Qatar takes part health ministers’ meeting in Peru
The first meeting of health ministers of South American and Arab countries, which was held in the Peruvian capital, Lima, concluded on Friday.
The event was held under the slogan “Universal healthcare and social determinants”.
Qatar’s delegation to meeting was headed by Assistant Secretary-General for Medical Affairs of the Supreme Council of Health Dr Saleh bin Ali al-Marri.
The meeting discussed important topics such as health systems, disease control, prevention and preparedness as well as response to cases of humanitarian aid.
The meeting aimed at promoting integration between the South American and Arab countries in the health sector through the implementation of the plan of action adopted by the Third Summit of South American and Arab countries, which was held in Lima in October 2012.
Ministerial appointments
HE the Minister of Education and Higher Education and Secretary General of the Supreme Education Counci (SEC) Dr Mohamed bin Abdul Wahid al-Hammadi has issued decision No 6 of 2014 appointing Khalid Abdulla Qassim al-Harqan as director of the Evaluation Institute, and Fawzia Abdul Aziz al-Khater as director of the Education Institute.
Rights panel chief meets envoy
Human Rights Committee Secretary General Maryam bint Abdullah al-Attiyah has met Norway’s Ambassador to Qatar Sten Anders .
Discussions during the meeting dealt with co-operation between the two sides and the mechanisms for exchanging expertise in the areas of human rights.
Qatar-France ties reviewed
HE the Assistant Foreign Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohamed bin Abdullah al-Rumaihi has met Pierre Sellal, secretary general of the French foreign ministry.
The meeting was held to mark the diplomatic co-operation agreement between Qatar and France starting April 1. The two sides discussed the activation of the agreement and means of enhancing bilateral relations between the two countries.
Private sector asked to submit bid for tourism initiative
Tourism stakeholders and industry players may still submit tender for the Qatar Tourism Investment Opportunities initiative launched by Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) last month.
Abdulaziz bin Nasser al-Khalifa, chief executive officer, QDB, said: “We invite the private sector to take part in these opportunities we are offering in collaboration with QTA. These opportunities have been identified after studying the existing gaps in the tourism market and work to turn them into investment
opportunities.”
The initiative is aimed at promoting six business opportunities that include luxury dhow dining cruise, luxury coach, 4x4 leasing company, MICE and events destination management companies, ticketing and mobile information centres, and SME cottage markets.
It also falls in line with the Qatar National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030, which plays a vital role in facilitating objectives for a sustainable tourism sector to position Qatar as a favourite regional and international tourist destination.
“This initiative comes within QDB’s objective to contribute directly to the growth and diversification of Qatar’s private sector by offering an integrated array of financial and non-financial products and services, which assure sustainable and success projects,”
al-Khalifa added.
QDB will offer qualified companies low interest loans and long-term financing, in addition to the support from QTA when obtaining licences, priority in activities organised by QTA, and enhanced presence through QTA’s website and social media platforms.
QTA chairman Issa al-Muhanadi said: “We are proud to partner with QDB, one of the most important financial institutions operating in Qatar, and this partnership is a great example of co-operation between the private and public
sectors.”
“These projects within the current initiative are great opportunities for developers, operators, and investors in the tourism sector to be part of Qatar’s rapid economic expansion.”
Tourism has been identified as a priority sector by the Qatari government. The QTA said is anticipating the tourism sector to account for 3.1% of the GDP by 2030.
Record number of films taking part in documentary fest
QNA/Doha
Abbas Aranaout, director, Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival, said yesterday that a record number of films are participating in the 10th edition of the festival rescheduled to open on October 23.
The festival director said that the festival has been postponed to October due to the closure of Sheraton Hotel for maintenance.
“The festival administration was in the process of launching the 10th edition on April 17, but we were taken aback by the hotel administration because finding an alternative in such a short notice was not possible; so we were compelled to postpone the festival to October 23,”
Arnaout added.
No negative repercussions will result from the postponement of the festival, Aranout confirmed, adding that the 10th edition of the festival poised to gain a huge importance because it is a turning point in the festival journey since its launching in 2005.
“We, therefore, prepared programme activities that reflect the importance of the anniversary. This was taken into consideration during the postponed period,” he said
“The motto of the 10th anniversary is “Steps” which represents the first step taken when the first edition was launched in 2005. Now the step turned into steps and the motto is inspired by the proverb “A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step”. The steps do not come to an end, what we’ve walked is not the end point. Rather, they were just steps that will be followed by many others,” the festival director added.
Arnaout said that the opening and closing ceremonies of the festival will witness folkloric band shows to lend festive ambiance to the event. Some of the winning films from previous festivals will be showed. Film directors were invited to hold post-film discussions with viewers and answer their queries.
