Interview with Ambassador Dato' Shahrul Ikram

 For Al-Arab Newspaper

Doha, Sulaiman Haj Ibrahim – Ambassador of Malaysia to the State of Qatar, Mohammad Shahrul Ikram said Qatar and Malaysia recently have achieved a true partnership. He also talked about ongoing coordination between the two countries regarding the visit of the King of Malaysia, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin to the State of Qatar which will be in the second half of the current year.

Shahrul said to «Al-Arab» during his meeting with representatives of the Malaysian community in Qatar, that the upcoming visit of the King Mizan Zainal Abidin will culminate in the signing of several bilateral agreements and will be followed by a series of visits between officials of both countries in order to strengthen the partnership that has come true on the ground through a series of actions taken by authorities of the two countries.

Ambassador of Malaysia mentioned that the political, economic, and commercial relations between his country and Qatar are excellent and in the best situation. He also added that “the two countries become closer and work together to have common views and solutions for the situations in Palestine and Lebanon, especially that both countries (Malaysia and Qatar) have honorable positions regarding issues of the region”.

The Ambassador supervised the elections of the Malaysian Association and during his speech he gave emphasis on the need to make further efforts to strengthen relations between the people of the Malaysian community and their counterparts from Qatar and that to encourage the Malaysian businessmen to meet with their counterparts from the State of Qatar through bilateral meetings which aim to discover the investment opportunities available in both countries. He pointed out that most of the members of the Malaysian Association in Doha occupy important positions in several Qatari companies particularly in the domains of oil and services.

Furthermore, the Ambassador said that there’s an agreement between Malaysia and the State of Qatar concerning avoidance of double taxes and soon this agreement will be officially signed. The agreement will be a good motivation for investments in both countries because the businessmen will pay taxes in one country and not in both countries.

Yaakob Abdul Rahman, who was elected as the president of the Malaysian Association in Doha said that the main objective of the members of the Malaysian Association in Doha, which numbers about 1300 Malaysians, is about unifying visions and ideas on the promotion of Malaysian presence in Doha in order to serve the public interest for both countries and also about organizing social, sport, and educational programs. He added that the association’s executive committees is planning to open a Malaysian school in Doha in order to unite their children, who are currently dispersed in various international schools, to have a uniformed national program. The association had launched a website to exchange views, ideas and news.

Source: Al-Arab, 11 May 2008