By Fazeena Saleem
DOHA: British Ambassador Nicholas Hopton (pictured) is leaving Doha this week to take over a new diplomatic posting.
He has served as the ambassador to Qatar since July 2103, and trade and cultural relations between both countries have considerably enhanced during his tenure, Hopton told a press conference at his residence yesterday.
He will be replaced by Ajay Sharma who is Charge d’Affaires in Iran. He was involved in Iran’s nuclear negotiations and played a major role in the reopening the British embassy in Tehran, Hopton said.
Hopton will hand over two major challenges to his successor Sharma — supporting Qatar to host FIFA World Cup in 2022 and implementing a new ‘Gulf Strategy’ that the UK is developing to prioritise the relationship with the Gulf.
“Challenges he will face will be similar but little different. The challenge for Qatar and its partners such as the UK is to try to explain to people elsewhere in the world who don’t understand why the World Cup is possible in this part of Arabia, and explain them that its absolutely possible and that is wonderful that the World Cup is played for the first time in the Middle East,” Hooton said
On the Gulf Strategy, he said: “Big challenge will be trying to implement the new strategy in Qatar with partners and trying to raise bilateral partnerships.”
About achievements during his tenure, Hopton said the annual British festival was launched following the success of the British Cultural Year in 2013.
UK exports to Qatar is around 29 percent of its total exports. Last year, it exported goods worth £1.67bn, making Qatar the third largest export market for the UK. There was also £30bn of official Qatari investment in the UK compared to £22bn in 2013. “British companies and their Qatari partners are doing a great job looking for opportunities, bringing services and goods to Qatar from the UK,” said Hopton.
About 25,000 British nationals live in Qatar, while 61,000 Qataris applied for visas to travel to the UK in 2014. Over 3,000 students from Qatar are presently in the UK.
To a question about Russia’s decision to launch air strikes in Syria last week, Hopton said that the UK is concerned about the new development.
“I think that it’s complicated, the Russians need to make their position very clear, they have to explain what they are doing. Why they are doing this in Syria, the main concern the strikes they carried out in the last few days, they are striking the people fighting against Bashar Al Assad’s regime. This is contradicted by what the Russian government declared.”
The Peninsula
