Prof. Ibrahim Saleh Al-Naimi received the Ambassador of the Republic of France at the DICID headquarters and they exchanged Vital issues

17 May Prof. Ibrahim Saleh Al-Naimi received the Ambassador of the Republic of France at the DICID headquarters and they exchanged Vital issues

His Excellency Prof. Ibrahim Saleh Al-Naimi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue (DICID) Qatar, received the Ambassador of the Republic of France in Doha, Mr. Jean-Baptiste FAIVRE, and the Second Counselor of the Embassy, Mr. Ilhami GULCEN, at the DICID headquarters in Katara Cultural Village.

Prof. Ibrahim Saleh Al-Naimi opened the meeting by thanking the two visitors for their visit and stated that DICID highly appreciates and pays great attention to such visits as they are a concrete expression of building bridges of communication and trust and pave ways for cooperation between the parties involved in the dialogue of civilizations, cultures, and religions.

His Excellency pointed out that during the former ambassador’s time, DICID was in good contact with the French Embassy and that the centre carried out many activities and events in cooperation with the Embassy. He added, “DICID will strive to continue the good relations with the Embassy and communicate with it to achieve further activities that serve both parties and help establish coexistence, support dialogue and raise people’s awareness of the culture of tolerance, acceptance, pluralism and respect for the other.

On the other hand, H.E. Ambassador Jean-Baptiste FAIVRE praised this warm and friendly reception. He stated that he considered this visit, together with Second Counsellor Ilhami GULCEN, as a good opportunity to get to know each other, being the new Ambassador of the French Republic to Qatar and succeeding the former Ambassador, and that he was happy to continue the good relations between the Embassy and DICID. Moreover, discussing opportunities for cooperation is one of the main priorities of this visit, he stressed, “We look forward to working together to achieve the noble goals of dialogue, to find out what activities and events are planned, and to ensure the selection of experts who will contribute with their experience to the achievement of the goals related to tolerance, peace, dialogue and peacebuilding. Depending on the nature of the planned activities, we may also extend cooperation to other local authorities.

Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Al-Naimi commented on the Ambassador’s words, pointing out the good scientific and cooperative relations between him and a number of institutions of the Republic of France since he became President of Qatar University. There has been fruitful communication between the University and French universities, leading to joint research and projects.

One of the most important points Dr. Ibrahim spoke about is the importance of dialogue and the need to find appropriate partners. He said, “We are created differently, and what helps us to coexist and understand each other is to talk to each other about what we differ in and what we have in common, and dialogue is the best way to achieve this, and we should remember that the absence of dialogue means nothing but ambiguity and more unexpected problems.

HE Ambassador Jean-Baptiste FAIVRE expressed his pleasure at the conference, which will be held later this month: Religions and Hate Speech between Practice and Texts, and wished the International Center for Interreligious Dialogue in Doha every success for the conference and all its efforts. In this regard, His Excellency Dr. Ibrahim Al-Naimi pointed out that four speakers from France who will participate in the conference are experts in the field of dialogue, he said, “This methodology involves communication with the Embassy of the State of Qatar in France and communication with the Embassy of the Republic of France in Doha to appoint experts and researchers in the field to ensure good cooperation and select the most qualified and experienced people to make the conference bear the desired fruit and meet the requirements of transparency.
In conclusion, His Excellency Dr. Ibrahim thanked the guests for their time, efforts, and visit and he expressed the importance of communication and joint action to serve both sides and achieve a culture of dialogue, coexistence, and tolerance.