Italian 'Carabiniere' frigate arrives in Doha

Rome - The FREMM European Multi-Mission Frigate 'Carabiniere' of the Italian Navy, an outstanding product of Italian shipbuilding, has arrived in Doha on Thursday, to stay until May 1st, as announced Italy's Navy and the Italian Embassy in Qatar. The frigate was previously in Saudi Arabia, Sri lanka, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, to participate in several exercises with the local navies.

The ship was welcomed by the newly arrived Italian Ambassador to Qatar, Pasquale Salzano, who presented his credential letters to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, Saad Soltan Al Moraikhi, on April 27. The ship 'Carabiniere' is the fourth FREMM frigate that was delivered to Italy's Navy in April 2015. It is an anti-submarine warfare frigate, equipped with cutting edge weaponry, defense and discovery systems, that is highly innovative from a military and civilian standpoint. The frigate will be carrying out several tasks - patrolling, maritime surveillance, strengthening cooperation activities already underway with some trans-regional allies and establishing relations with new potential partners in accordance with the institutional mission of the Italian Navy.

The initiative stems from a cooperation between Fincantieri, the main sponsor, Leonardo, MBDA Italia, Elettronica, Telespazio and Drass. RTV San Marino and RAI Italia are the media partners. The presence of 'Carabiniere' in Doha shows and strengthens the cooperation between Italy and Qatar. Besides ranking first in terms of per-capita GDP and being the world's leading Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exporter, Qatar is preparing to host the FIFA 2022 World Championship by investing over 200 billion dollars in infrastracture in the next fice years. Italian companies are already working in Doha tobuild new stadiums, the underground and the new motorway network. Moreover, Qatar Airways is about to finalize a long-negotiated agreement to buy a stake in Meridiana airlines.

The Gulf country is busy making business in Italy, investing in different sectors, from the accommodation sector to the fashion industry. Increasing the number of contracts, attracting investments and establishing a dialogue with Doha on the issue of regional crisis scenarios are among the first challenges that Ambassador Salzano will have to confront.