Media Center

Riyadh - Media & Communication Dept.- June 12

The State of Qatar participated on Monday in the 2nd Ministerial Meeting between Arab Countries and Pacific Island Countries in Riyadh, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with the attendance of Their Highnesses and Excellencies Foreign Ministers of the Arab and Pacific Island Countries, along with the Arab League Secretary-General.
HE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi headed the State of Qatar's delegation to the meeting.
In a speech before the meeting, His Excellency affirmed the State of Qatar's firm position towards the Palestinian cause and its support for all efforts devoted to finding a just solution to this cause, which is among the priorities of cooperation between Arab countries and Pacific island states.
He said the State of Qatar reaffirms that the Palestinian cause is the State of Qatar's primary cause, an international just cause and a global human conscience issue in which the international community said its word and issued its decisions while the Israeli entity had no qualms about these decisions.
His Excellency urged Pacific islands states to back the Arab firm position towards the Palestinian cause which is based on ending the Israeli occupation and establishing the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital within the framework of international legitimacy and pertinent UN Security Council's resolutions which are based on the utmost rejection to any measures that impose illegal reality on the ground in Jerusalem stemming from cooperation ties with Qatar and everything dictated by the global human conscience.
In this regard, HE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs called on Pacific islands states that have not yet recognized the State of Palestine to recognize and support the State of Palestine in international venues, expressing the State of Qatar's aspiration to have expanded cooperation between Arab states and Pacific islands states in pursuit of achieving international peace and security and supporting Arab efforts in international forums to establish a Middle East nuclear weapon free zone (MENWFZ) similar to the South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone (SPNFZ) Treaty of Rarotonga.
HE Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi said the State of Qatar aspires to broader cooperation to resolve regional conflicts in some territories of its countries through peaceful means that achieve international peace and security as a joint objective for which all countries strive for peoples' happiness.
His Excellency discussed the State of Qatar's successful experiences in external development work through the Qatar Investment Authority, adding that Qatar has cooperation and coordination prospects and ties with Pacific Islands that have been initiated since 2017 when the Pacific Islands Development Forum was convened at the margins of the First High-Level Pacific Blue Economy Conference (PBEC).
He underscored the constant dialogue and steadfast work to utilize the available potential and cooperation opportunities with the Pacific Islands stemming from the common desire and willingness to create a safe and stable region for communities to achieve sustainable economic development and common prosperity.
Within the framework of the State of Qatar's positive contribution in intensifying and coordinating regional and international efforts, HE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi reaffirmed that the State of Qatar is committed to bolstering ties of friendship, cooperation, inter-cultural and inter-civilizational dialogue that contribute to achieving peace, human development and respect for peoples' cultural and civilized privacies.
He added that the meeting convenes today in an international circumstance that witnesses qualitative accelerating and cascading evolutions outlining that the transformations the world is currently witnessing with the prediction of reshaping the looming balance of power precipitate the states to consider and explore ways to adapt to them and collectively contribute to formulating features of international relations system that should be based on principles of the equal sovereign for countries, equal security and balance of interests, just coherence and synergy.
In this regard, HE Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi underscored the importance of moving forward to strengthening Arab relations with Pacific island states because of the criticality of bolstering and adapting them for the benefit of the peoples of the two regions, adding that stemming from this point what has been initiated and agreed on -pertaining to Abu Dhabi Declaration issued by the meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers and the Pacific Island states on June 24, 2010- should be accomplished with intensifying the periodic political consultations and promoting cooperation forums among them.
He said both two groups need consultation and coordination at the margins of the UN General Assembly's sessions and other international forums, adding that there is a need for laying out a guiding framework for development and cooperation among countries in economic, cultural, scientific, political and environmental areas with long, medium and short term plans and deadlines to build on previous understandings and translate them into practical plans on the real ground in the fields of trade, investment, tourism, social and economic activities in the area of oil, natural gas and all types of energy sources, including new and renewable energy, human resources development, culture, education, technology and communications, tourism, transportation, agriculture, irrigation and capitalizing on countries' comparative advantage in these fields.
HE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs stressed that Arab states also need joint coordination with the Pacific states over global crises created by wars such as shortage of supply chains, food resources and rise of inflation rates, adding that there is a need for joint plans to counter environment's crises and combating desertification in some Arab states, as well as floods that hit some Pacific islands, in addition to setting out joint plans to counter the grave challenges arising from climate change and its adverse effects on states and peoples.
HE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi reiterated the State of Qatar's keenness to the convention of this meeting which bears out evidence of serious willingness to forge strategic partnership between Arab states and Pacific states.
His Excellency extended his thanks to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as leadership, government, and people for their unwavering efforts to host and patronize all forums that unify Arabs under one banner. His Excellency also thanked HE Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit for their appreciated efforts in preparing this meeting that epitomizes the depth of communication and ties between Arab states and Pacific island states.