ISTANBUL 

Qatar reiterated its commitment on Tuesday to supplying Syria with electricity, settling its debts to the World Bank, and providing financial support for salaries of public sector workers for three months.

This came in a joint statement following a high-level meeting in Doha between Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and a Syrian ministerial delegation headed by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani.

The meeting took place “within the framework of strengthening the solid fraternal relations and bilateral cooperation between the two countries,” the statement said.

Discussions explored “ways to expand bilateral cooperation in the energy, economy, trade, finance, tourism, communications, information technology, higher education, development, and other sectors,” added the statement.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia will jointly support Syria by helping to restore electricity supplies and settling its debts to the World Bank, the statement said.

Additionally, both countries will provide joint financial support to cover the salaries of public sector workers for a three-month period.

Qatar reiterated its “firm and supportive stances on the unity, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, as well as on the realization of the aspirations of its fraternal people for a dignified life and the building of a state of institutions and law,” the statement reads.

The Syrian delegation, for its part, “affirmed its pride in the State of Qatar's supportive stance towards the Syrian people, praising its supportive role at various stages and reiterating the Syrian Arab Republic's commitment to the principles of respecting the sovereignty of states and non-interference in their internal affairs.”

The Syrian-Qatari relations have improved significantly since the ouster of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December last year, with Doha reopening its Damascus embassy in the same month after a 13-year closure.

Ahmad Al-Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces to oust Assad, was declared president for a transitional period in late January.