Doha, November 18 (QNA) – HE Minister of Commerce and Industry Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al-Thani stressed the Ministry’s collaboration with all concerned agencies in the country to produce a historic and exceptional World Cup edition.
In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), His Excellency said that the first-ever World Cup in the Middle East and the Arab world will kick off within few days’ time, highlighting the concerted national efforts for the world’s mega event to produce a historic and exceptional FIFA World Cup edition. His Excellency said this success reflects the State of Qatar’s civilizational, economic and cultural development and prosperity under the wise leadership of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. His Excellency said that this unique World Cup edition will be a bright sign and a solid historical legacy for all citizens and residents in the State of Qatar, and that it will inspire the World Cup fans and future generations.
Highlighting the Ministry’s efforts to contribute to the success of this global event, His Excellency pointed to the Ministry’s cooperation and coordination with various government agencies and private sectors, to accelerate the launch of integrated initiatives and programs in line with the provisions of Law No. 10 of 2021 regarding measures to host the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
In collaboration with all relevant agencies, His Excellency said, the Ministry defined the mechanisms for the World Cup events and ways to facilitate procedures for entry visas, recruitment permits, work permits, and company registration. His Excellency added the procedures also included tax and customs exemptions for some categories according to the limits determined by HE Minister of Finance and the government regulations. These parties included the FIFA and its affiliated organizations, continental federations, national football associations, companies, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) and FIFA entities, suppliers of goods and contractors of its works, contractors of service providers, FIFA business partners, broadcasters, their employees and foreign nationals participating in activities.
In conjunction with these measures, the Ministry cooperated with the concerned authorities in the country to draft Law No. 11 of 2021 on the protection of trademarks, copyrights and related rights of the FIFA, according to which the Industrial Property Protection Office, or the Office for the Protection of Copyright and Neighboring Rights at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, registers FIFA trademarks, audio recordings, performing artists, and FIFA radio programs. In this regard, the Ministry registered more than 500 FIFA-related trademarks until June 2022, according to Law No. (9) of 2002 on trademarks, trade names, geographical indications, and industrial designs and templates. The Ministry also registered nearly 180 other FIFA-related trademarks, under Law No. (11) of 2021. Hence, FIFA granted the rights to use its trademark to about 27 companies and commercial partners.
His Excellency highlighted the Ministry’s workshops aimed at supporting intellectual property rights and providing the necessary protection for major international brands, and discussing ways to guarantee fair competition and prevent illegal abuses such as unauthorized promotional activities, and combating the sale of counterfeit goods and FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022-linked products without the consensus of the concerned authorities, and the unauthorized use of trademarks and designs affiliated with FIFA and the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
The workshops also discussed the tasks of judicial officers in the vicinity of stadiums during World Cup matches, ways to protect the trademarks and intellectual property rights of FIFA and the tournament sponsors, the World Cup designs and the rights of companies authorized to sell World Cup-related products, as well as mechanisms for identifying officially licensed products, and reviewing the in-stadium brand protection program during the tournament.
As part of its efforts to ensure readiness for effective dealing with investors and auditors during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, His Excellency affirmed the Ministry’s keenness, through the Single Window Services (SWS) and all supporting administrative units, to secure the necessary coordination with the concerned authorities in the country to complete the auditors’ transactions. The SWS was mainly established to provide all commercial services and upgrade the trade and investment services sector to be in line with Qatar National Vision 2030, whose objectives include digital development and facilitation of digital government.
His Excellency highlighted the role of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Services Center to facilitate procedures for commercial licensing and the establishment of companies concerned with working on World Cup projects, providing general trademark registration services and its contribution to accelerating transactions involving the various sectors of the Ministry.
This center provided about 23 services in the industrial sector to back industrial projects and provide important investment incentives and benefits to support the industrial sector through various transactions. In the commercial sector, It provided a single place to facilitate obtaining the necessary licenses and registrations, support and assist investors in the planning and registration procedures and licenses for their commercial projects, in addition to diverse and fast services that meet all the needs of investors and customers.
In the consumer sector, it launched about 28 exclusive and distinctive services, and issued the necessary licenses for sales and offers.
Commenting on the Ministry’s readiness to meet the various needs of the local market during the tournament, HE the Minister of Commerce and Industry stressed the Ministry’s preparedness to deal with the expected increase in demand for consumption in the local market at very high rates, amid expectations to receive large numbers of fans and visitors. The ministry took the necessary measures to set up, renew and gradually increase inventory of food, supply and consumer commodities within the framework of the Ministry-run strategic inventory management and control system.
His Excellency highlighted the coordination with various concerned authorities and parties, particularly Al Meera Consumer Goods Company as a strategic partner, to contribute to the success of this important event. Under this coordination, the retail giant will secure sufficient stocks of products in high demand during the tournament, such as oils, rice, breakfast meals and foods, canned food, eggs, drinking water, detergents and paper products, etc.
Commenting on the Ministry’s procedures and detailed plans to face all scenarios and emergencies that ensure regular supply and procurement to meet the local market needs, His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al-Thani alluded to the relaunch of the Emergency Committee under Ministerial Resolution No. 52 of 2022 in a bid to ensure the import and flow of food and supplies.
This committee seeks to secure multiple procurement sources of all local market needs, and the country’s targeted strategic inventory of food and consumer commodities, and provide sufficient sale outlets for food and consumer commodities at reasonable prices and appropriate quality, His Excellency said.
