ATHENS: Qatar said yesterday it was interested in investing €5bn ($6.66bn) to develop energy projects in debt-laden Greece.
The two countries signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to export Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Greece and build LNG terminals in the Mediterranean country.
“I express the desire of Qatar for investments of €5bn in Greece,” the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani said after meeting his Greek counterpart George Papandreou in Athens.
“This is a most welcome proposal for Greece at this time of economic hardship,” said Papandreou, whose country agreed to a €110bn bailout by the EU and the IMF on Sunday to avoid default.
Greece, the euro zone’s least competitive economy, is striving for foreign investment to help balance its payments deficit.
The agreement includes plans for a €3.5bn LNG terminal with a capacity of seven billion cubic metres in western Greece, to be built by Qatar Petroleum.
The two countries will set up a joint committee to look further into the projects. “It will take follow-up and determination on both sides for decisions to be taken and implemented,” Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem said.
Earlier, the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister held talks with Papandreou at Maximo Palace here. The two premiers discussed bilateral ties between Qatar and Greece and reviewed aspects of cooperation in various areas.
The talks were attended on the Qatari side by members of the official delegation accompanying the premier, while on the Greek side they were attended by Deputy Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis; the Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, Ageliki Gerekou; the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks, Nikolaos Sifounakis, and the Minister of Energy and Environment, Konstantina Birbili.
Following the talks, the two prime ministers witnessed the signing of an air transport agreement and a number of memoranda of understanding.
The agreement to introduce amendments to some provisions of the air transport deal between the governments of the two countries was signed by H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamad Al Attiyah, Qatar’s Minister of State for International Cooperation and the acting Minister of Business and Trade. It was signed for Greece by Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Nikolaos Sifounakis.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on tourism cooperation between the Qatari and Greek governments was singed for Qatar by the Chairman of Qatar Tourism Authority, Ahmed Abdullah Al Nuaimi, and for Greece by Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, Ageliki Gerekou.
The two sides also signed a news exchange contract between Athens News Agency/Macedonia Press Agency and Qatar News Agency. It was signed for the Qatari side by the Chief Executive of Qatar Media Corporation and General Director of Qatar News Agency, Sheikh Jabor bin Youssef bin Jassim Al Thani, and for the Greek side by Chief Editor Nikolaos Voulelis.
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Source: thepeninsulaqatar , May 4 , 2010;