The Shura Council State of Qatar

The Shura Council convened its weekly ordinary session Monday at Tamim bin Hamad Hall at the Council's headquarters, chaired by HE Speaker of the Shura Council Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim.

During the session, the council discussed the request for holding general discussion submitted by many of Their Excellencies members of the council pertaining to the development of the tourist economy and consider the possible solutions to upgrade and advance this sector.

In this framework, HE Speaker of the Shura Council Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim pointed out that tourism has become a free-standing industry in this era, as it constitutes a critical economic component that undergirds the promised economic diversity, indicating that it falls within the public and private sectors scope of work, with the aim of creating an integrated tourism experience.

He hailed the keenness of the State of Qatar to advance the tourist sector through taking an array of steps that would activate and develop this sector, as one of the critical non-oil sectors in the state, emphasizing the council's keenness to back these efforts through laying out proposals and visions that contribute to upgrading tourism sector, in addition to considering the hurdles that hamper this sector.

For their part, Their Excellencies members of the Shura Council underscored the significance of making tourism a sustainable industry that goes beyond the events held within its framework, affirming that such a sector must be an industry that conforms to Qatar National Vision 2030 along with its third pillar concerning the economic development through developing a diverse and competitive national economy capable of meeting the citizens' needs during the present time and in the future.

During their remarks, members of the council aspired to constitute an empowered tourist economy that adopts long-term strategies to promote Qatar as a tourist destination and never count on temporary solutions and advertisement only.

Members of the council touched upon the tourist elements and the competitive ability the State of Qatar enjoys today more than ever, calling for optimally investing in this sector with keenness to have a sustainable tourism sector in the quest for achieving Qatars national vision and supporting the strategic plans associated with a robust and diverse economy.

They noted a multitude of tourism types in Qatar with the importance of focusing on family recreational tourism, cultural tourism, medical tourism, eco-tourism, and marine tourism, as well as other types of tourism such as tourism events, conferences, exhibitions and shopping tourism.

The members noted the success the state of Qatar made in hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 tournament which was described as absolutely the best edition, pointing out that the tournament had achieved gains through highlighting the consolidated Qatari culture and apprising the visitors of the tourist attractions in the state.

Members of the Shura Council also emphasized the significance of investing in the success the tournament had made through exploring a shared and unified vision among public and private sectors to upgrade the tourist sector and not to monopolize tourism services on a certain sector.

They stressed the importance of bolstering and activating domestic tourism in the state to be further incorporated into tourist promotion plans which will overtly contribute to encouraging citizens and residents to spend their vacations at home, affirming that domestic tourism is a critical source of commercial traffic and development of the national economy.

After discussing the request bluntly by Their Excellencies members of the Shura Council, the council decided to submit the request to the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee for further perusal and submission of its report on the request accordingly.

In addition, the council approved the requests of extending the works of the Cultural Affairs Committee to study many topics presented to the council, notably a draft law on the higher education institutions, demerits of leveraging the technology, as well as the response of the General Secretariat of Council of Ministers to the proposal submitted by the council concerning the topic of the phenomenon of Qatari teachers reluctance to pursue the teaching profession.

On the other hand, HE Speaker of the Shura Council Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim apprised Their Excellencies members of the council of the council's participation, with a delegation headed by His Excellency, in the parliamentary meeting accompanying the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) held in United Arab Emirates on Dec. 6.

His Excellency briefed the members on the meeting that tackled many topics related to the parliamentary efforts in backing the commitment towards countering climate changes, in addition to shining a spotlight on the role of parliaments in conveying the voices of all citizens, as well as ensuring their engagement in global discussions and negotiations relevant to climate change.

In conclusion, the meeting endorsed a document that underscored the importance of parliamentary engagement in addressing climate change, as well as exploring a legislative approach and innovative policies to implement that objective, His Excellency pointed out.

At the outset of the session, HE the Speaker of the Council welcomed HE Ali bin Ahmed Al Kaabi who has recently won the membership of the Shura Council by acclamation in the by-elections of district 21, wishing him further success in his duty.

Afterwards, HE Ali bin Ahmed Al Kaabi took oath before the council prior to resuming his duties.