Qatar has sent a delegation to Sweden under the agenda 'Road Safety, Engineering, and Innovation Delegation to Sweden' on a week-long programme that concludes on Thursday (April 26), the Swedish embassy announced. The programme includes signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Swedish Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI).
Brig Gen Mohamed al-Kharji, director of Traffic Department at the Ministry of Interior, led the delegation, which included Brig Gen Mohamed al-Malki, secretary general of the Road Safety Commission; Dr Khalifa al-Khalifa, dean of the College of Engineering at Qatar University (QU) and signatory of the MoU with VTI; Dr Abdulla al-Ali, head of Technology Innovation and Engineering Education Unity at QU, and Mohamed Saleh al-Kathiri, secretary of the Road Safety Commission.
Swedish ambassador to Doha Ewa Polano has accompanied the delegation to support the knowledge-sharing efforts. The MoU represents an important milestone in the co-operation between Qatar and Sweden in the area of road safety, which has been deepening steadily for the last three years, according to a statement from the embassy. “The interest in Swedish solutions and research in the area of road safety has increased dramatically in Qatar over the last few years, building upon Sweden’s reputation as the world leader in road safety, with our Vision Zero programme for zero road fatalities,” the envoy said.
“Sweden has sent several prominent experts to work together with MoI and the Qatar Road Safety Commission, which has led to increased research co-operation and trade in related products,” she said. “For VTI as a research institute, international co-operation and engagement is of the highest importance because it facilitates sharing of experiences and knowledge, which is the foundation of transportation research,” VTI director general Tomas Svensson said.
“Due to the expansion of our co-operation with Qatar, our opportunities to learn from each other increases,” he observed. The delegation has travelled to the City of Jonkoping for a presentation and factory visit at the Swedish traffic monitoring company Sensys Gatso, which has provided several key pieces of technology to Qatar, including 31 in-vehicle traffic violation monitoring cameras used by the traffic police. The delegation will be hosted by Ivo Monnink, CEO of Sensys Gatso.
The delegation will travel to Stockholm for three important visits. They will look at the innovative solutions used in the fully operational smart city of Hammarby Sjostad, including ICT, waste management, water management, and transportation solutions. The day will continue with a meeting with Sweroad, Swedish National Road Consulting, which has a strong history of working with Qatar to improve congestion and road safety. At Sweroad, a discussion will be held on how to expand on the successful MoU which is already in effect since 2016 between Qatar and Sweroad.
Later on, the participants from QU Dr al-Khalifa and Dr al-Ali, will visit the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm to discuss broadening the co-operation between QU and KTH, especially within the areas of innovation, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship.
The delegation programme will end in the southern university city of Lund tomorrow with meetings and site visits at Lund University and its associated research institutes, science parks, and incubators.
