President on two-day visit to Qatar on October 25

President Maithripala Sirisena is set to leave on a two day official visit to Qatar from 25 October.

The visit will feature the signing of three important agreements which were approved by Cabinet last week.

The main would be the agreement between Sri Lanka and Qatar on energy cooperation. Qatar, a major oil and gas producing country has shown interest in supporting oil and gas exploration activities in the country. 

In addition the President will also sign an agreement on cooperation, diplomatic training and research between the Foreign Ministry of Sri Lankan and the Foreign Ministry of Qatar.

President Sirisena will also seek to sign an agreement between Sri Lanka and Qatar on bilateral cooperation in water supply and waste management to implement such projects in the Puttalam and Ampara districts.

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani visited Sri Lanka on a state visit in March of 2015 at the invitation of President Sirisena. During the visit they held bilateral discussions in the field of trade, investment, tourism, labour relations, energy and air connectivity.

Diplomatic relations between Qatar and Sri Lanka was established in 1976.