She commended the role of Ambassador Al-Mahmoud during his term to consolidate these relations and enhance multi-field co-operation between the two countries.
Ambassador Al-Mahmoud expressed his satisfaction with the developments in bilateral relations and the contacts that were achieved between the leaderships of the two countries during his time in Ottawa, most notably the recent signing of an arrangement for defence co-operation between Qatar and Canada and the convening of the first round of bilateral talks.
In addition, he pointed out the expansion of the air transport agreement and the surge in the rate of trade exchange after Qatar became Canada's third trading partner in the Gulf region and 11th in the Middle East and Maghreb region.
He affirmed Qatar's commitment to strengthening bilateral relations, which was clearly demonstrated by the support provided to the return of tens of thousands of Canadians from around the world during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as Qatar's current efforts to evacuate civilians in Afghanistan and reach an intra-Afghan peace agreement.
The reception was attended by a number of ambassadors accredited to Canada, including the Dean of Arab Ambassadors and Ambassadors of Iraq, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey and Russia as well as the President of the Canada Arab Business Council and Permanent Representative of Qatar to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Essa Abdullah al-Malki.
