ASEAN flag raising ceremony in Doha, Qatar.

After the meeting, Vietnamese Ambassador to Qatar Nguyen Huy Hiep, along with Ambassadors and representatives from Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and a large number of press and media reporters, witnessed the ASEAN flag-raising ceremony in front of the lobby of the W Doha Hotel. Director of Protocol of the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ibrahim bin Yousef Fakhro also attended the ceremony.

On the same day, ACD issued a press release affirming ASEAN’s commitment to promoting strong links within the bloc and with external partners. In 2024, Laos will assume the ASEAN Chairmanship with the slogan “Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience”.

Regarding ASEAN-Qatar relations, ACD highly appreciates Qatar's role as a reliable partner outside the bloc. Politically, Qatar joined the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in 2022.

ACD's press release affirmed ASEAN's commitment to continue cooperating with Qatar on the basis of sharing common values, strengthening the rule of law, promoting conflict resolution towards an equal and inclusive society.

ACD highly appreciated the regular exchange of delegations between leaders at all levels of ASEAN and Qatar. Specifically, the Emir of Qatar visited the Philippines in April 2024; the President of Indonesia and the Prime Minister of Malaysia visited Qatar in May 2024. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Singaporean Prime Minister had sideline meetings with the Emir of Qatar on the sidelines of the ASEAN-GCC Summit in Riyadh in October 2023.

Ambassador Nguyen Huy Hiep took a photo with representatives of the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ambassadors and representatives of ASEAN countries in Doha.

Economically, ASEAN-Qatar relations have developed steadily with a trade turnover of about 9 billion USD/year. Qatar is a major investor in ASEAN in the fields of energy, finance, real estate, telecommunications, agribusiness, hotels, and healthcare. The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has established a representative office in the Asia-Pacific region in Singapore. Qatar Energy has opened a liaison office in Thailand.

Major Qatari companies such as Oredo, Nebras Energy, and Qatar National Bank have a presence in Indonesia. ASEAN invests in Qatar in the fields of oil and gas, hotels, information technology, construction, and retail. ASEAN plays an important role in supporting Qatar in ensuring food security to implement the national Vision 2030 plan.

ASEAN and Qatar still have much room to enhance cooperation in many areas such as renewable energy, climate change response, sustainable development, agriculture, education, finance, information technology and communications.