Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka on March 24 as part of his Asian tour.

He will hold discussions with President Maithripala Sirisena on upgrading ties between Qatar and Sri Lanka. "During his visit to Sri Lanka, Memoranda of Understanding covering youth development activities, development of sports as well as exchange of information, communications and information technology will be signed between Sri Lanka and Qatar," the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Colombo said in a statement.

The Emir will also meet Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and other senior officers of the government.

He will be the first Head of State of an Arabian country to visit Sri Lanka after President Maithripala Sirisena came to power. It will be the Emir’s first official visit to Sri Lanka as well.

The Emir is also scheduled to visit to India and Pakistan in this official tour. Doha Times reported that India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are collectively home to about a third of Qatar’s population. The population of Qatar is around 2.2 million.

The Emir’s visit to Sri Lanka comes roughly a month after the country’s diaspora in Qatar received a plot of land from the Qatar government to build a permanent school in the Al Thumama area of Doha, reported Doha Times.

Currently, the Stafford Sri Lankan School operates from a rented building off Salwa Road near the Midmac flyover, according to the Gulf Times. The school currently has more than 900 students and employs about 60 teachers.

The new facility will accommodate some 2,000 students.