Minister of Commerce and Industry HE Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari opened yesterday the high-profile ‘Project Qatar 2019’ where over 500 leading companies from 34 countries, including China, UK, Italy, Spain, Turkey, India, Malaysia are showcasing their products and services mainly related to Qatar’s booming construction sector.
The three-day expo was inaugurated in the presence of dignitaries, senior diplomats and government officials, and industry leaders, including senior business executives from the participating countries and companies.
The inauguration was followed by the opening keynote address of Yousef Abdulrahman Al Emadi, Project Affairs Director at the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) who noted that all the projects, including the infrastructure projects such as road, rail as well as those related to 2022 Fifa games are progressing in full swing despite the ongoing siege:
“Al the works related to infrastructure projects and roads implemented by Ashghal are progressing in full swing as per plan without being affected at all by the blockade. Despite the passage of nearly two years of this unjust siege, we opened many projects according to their schedule or even earlier,” said Al Emadi.
He added: “The most important one was the opening of Al Majd Road, which was completed four years before the 2022 World Cup scheduled opening. The Al Khor road was opened about a year earlier, and the Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor road project, which is currently under construction.”
He said that the public authority has also started implementing a number of new projects based on the directives of the government, which has spared no effort to support the implementation of infrastructure projects.
He also gave an overview about various other new projects including the recently launched project for the development of Al-Duhail intersection, which will be transformed into a multi-level intersection, in addition to five health centers and the National Health Laboratories building, which was launched at the end of last year.
“Ashghal is continuously witnessing the signing of new contracts for projects in all fields. During the coming month, a number of infrastructure projects contracts will be signed, aimed at providing infrastructure for citizens’ lands and improving local roads,” he added.
“Ashghal is also launching some projects to be implemented through PPP (public-private partnership basis) as part of its efforts to contribute to the involvement of the private sector and increase its investments in the implementation of government projects, especially infrastructure projects, in order to benefit from the experience of the private sector in the field of project management and implementation.
He said that as part of the “Rehabilitation” initiative, which was launched two years ago, more than 107 Qatari products have been rehabilitated and 152 local suppliers certified. “In cooperation with Qatar Development Bank (QDB), we continue to train Qatari manufacturers, as well as rehabilitate factories and products for non-Qataris to support products and the local economy.
The Peninsula
30/04/2019
