Policymakers, diplomats and experts met at the UN House in Doha on Tuesday for a seminar on closer cooperation between Gulf states, Nordic countries and Europe on skills, education and digital technology.
The event, titled “Gulf, Nordic, and Europe - the New Strategic Partnership for Human Capital and Digital-Driven Future Economies”, was co-organised by the embassies of Finland and Sweden, the EU Delegation to Qatar and UNESCO’s regional office for the Gulf States and Yemen, the European External Action Service reported on Monday.
Organisers said the seminar followed a Nordic-Gulf dialogue launched in Doha in December 2025 and focused on potential collaboration in digital transformation, artificial intelligence, education, skills development and “sustainable economic growth.”
Four former European Commissioners — Margrethe Vestager, Jutta Urpilainen, Kadri Simson and Ylva Johansson — attended and said the EU’s 2022 proposal for a strategic partnership with the Gulf was “a serious offer”, adding that 2026 was the time “to come together and agree on concrete joint action.”
UNESCO and EU point to skills and digital policy work
UNESCO’s Gulf regional office said it had produced two regional reports linked to the seminar’s themes — one on green transition skills needs in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Yemen, and another on digital transformation and AI “institutional maturity” in the GCC and Yemen, according to the statement.
The GCC is a regional bloc made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Salah Khaled, director of UNESCO’s regional office for the Gulf States and Yemen, said the organisation was committed to contributing to dialogue on skills policies and supporting policy outcomes from the seminar.
Cristian Tudor, the EU’s ambassador to Qatar, said a forthcoming EU-Qatar Strategic Partnership Agreement would deepen cooperation and include “people-to-people exchanges in research, innovation and education.”
Participants agreed that 2026 would be used to translate “high-level strategic intentions into tangible, joint actions."
