COURTESY CALL – Mohamed Bin Abdulla Al-Rumaihi, Ambassador of Qatar and Special Envoy to The Bahamas, pays a courtesy call on the Minister for Grand Bahama Dr. Michael Darville. Pictured from left to right: Melvin Seymour, Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Grand Bahama; Ambassador Al-Rumaihi; Dr. Darville; and Hahad Ali Al-Nuaimi, Third Secretary Embassy of the State of Qatar.
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FREEPORT, Bahamas – Minister for Grand Bahama Dr. Michael Darville
officially welcomed Mohamed Bin Abdulla Al-Rumaihi, Ambassador of Qatar
as Special Envoy to The Bahamas, Nov. 21, 2013.
Ambassador Al-Rumaihi
paid a courtesy call on Dr. Darville at his office in the Harold
DeGregory Complex.In welcoming the Special Envoy, Dr. Darville pointed
out that his visit comes on the heels of a signing ceremony in August,
where The Bahamas formally established diplomatic relations with Qatar
at its Embassy in Washington, D.C..
Dr. Darville said it was his
understanding that diplomatic relations between The Bahamas and Qatar, a
sovereign Arab state, had been sought since 2003 and the agreement was
finalised by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell,
during a visit to Qatar earlier this year.
“The ambassador’s visit
today signifies Qatar’s seriousness about and commitment to working
with the Government of The Bahamas, and with Grand Bahama Island, in
particular.
“As the minister for Grand Bahama, I am happy that His
Excellency’s fact finding mission has led him to our shores, as Grand
Bahama Island has so much to offer in terms of tourism, trade, cultural
exchanges and investment opportunities,” he said.
Dr. Darville
told the distinguished visitor that during his stay he will be shown how
Grand Bahama Island has established a first class reputation as a major
maritime and transshipment centre.
“In touring our industrial
zone, you will see that our maritime industry encompasses a wide range
of sectors including ship registry, ship and mega yacht repair, oil
transshipment and storage and international cargo transshipment,” he
stated.
Dr. Darville also informed that Freeport boasts one of the
deepest man made harbours in the region, a world class international
airport capable of handling the largest aircraft in service, and an
international business and logistics park for value added and cargo
handling activities.
“Additionally, plans are now on the drawing
board to further strengthen our island’s position as a leading maritime
centre with the construction of a state of the art arbitration centre.
“We
believe that Grand Bahama Island has a lot of potential to develop its
natural resources and is poised to become a global shipping and business
centre in preparation for the opening of the expanded Panama Canal in
early 2015,” he said.
Dr. Darville said that as a result of the
establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties between the two countries, a
mutually beneficial relationship can be fostered that will allow the
equal exchange of information, create valuable opportunities for trade
expansion, transference of technical expertise and knowledge in tourism,
maritime and industrial, energy and financial services sectors.
Ambassador
Al-Rumaihi expressed gratitude to Dr. Darville and the government for
the invitation to visit The Bahamas. He said his country has established
the relationship to extend friendship to the people of The Bahamas.He
said although Qatar is a major exporter of oil and gas, that is not the
main objective for the government or the Qatari people.
"His
Highness, the Emir of Qatar, has a vision 2033 and we are going to host,
in mid-term, 2022 World Cup."He said Qatar has established the basic
pillars of education and culture as its objectives and that health care
and industry will establish that in future the country will never rely
only on exportation of the oil and gas.
“So these are the targets
and Qatar reaches out to friendly countries and friendly people to
invest and to develop our brothers in the humanity to reach their
target, whatever their aims to develop their people, and this is one of
the visits that have the honour to represent my country here, to visit
your beautiful country, and your nice people to measure what is the
opportunities that Qatar can extend to the people and the country of The
Bahamas.
Ambassador Al-Rumaihi will be in Grand Bahama until
Saturday. He will meet with executives of the Grand Bahama Chamber of
Commerce, Grand Bahama Port Authority, and will tour BORCO, Freeport
Container Port, the Ginn Project and West End, and the Deep Water Cay
Club in east Grand Bahama.
Qatar Envoy welcomed to Grand Bahama Island
Qatar Envoy tours East End, Grand Bahama Island