HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Qatar [November 2008]

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 2 November 2008.

The Prime Minister has continued to his tour of Gulf states with a series of meetings in Doha, Qatar.

Speaking at a press conference in Doha shortly after his arrival, the PM announced a new joint £250 million Clean Technology Investment Fund to be made available for companies developing green technologies. Mr Brown was speaking after a tour of the Qatar Foundation and a discussion on the work of the Qatar Science and Technology Park.

The PM said that he and Qatari PM Hamad bin Jassem had discussed how to work together to deal with the global economic downturn and that the two countries “share an understanding” of what needs to be done.

Earlier, before departing Saudi Arabia for Qatar, the PM said that he felt the Saudi government would contribute to the IMF’s $250 billion fund that is being used to help countries struggling with the effects of the credit crunch. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia would attend the global summit in Washington on 15 November, he added.

The PM received an honorary degree from King Saud University earlier this morning before meeting a group of former radicals involved in a government programme that integrates extremists back into society.

Later, in Qatar, Mr Brown met journalists at the Al Jazeera news centre before attending a dinner meeting with The Amir of Qatar, Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani.