drawn big interest in many states.

Another area of interest for businesses of Qatar is the free industrial and economic zone Navoi in central Uzbekistan, which offers attractive investment opportunities.

During the talks, the sides also considered other topics representing mutual interest.