Qatar National Day/ Ministry of Business and Trade... Plans and Ambitions

Doha, December 15 (QNA) - Qatar's Ministry of Business and Trade has made ambitious steps towards achieving its strategy and plans over the past year. The Ministry's Department of International Cooperation and Trade Agreements provided the World Trade Organization (WTO) with Qatar's notifications for the years 2011, 2012 and the followed up Qatar's initiative submitted to the WTO considering natural gas and its derivatives as environmental goods to ensure the flow of these goods between the Member States and to enjoy customs exemptions. The Department also followed up the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) through negotiating this issue in the framework of HE the Minister's meetings with senior officials and his official visits to some countries urging them to support the negotiations on the DDA. Meanwhile, the Department reviewed Qatar's trading policy before the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in light of Qatar Vision 2030, held the 3rd Conference on Corporate Social Responsibilities, a workshop on the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). The Department of International Cooperation and Trade Agreements also completed the first phase of the preparation of Qatar's food security draft project and follow up the country's competitiveness and its position in world trade through the development of specialized scientific studies. The Department took part in the 8th ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization, held at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, and prepared and signed a number of draft agreements in the fields of promotion and protection of mutual investments, economic, trade and technical cooperation. Meanwhile, the Department of Investment Promotion at the Business and Trade Ministry provided integrated information about the investment procedures in the State of Qatar through brochures and participating in international seminars and exhibitions related to direct foreign investment. The Department also handles the classification of the licensed commercial sectors to non-Qataris and the creation of a database to the foreign investors wishing to enter with a partnership with local investors. The Department of Business Development at the Ministry seeks to develop the institutional structure of the business environment through the development of legislations and regulations, aiming to simplify the procedures and increase its effectiveness and then speed up the completion of the transactions and encourage the establishment of new projects, thus improve Qatar's rank in the World Bank Doing Business Report, through several steps: First: The development of Qatar's exports in collaboration with the General Secretariat for Development Planning to formulate a national program to develop the capacity of exports during 2011 and work is underway on the project. Second: The organization of a workshop on developing the capacity of Qatar's exports, in cooperation with the Qatar Development Bank and the General Secretariat for Development Planning attended by representatives of 84 companies and relevant authorities. Among other achievements, the Department of Consumer Protection at the Ministry succeeded in the inspection of 37,459 shops through campaigns to different sections and issued about 3540 trade violation. (QNA)