State Minister for Foreign Affairs in charge of Regional Affairs, John Mulimba, has received copies of the letters of credentials of Ahmend Abdullah Al-Zweidi, the Ambassador Designate of the State of Qatar to Uganda, at the Ministry headquarters in Kampala.
During the meeting, Minister Mulimba commended Qatar for supporting Uganda’s diplomatic and economic engagements, particularly through the successful coordination of the 2nd edition of the Uganda-Qatar Business Forum held in October 2025.
He noted that Qatar’s decision to open an embassy in Uganda reflects the growing strength of bilateral relations between the two nations.
“The need to translate the bilateral relations between our countries into tangible economic and diplomatic partnerships is key if we are to achieve Uganda’s goal of becoming a 500-billion-dollar economy,” Mulimba said.
Mulimba added that through collaborations in agro-processing, tourism, manufacturing, mineral development, oil and gas, and technological transfer in science and innovation, our trade volumes will continue to rise.
The minister revealed that Uganda’s exports to Qatar have grown from USD 20 million to USD 34 million over the past decade, while imports from Qatar increased from USD 17 million to USD 26 million.
He expressed optimism that with a resident ambassador, trade between the two nations would expand even further.
Ahmend Abdullah Al-Zweidi expressed gratitude for the warm reception, praising Uganda’s weather and hospitality.
He pledged to strengthen existing bilateral ties and highlighted the recent increase in direct Qatar Airways flights from one to two per day as evidence of improving trade and people-to-people movement.
The envoy also promised to address challenges faced by Ugandans in Qatar regarding money transfers back home and revealed that several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) are in the pipeline in areas such as technology transfer, oil and gas, mineral development, tourism, agro-processing, and diplomacy.
Both parties reaffirming their commitment to deepening cooperation between Uganda and Qatar.