President Sarkissian was hosted at the National Library of Qatar: Cooperation of the National Library of Qatar with the National Library of Armenia and Matenadaran will be of great worth

President Armen Sarkissian, who is in the State of Qatar on official visit, together with his spouse Nouneh Sarkissian was hosted at the National Library of Qatar which is one of the Foundation of Qatar’s structures.

President Sarkissian and Mrs. Sarkissian toured the library, familiarized with the materials kept there, publications as well as the exhibits of the Heritage Museum including unique books, manuscripts, maps, other valuable samples of the Arab and Islamic culture.

The National Library of Qatar serves as a university and public library for research and is equipped with modern digital devices. According to the 2018 data, its depository contains close to 800,000 books; in addition, the library has 500,000 electronic books and periodicals.

At the conclusion of the visit, responding to the questions of the journalists, President Sarkissian said that the library is an exceptional institution, “We agreed with the director of the library that we would connect them with Matenadaran. When I am back, I will arrange for many books to be sent here because, along with everything else, they translate some of the books into Arabic and not for commercial purposes but as a necessary tool for science and reading,” the President noted. “Collaboration of this library with the National Library of Armenia and Matenadaran will be of great worth because huge amounts of money are being spent here to digitalize the books, make them accessible and, in general, to develop the library culture. I believe this is one of the best libraries I have ever seen.”

Speaking of the meeting with the Chairperson of the Foundation of Qatar, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser al Missned, Armen Sarkissian noted that Sheikha has a vision for her country and for the human development in general. “The attitude of the Qataris toward the world culture and science is unique and precious. The Foundation of Qatar is not only a huge structure but also huge investments. Branches of the best universities of the world are established here, voluminous research is being carried out related not only to the Arabic, Arab culture and religion but in a number of other areas, ranging from nuclear physics to modern biology. Here great opportunities for learning exist.”

The President noted that Armenia and Qatar would establish a working group. The agreement on this was reached during the meeting with Sheikha Moza. The group will study the possible areas of cooperation, including student exchange programs and joint scientific research in the areas of modern physics, history and culture. “The realm of the activities of the Foundation of Qatar is wide and the majority of those who study here, 60-70 percent, are foreigners. It means the cooperation with Armenia is very important because our vision is to make Armenia an international center of science, education, and culture. They are doing the same here, thus our cooperation is a logical thing to do,” the President of Armenia said.