Doha: Vice-President of the Dominican Republic H E Raquel Pena, affirmed that her country and the State of Qatar share the same visions regarding their role in the international community, and that the two countries have shown their solidarity in facing regional challenges.
Her Excellency explained, in an exclusive interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), that the recent visit to the State of Qatar came to deepen bilateral relations and to reaffirm historical partnerships, and to open new areas of bilateral cooperation in various fields such as investment, health, education, sports, culture and other fields.
She pointed out that the relations between the State of Qatar and the Dominican Republic, which was established in 2000, have witnessed a great development in recent years, especially after the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic on the mechanism of bilateral political consultations, expressing her aspirations to increase trade exchanges between the two countries and expand cooperation, and increase Dominican products in the Qatari market.
The Vice-President of the Dominican Republic appreciated the support provided by the State of Qatar to her country during the coronavirus pandemic, which contributed to making the death rate low compared to the rest of the world.
In this regard, she said, that in the second half of 2020, the Dominican national government district and other central institutions received from the State of Qatar significant medical assistance in order to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Regarding the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the economies of countries, Her Excellency said that this pandemic has proven to the world that no country can face this kind of challenge alone. And that countries still need to coordinate in the distribution of resources to protect humanity, and the international community today is more capable of facing these challenges in the future.
She added, in a related context, that the world will not return to the way it was before the pandemic, as it has become dependent on the determination of human beings to become stronger and more cooperative. As human beings, we have a need to communicate, which is what prompted us to explore different horizons and forms of communication during this period, she added.
The Vice-President of the Dominican Republic stressed the importance of strengthening alliances and progressing in matters related to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its 17 goals for countries with integrated economic capabilities such as Qatar and the Dominican Republic.
She noted that the Dominican Republic is one of the most important advocates of strengthening international cooperation, especially in social development sectors such as education, health, scientific research and infrastructure, pointing out that such services play an important role in raising the standard of living around the world.
On the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the Vice-President of the Dominican Republic said that sport is an engine for development, stressing that Qatar has been able to show the world the importance of using sport as a means to improve various areas of social development such as education, and more than that, how to invest in this event to develop society.
