Hamid Reza Dehghani, the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Qatar; Yury Sentyurin, Secretary-General of GECF, and other officials at the GECF Secretariat.
Doha: The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), the global platform of the leading gas producing nations, on July 11 welcomed H E Hamid Reza Dehghani, the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Qatar, and his accompanying delegation at the GECF Secretariat.
The high-ranking visitors were welcomed by Yury Sentyurin, Secretary General of the GECF. Iran’s enduring legacy in GECF’s success was reflected in the presence also of several Iranian colleagues from various departments and offices of the GECF Secretariat.
The 17th largest country in the world by landmass holds a special place in the GECF as it is one of the Founder Member Countries and boasts one of the largest natural gas reserves in the world.
The two sides also discussed new areas of cooperation, which ranged from initiating scholarships for students from GECF’s Member Countries to creating a link between energy-focused research institutes.
According to the Ambassador, Iran intends to harness this vast natural resource for the advancement of the world’s economy and society, and the GECF is the ideal platform to achieve this in order to realise the UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 7 of ‘Affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all’.
“The GECF is a unique platform in that no other similar organisation exists where Member Countries can come together in the spirit of cooperation, positively shape policies, and speak in unison about matters related to natural gas,” said Dehghani.
During the meeting, Secretary General Sentyurin familiarised Ambassador Dehghani with the Forum’s vision and mission and key deliverables such as the GECF Global Gas Outlook 2050. The Secretary General also outlined the agenda of activities for 2021 including the upcoming 6th GECF Summit of Heads of State and Government, which is slated to be held in the State of Qatar in 2021.
Here, Sentyurin recalled with appreciation the 3rd GECF Summit which was held in Tehran, Iran in 2015 and received great accolades from leaders of the attending countries. In turn, the Iranian Ambassador shared the view from Tehran and the economic, political, and social priorities of the incoming President Ebrahim Raisi.
