Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki yesterday met with Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, HE Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah, who is in Tunis on a two-day visit.

HE al-Attiyah conveyed during the meeting greetings of HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and their best wishes for the best of health to the Tunisian president and further progress and development to the Tunisian people.

In turn, President Marzouki assigned al-Attiyah to convey his greetings and appreciation to HH the Emir and HH the Heir Apparent and his best wishes to them for the best of health and happiness and more progress and prosperity to the Qatari people.

The meeting was attended by Qatar’s ambassador to Tunisia, Saad bin Nasser al-Hemaidi and members of the delegation accompanying HE al-Attiyah.

Al-Attiyah later met with Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali. The meeting discussed ways to implement joint programmes between Qatar and Tunisia.

The Minister expressed hope that the implementation of these projects, covering sectors such as infrastructure, tourism, mining, phosphate, education and health, would begin soon.

Regarding the establishment of an oil refinery in the region of Skhira in the south of Tunisia, al-Attiyah stressed the importance of the project, which is being examined by the professionals concerned to achieve the best ways to implement it.

He later held talks with Minister of Equipment and Housing Mohamed Salman to discuss a joint venture between Qatar and Tunisia, especially in the field of infrastructure and real estate.

He also held talks with Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdul Salam. Al-Attiyah said they discussed developing a mechanism to follow up and implement projects that had been agreed upon between the two countries, under the direction of HH the Emir and HH the Heir Apparent.

He added that these projects included many areas such as energy, mining, infrastructure, tourism and real estate as well as the food industry.

Abdul Salam said that Tunisia-Qatar relations had reached an advanced stage.

The talks, he said, were no longer about the agreements, but about the
implementation of projects agreed upon in various fields, such as housing and tourism (for example, the Tozeur desert resort in the south of Tunisia), as well as technical co-operation in health and engineering, and bilateral partnership at the African level.

He called Tunisia-Qatar relations “solid and strong serving the interests of both countries and the interests of the Arab nation in general”.

Earlier, al-Attiyah met Tunisian Minister of Investment and International Co-operation Riyad Beltayeb and discussed with him aspects of existing co-operation between Qatar and Tunisia, and ways to further enhance and develop it to serve the interest of both countries.