The Greek Embassy has planned a number of activities and events for the year to introduce and promote Greek culture and history among people in Qatar. The Ambassador of Greece to Qatar, George Paizis, said the embassy was also planning to open a trade office to cater to the Greek businessmen who have come or are planning to come to Qatar and have set up or are thinking of setting up businesses here. “We hope to open it soon because it’s quite necessary for us to have one.” According to Paizis, the Greek minister of development is scheduled to visit Qatar this year to explore and discuss with the Qatari government the possibilities of cooperation in the energy sector, among other things. He said the embassy was also eager to participate in the Doha Capital of Arab Culture in 2010, a series of events that includes theatrical performances and cultural evenings. “We are planning on opening a Greek-language school here to introduce our tongue. This school will be open to both children and adults. I don’t want this to be an ordinary language school, so I have planned to include lessons on Greek history and Greek civilisation as well,” said Paizis. Evgenia Beniatoglou, the embassy’s deputy head of mission and consul, said around 20 people had already expressed their interest in enrolling for the Greek language and civilisation programme. She said the embassy was only waiting for the final approval from the Greek teacher it had contacted, then it would start scouting for a place. Beniatoglou said there were around 300 Greeks in Qatar, most of them working in Greek companies here. Some, she said, were professors in some of the universities in Education City, some were working at the Qatar Islamic Museum and some others in banks. Paizis said since they started issuing visas, 200 Qataris had visited Greece. “But I’m sure there are more visitors from here who may have gotten a Schengen visa from other European embassies and visited Greece during their stay in Europe.” Paizis said he hoped the locals and residents here follow the example of the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who visits Greece at least once a year. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=May2009&file=Local_News200905032355.xml

Follow us on our social media channels: @ILQlive @ILQlive @ILoveQtr ILoveQatar