13-05-2023
Qatar Chamber has recently participated in the consultive meeting between GCC mimisters of commerce and heads of unions and chambers of commerce and industry which was held in Muscat, the Sultanate of Oman.
The chamber delegation was presided over by QC Chairman HE Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani and included QC Second Vice Chairman Rashid bin Hamad Al Athba and board member Mohamed bin Mahdi Al Ahbabi.
During the meeting, Sheikh Khalifa reviewed the issue of supply chains and its impact on the Gulf region in the shortage of food goods and the rise of prices, noting that the Gulf states has been facing a number of global challenges like the Covid-19, containers, and the Ukraine-Rusia war and the impacts that resulted in the hike in prices of grains, fertilizers and medicine, as well as the delay in supply chains and its impact on the GCC food security.
He stressed the importance of forming a permenant mergency crisis committee and preparing a strategy for finding alternatives for import.
He also affirmed the importance of establishing a unified policy for purchase of strategic good like food and medicine and providing atteactive incentives for Gulf investors.
He called on the food security committee which was established by the agricultural cooperation committee at the General Secretariat in 2022 to work on finding practical solutions for these challenges.