The British Embassy is pleased to announce that John Hawkins, the new British Ambassador to the State of Qatar has arrived in Doha with his family to take up his appointment.

He said on arrival: "I am delighted to be here in Doha and excited by the challenge of working with such dynamic partners as His Highness The Emir and his Ministers, as well as the rapidly growing and active British community. Britain and Qatar have always been very close - economically, politically and culturally - but we clearly now have an excellent opportunity to make the relationship even stronger. The Embassy team and I look forward to doing all we can to ensure that this happens".

Mr Hawkins, who presented copies of his credentials to HE Assistant Foreign Minister Saif Moqaddam al-Buainain on 12 August, comes to Qatar from Dubai, where he spent four years as Consul General and Head of the Embassy there. He worked previously on Middle East issues at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London. He also has a strong business background having previously worked as the UK's Director of Trade and Investment for Spain and the International Director of the UK's Inward Investment Promotion Agency.

Mr Hawkins is married to Rosemarie and has two young sons.