Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg paid a visit to FIFA World Cup hosts Qatar this past week, saying in a statement that he did so at the Qatari government’s invitation.
Borg met with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Commerce and Industry Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al Abdullah Al Thani and Tourism Minister Akbar Al Baker, who also serves as CEO of Qatar Airways.
The meeting with Al Baker yielded “positive discussion about better air connectivity between the two countries in the near future,” the Foreign Affairs Ministry said.
In a statement, the ministry said Borg was invited to Qatar “during the last days” by Al Thani and was hosted by the government of Qatar.
Apart from the three ministers, Borg also met with the CEO of the Qatar Investment Authority, Mansoor Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud, and with the Chairman of the Business Association of Qatar, Faisal Bin Qassim Al-Thani, to discuss ways of facilitating business between Malta and Qatar.
During his time in Qatar, Borg also visited a yacht club operated by the Malta-owned Corinthia Group and boarded the Malta-flagged MSC World Europa cruise ship – the largest ship in the MSC fleet and the first to be LNG-powered.
The ministry statement did not say whether Borg also found time during his trip to Qatar to attend any World Cup events.