High-level Italian, German, French Delegations Visit SC

Doha, February 16 (QNA) - The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) Secretary General Hassan Al Thawadi has held separate high-level meetings with visiting diplomatic delegations from Italy, Germany and France. Italian Minister of Economic Development Federica Guidi, Prime Minister of Lower Saxony in Germany Stephan Weil, France's Secretary of State for Sports Thierry Braillard, and Minister for Foreign Trade of France Matthias Fekl, all held discussions with Al Thawadi on areas for mutual cooperation, while receiving an update on the SCs plans and progress ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. With all three countries having hosted successful FIFA World Cups tournaments in the past (Italia 1990, France 1998 and Germany 2006), and also hosting and bidding for major sporting events in the coming years, an exchange of experience and expertise was also discussed in the meetings. "Engaging with countries that have valuable past experience is key for us in order to create new approaches to the various aspects of hosting major sporting events," said SC Secretary General Al Thawadi. "These meetings are also important opportunities for us to showcase the significant progress we have already made in creating an excellent experience for players and fans who will travel to Qatar in 2022 to attend the first FIFA World Cup in the Middle East." The series of high-level visits began with the Italian Minister of Economic Development, Guidi, receiving an update on the SC's technical delivery progress, accommodation strategy and the security and legacy committees. In addition, Her Excellency heard about renewable energy plans, cooling technology development and worker welfare provisions. In the course of the meeting Minister Guidi proposed the establishment of a task force in order to explore more business opportunities, pointing out that Italy has a very advanced private sector with experience in the relevant fields. Just a few days later, the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony Stephan Weil, visited the SC along with a German business delegation. All were updated on technical delivery, the collaboration with national delivery stakeholders, and the developments of precincts and their communities, with Al Wakrah being cited as an example in this regard. Furthermore, cooling technology as well as its post-tournament use, and the legacy of top tier seating of selected venues which will be sent to developing countries after the tournament were also discussed. Workers welfare and the SC Standards, auditing system and the semi-annual compliance report released by the SC were also a topic of discussion. In a meeting with Thierry Braillard, Frances Secretary of State for Sports, Al Thawadi was invited to visit France ahead of the forthcoming Euro 2016 football championships. The SC also updated the French delegation on progress with regards to technical delivery, training sites and their post-tournament use, and worker welfare provisions. Thierry Braillard, France's Secretary of State for Sports, said: "The meeting highlighted Qatars ambition of building strong sports diplomacy. Qatar offers opportunities for a mutually beneficial cooperation between our two countries in the field of sports with Qatars dynamism and facilities on the one hand and our firms well -recognized expertise on the other hand." "In each meeting held, the importance that we give to the welfare of our workers was clearly displayed", said Farah Al-Muftah, Chair of the SC's Worker Welfare Committee. "Outlining the standards we developed, their implementation across our projects and sharing the progress we achieved as well as the challenges we face, illustrates the organisation's commitment to leave a lasting legacy of human and social development." All high-level meetings were also attended by their respective Ambassadors to the State of Qatar, as well as visiting business delegations and top officials from the SC. (END)