BRAZZAVILLE, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The Republic of Congo and Qatar have signed a series of agreements on economic, commercial and technical cooperation to lift bilateral ties to a new level, the government announced here on Monday.

The signing of the wide-range cooperation in the Congolese capital on Sunday marked a new era of bilateral ties between the Central African country and the Gulf state, according to an official statement.

The five cooperative documents were signed in the presence of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, who arrived in Brazzaville on Sunday for a brief official visit, his first to the Republic of Congo since the two countries established diplomatic relations on April 24, 2000.

The two parties also signed agreements on the creation of a joint commission, the promotion and protection of reciprocal investments and air transport.

Congo and Qatar, among others, signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic cooperation between the Congolese National Petroleum Company and Qatar Petroleum International.