The committee also seeks to tighten field control over the local market and prevent monopolistic practices, and to secure procedures for the supply of foodstuffs, supplies and consumer goods such as import, unloading, customs clearance, storage, and efficient distribution, directing the private sector mainly towards securing all the local market needs in terms of targeted food and consumer goods, and not resorting to strategic companies like Hassad, Zad and Widam except in emergency cases.
His Excellency stressed that many Qatari strategic companies completed their stocks of commodities like frozen poultry, eggs, frozen meat, bottled water, vegetables and fruits, at a time when the whole world faces huge challenges in the production and availability of foodstuffs, high prices of inputs and the continued supply chains disruptions and other obstacles and challenges which the State of Qatar managed to reign in.
As part of the Ministry’s efforts to strengthen partnership between the public and private sectors, His Excellency said that all parties, including restaurants, cafes, sales outlets, food transportation companies, hotels, hotel apartments, etc., were contacted and informed of the Ministry’s plans and its readiness to provide support when needed. His Excellency also stressed the key role played by the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Food Security Emergencies Follow-up Centre, which aims to respond quickly to any shortages in foodstuff and consumer goods and overcome any difficulties or challenges facing the parties participating in the tournament.
His Excellency highlighted the daily coordination with the parties in charge of the procurement of commodities throughout the tournament to meet any potential shortage in basic commodities, including test flights to the pre-specified import sources.
His Excellency added that the measures taken by the Ministry led to a variety of choices for consumers of all commodities and alternatives in all sales outlets at acceptable prices and high quality, referring in this context to the results of a study recently conducted by an international consulting company on behalf of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, which showed that the State of Qatar has available reasonable prices for basic commodities in all its local markets.
His Excellency highlighted a government decision to extend the work of commercial centers to 2am throughout the tournament. The decision, taken in coordination with the relevant authorities, seeks to support the World Cup-associated programs and activities. Also, in cooperation with the Ministry of Municipality, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, and Al Meera Consumer Goods Company, the Ministry announced the inauguration of 10 temporary sales outlets close to the World Cup fans to facilitate their access to products, ensure around-the-clock services and avoid overcrowding during the tournament, His Excellency said.
These temporary outlets are added to 64 Al Meera branches located in various regions of the country, including 15 operating around the clock, in addition to six branches in the Doha Metro that operate all the week long.
His Excellency said that a work plan has been developed for the field control teams emanating from the Emergency Committee to ensure the import and flow of food and supply items, highlighting the round-the-clock and nationwide inspection of all commercial stores – major sales outlets, vegetables and fruits outlets, or restaurants, cafes, cafeterias and hotels – in order to ensure the availability of all consumer goods and services, combat monopoly, control prices, and monitor violations.
His Excellency added that the Ministry regulated and monitored activities and raised the efficiency of judicial police officers, develop their capabilities and provide them with the necessary tools, such as providing the electronic inspection system, which aims to enhance the capabilities and skills of the Ministry’s inspectors in the field of monitoring and controlling the concerned authorities in compliance with the laws and decisions regulating the business and trade sectors in the country, especially in the areas of registrations, licenses, copyrights, combating commercial fraud, monitoring defective and harmful goods, after-sales services, strategic inventory, evaluation and follow-up of prices, field control, central markets, and other fields.
His Excellency highlighted the package of laws introduced to boost foreign investments as part of the State’s keenness to provide foreign investors with the opportunity to participate in the implementation of economic projects, especially those related to the activities of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Among these laws were Law No.(1) of 2019 on regulating Non-Qatari capital investment in the economic activity, Law No. (12) of 2020 regulating partnership between the government and private sectors, and Law No. (16) of 2018 regulating the ownership and use of real estate by non-Qataris.
The Ministry is also intensifying its efforts to promote and attract foreign investments, with the Ministry giving priority to investment requests submitted by foreign companies through the “Invest in Qatar” center, and facilitates their procedures, whether for the Ministry or the relevant government agencies.
His Excellency added that the “1000 Opportunities” initiative represents a true nucleus for linking investment opportunities with foreign supplying companies, and opening a communication channel between them and local companies to benefit from the localization of some industries, whether in supply chains or contracting for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 projects. His Excellency pointed out that a number of local and foreign companies submitted about 700 requests during the past six months, and that a number of local companies signed procurement contracts with more than QR 600 million.
At the same time, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry made great efforts to support Qatari industries and expand and diversify their fields, in order to achieve self-sufficiency, by launching several initiatives aimed at urging Qatari industrial establishments to raise their production capacity of national goods in order to meet the needs of consumers during the World Cup activities and in a manner that supports the arrival of national goods and products to the largest number of sales outlets in the country, His Excellency said.
His Excellency added that about 50 percent of the on-display items were allocated for Qatari products, and that coordination was made with more than 30 governmental and semi-governmental agencies to give priority to national products and increase their purchases.
His Excellency said that the remarkable turnout for investment in non-traditional sectors, particularly the industrial sector, proves the success of the State’s plans to support and enhance the contribution of national companies to achieving self-sufficiency for the State, with about 835 factories currently operating in the country.
The industrial facilities established in 2022 brought the total number of locally-made products to about 1142 products, His Excellency said, reiterating cooperation with all concerned authorities in the country to reach the best preparations for the first-ever World Cup in the Middle East and the Arab world. (QNA)