Qatar's decision to meaningfully combine the economic and social development aspects is the essence of the country's fast development progress, a top UNDP official said.
Paolo Limbu, Representative of the UN Development Programme said Qatar's political leadership's strategy in tapping the dynamics of global economy is another key reason for notching up top rank in the 2013 UNDP assessment.
Addressing an event hosted by Qatar Statistics Authority to celebrate Qatar's First Ranking in the Arab World in the UNDP 2013 Report, Paolo noted: "When Qatar hosted COP18, the country was not just organizing a global event. The decision to host the event was a reflection of Qatar's decision on how to make an intellectual partnership in the face of a challenging global economy".
The people in Qatar are inspired by the definitions of the government's investment policy. The most interesting thing about Qatar is that its people are really aware of the economic reform paths being pursued by their country. "The people are aware of the economic reforms ongoing in the country and they are fully aware of the importance of 'participatory development'," he said.
Paolo noted that the wealth generation is slowly shifting from the West to the South. The rise of the South was unprecedented in it speed and scale. When the developed economies stopped growing during after the 2008 financial crisis, the world noticed that the developing economies kept growing. The rise of the South has been much commented since.
Although most developing countries have done well during the crisis, a large number of countries like Brazil, China and India have done particularly well. Some of them made rapid advances.
Paolo said the combined GDP of Brazil, China and India was just less than 10 percent of the world GDP a little over five decades back. Now the combined GDP of these countries is equal to the total GDP of world's six most advanced industrialized nations.
Sheikh Hamad bin Jabor bin Jassim Al Thani, Presdient, Qatar Statistics Authority (QSA) addressed the event. Dr Hassan Ibrahim Al Mohannadi, Director of Diplomatic Institute, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made a presentation on the key findings of the 2013 UNDP document.
The Peninsula
30 April
