OGUN, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) According to a letter from the Qatari government to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the commercial dialogue will take place on March 3, 2024, at the Qatar Chamber of Commerce.
Following the disclosure of a leaked letter on Saturday indicating that Qatar had rejected the suggested investment forum, Qatar made this choice.
The absence of Mohammed Bin Hamad Al-Thani, the nation’s minister of commerce and industry, was given as one of the reasons for the fall.
Also, the Embassy of Qatar in Abuja had said there was no agreement between the Arabian country and Nigeria regarding the investment forum.
As previously reported, this was mentioned in a note verbale sent by the State of Qatar’s Embassy in Abuja on February 22, 2024, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria’s Protocol Department.
However, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Qatar expressed regret for the decision to refuse the planned business visit in the letter that was received by the ministry on February 23, 2024.
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The Presidency responded to the purported rejection by stating that Tinubu was not shunned by the Qatari government.
It explained that the botched investment forum between the Nigerian and Qatari business communities was only one of several events lined up ahead of the President’s state visit to the Gulf country.
“It is not correct for anyone to insinuate that the Qatari authorities have snubbed the Nigerian leader over a business and investment forum which is tangential to the all-important state visit and which President Tinubu is slated to attend as a guest,” a statement signed by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, read.
However, in a twist of event, the Qatar government, in a letter to Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the business parley would be held during Tinubu’s visit to the country.
The Qatar embassy said, “Regarding the upcoming state visit of H.E. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Qatar from 2nd-3rd March 2024 and with reference to our note: Ref: QEA/FA/057/24 dated 22/02/2024, regarding holding of a Business and Investment Forum on the margins of Mr. President’s visit to Qatar on 2nd March 2024.
“The Embassy has the honour to convey that the Qatar Chamber of Commerce will host the above-mentioned event on March 3, 2024, as proposed by the Nigerian side.”