In August 2021 a Kazakh government delegation led by First Deputy Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov (later Prime Minister) held working meetings in Doha with the leadership of the Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar Airways and Hassad Food.
As Assistant to the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Qatar, I accompanied the delegation and interpreted at the meeting with QIA. At Qatar Airways headquarters, with the airline's then Group Chief Executive, the discussion turned to a practical question: a special cargo rate for perishable Kazakh exports such as meat.
What I took from those days: a specific product, a specific route and a specific rate move a conversation further than a general statement of interest. Three months later the first direct Qatar Airways flight landed in Almaty.
Delegation programme in Doha