When Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman buckled himself into a Bentley SUV with Qatar's emir at the wheel, it was a moment of camaraderie that followed years of prickly relations - and a chance for his host to show off Doha's gleaming new buildings.
Prince Mohammed's visit to the tiny neighbouring Gulf state in 2021 not only helped bury a bitter political grudge that had rumbled on for three years, it also ignited a rise in Qatar-Saudi business ties that has gathered pace ever since.
His SUV tour of the Qatari capital took in a new 10-lane expressway, a futuristic metro and a 90,000-seat World Cup stadium radiant in gold-coloured cladding - exactly the kind of mega projects the Saudi prince is in a hurry to build back home.
His SUV tour of the Qatari capital took in a new 10-lane expressway, a futuristic metro and a 90,000-seat World Cup stadium radiant in gold-coloured cladding - exactly the kind of mega projects the Saudi prince is in a hurry to build back home.
Local news reports of the leaders' car ride made no mention of MbS's reaction to the sights. But a subsequent burst of new business between Qatari and Saudi companies -- from railways, to weapons and even a project to bring snow to the Saudi desert -- suggest his visit helped inspire a turning point in ties.
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