The purpose of the forum is to protect the sovereignty of countries over their natural resources.

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, opened on Tuesday the 6th Summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) held in Qatar's Doha, under the title "Energy Security in the World."

Presidents, prime ministers, and energy ministers of Iran, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Libya, Russia, Qatar, Venezuela, Tobago, and Trinidad attended the Summit along with observer members including Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Iraq, Peru, Norway, and the United Arab Emirates.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi congratulated Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for chairing the 6th Summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum and thanked the Qatari government and people for their warm hospitality.

In his speech, Raisi said, "I also thank Mr. Secretary-General and his colleagues in the Secretariat of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum for their efforts and preparations for the summit," adding, "I hope that with God's help, this summit will be able to further strengthen the fields and horizons of cooperation between the members to preserve and safeguard natural gas, which is their God-given national capital."

"Holding six summits of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum during the life of this emerging intergovernmental organisation, more than any other fact is a strong sign of convergence, solidarity and determination of its members to pursue the goals of the forum, the bases of which were founded with Tehran's initiative in 2001," Raisi pointed out.

The Iranian President noted that the purpose of the forum and its founders and members is "to protect the sovereignty of countries over their natural resources, especially gas, cooperate in finding solutions to protect the collective interests of member countries, development of cooperation between countries in various fields such as exploration, production and trade of natural gas, strengthening the role of natural gas in the composition of world energy consumption and cooperation in strengthening the security of supply and security of natural gas demand. Summits are also an opportunity to work together to achieve these goals."

He emphasized that in order to improve the security of natural gas demand, by pursuing the goals and mission of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, "we can send a clear message to the world for guaranteeing sustainable energy supply in the short and long term."

Raisi also touched on the first summit of this forum in 2011, which was also held in Doha under the theme of "Natural Gas, a Response to the Challenges of Sustainable Development in the 21st Century," noting that the world now "needs collective efforts of the member states of the Forum more than ever to fulfil this theme."

Raisi also commented on the pandemic, saying that the "difficult path of the world in the economic recovery after coronavirus, natural gas will be a contributing factor," adding that "as a clean, safe and richly extractable fuel, natural gas will make up a significant share of the world's energy composition for decades to come, and will maintain its economic, technical and environmental benefits in comparison with other fuels."

"The growing trend of electrification in the coming decades, and the role of natural gas as the most important input to electricity generation, reinforces this perspective. From this perspective, our approach as members of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum to supply more natural gas to the world market is a humanitarian approach," he concluded.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister had extended an official invitation to Raisi in January, on the part of the Emir of Qatar, to take part in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) and said that “Qatar is determined to make the utmost efforts to increase relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in various political and economic fields, and the Emir of Qatar is personally following up on the development of relations between the two countries. "

According to the GECF, its 11 members and seven associate nations account for 70% of known gas reserves and 51% of worldwide liquefied natural gas exports.