Cabinet hails outcome of Amir's visit to Costa Rica, Colombia

HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani chaired the Cabinet's regular meeting at the Amiri Diwan Wednesday.After the meeting, HE the Minister of Justice and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ibrahim bin Ali al-Mohannadi issued the following statement: At the outset of the meeting, the Cabinet welcomed the outcomes of the two official visits of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Costa Rica and Colombia from November 19-21.The Cabinet emphasised that His Highness's fruitful talks with the leaders of the two friendly countries, as well as the agreements and memorandums of understanding signed during the two visits, have laid the solid foundations for strengthening Qatar's relations with Costa Rica and Colombia, exploring mutual investment opportunities, and developing mechanisms for co-operation with them in various fields, in the service of the interests of the three countries and the good of their peoples, in a way that contributes to preserving regional and international peace and security.The Cabinet praised Qatar's achievement of the first rank in the region in the key global governance indicators for 2024 issued by the World Bank, as it came in first place in the political stability indicators with a rate of 84.36% and the rule of law with a rate of 80.19%.This significant achievement results from the wise policies adopted by Qatar and its commitment to achieving the principles of good governance.After that, the Cabinet considered the topics on its agenda, where it took note of the Shura Council's approval of a draft law amending some provisions of Law No 15 of 2011 regarding combating human trafficking.The Cabinet approved the draft Cabinet decision regarding adding works of public benefit to the text of Article 3 of Law No. 8 of 2022 regarding the temporary expropriation and seizure of real estate for the public benefit.The Cabinet approved the draft decision of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs regarding the issuance and publication of the list of strategic goods with military or dual use.The draft was prepared in the implementation of the provisions of Law No 11 of 2024 regarding dealing in strategic goods with military or dual use.The Cabinet also approved the draft decision of the Minister of Interior to amend some provisions of decision No 99 of 2019 specifying the parking spaces for transport vehicles (trucks), tractors, trailers, and semi-trailers.The Cabinet also approved the draft decision of the Minister of Public Health on the controls for importing, trading, selling, and storing tobacco or its derivatives or cigarettes. The draft was prepared in the implementation of the provisions of Law No 10 of 2016 regarding the control of tobacco and its derivatives.The Cabinet decided to approve the draft decision of the President of the Civil Service and Government Development Bureau to issue a guide to the description, classification, and arrangement of public jobs.The Council also decided to approve granting the Economic Zones Company (Manateq) the concession to develop and manage the small and medium industries zone.The Cabinet also decided to approve the request for the General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority to join the World Economic Forum, a draft grant agreement between the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) and the GiveDirectly organisation registered in the US to support families living below the poverty line in Rwanda for 2024, and a draft memorandum of understanding on co-operation in sports between the governments of Qatar and Guatemala.The Cabinet concluded its meeting by reviewing five reports and making appropriate decisions regarding them. These included the annual report of the Civil Defence Council for 2023, the 16th report on the results of the work of the National Civil Aviation Security Committee during the period from 1/1 to 30/6/2024, the annual report on the activities of the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) for the period from 1/4/2023 to 31/3/2024, the audited financial statements for the fiscal year ending on 31/12/2023, a report on the results of the participation of Qatar delegation headed by HE the Minister of Municipality in the work of the Bridge for Cities 2024 event, and a report on the results of holding the first session of the Qatari-Czech Joint Committee for Economic, Commercial, and Technical Co-operation.