Sunday May 28th, 2023
Qatar Chamber Chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani presided over the Chamber’s second General Assembly Meeting (GAM) held on Sunday at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the presence of QC board members, the general manager and a crowd of businessmen and QC members.
The elections of a new board of directors for the seventh council (2023-2028) took place during the GAM.
All insurance, banking, services, tourism, and agriculture candidates won by acclamation.
They are Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani, representing the insurance sector, Rashid bin Nasser al-Kaabi (banking), Ibtihaj al-Ahmadani (services), Sheikh Hamad bin Ahmad bin Abdullah bin Ahmed al-Thani (tourism), and Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Twar al-Kuwari (agriculture).
The voting process took place in the sectors of trade, contacting and industry.
Chairperson of the Supervisory Committee for the Qatar Chamber Elections Mohamed bin Hassan Al Malki announced the winners.
The trade sector included eight candidates who competed for five seats. Winners are Mohamed Mahdi Ajian al-Ahbabi, Rashid Hamad Hazaa Hamad al-Athba, Khalid Klefeekh Khalid al-Hajri, Mohamed Jawhar Saeed Mohamed al-Mohamed, and Abdulrahman Abduljalil Abdulghani al-Abdulghani.
The industry sector has six candidates competed for three seats. Winners are Abdullah Mohamed Abdul Rahim al-Emadi, Abdulrahman Abdullah Ibrahim al-Ansari, and Fahd Mohamed Fahd Buzwair.
In the contracting sector, four candidates were declared winners — Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed Ali al-Obaidli, Nasser Sulaiman Haidar al-Haidar, Shaheen Mohamed Lahdan al-Mohannadi, and Ali Abdullatif al-Misnad.
The new board of directors will hold a meeting soon to elect the Chairman and his Vice-Chairmen.
The meeting’s agenda reviewed the board of directors’ report on the chamber’s activities and financial status for 2022.
It also discussed and approved the auditor’s report on the chamber’s budget, final accounts, and the statement of revenues and expenses for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022.
It also included discharging members of the board of directors and approving the estimated budget for the fiscal year 2023, in addition to appointing a new auditor for the fiscal year 2023.
The number of attendees reached 17622 members, including 5349 in person, while 12273 members by proxy, representing 24.1 percent of the total number of members, totalling 73148 members.
Addressing the meeting, HE Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani said that the Chamber last year continued its efforts to support and develop the business sector in the country and to encourage investment and facilitate its growth, in addition to promoting the national economy and the state’s investment climate.
During the last year, the Chamber adopted a number of important initiatives that are advantageous to the private sector and helps in its development and growth, HE said, adding that it joined the United Nations Global Compact – the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.
It also, in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour (MoL), launched the updated version of the ‘Labour Re-employment Platform for Private Sector’, which aims to assist companies to recruit employment from the local market.
The Chamber also opened an office for the Ministry of Labour at the Chamber’s headquarters for business owners and company managers to facilitate procedures and expedite the completion of transactions.
To promote the national economy, Sheikh Khalifa said the Chamber last year launched the ‘Qatar Economic & Commercial Activities Guide 2022’ which included information about the state’s economy and investment climate and steps for doing business in Qatar, in addition to the most prominent laws and legislation that govern the investment process in the state.
HE Sheikh Khalifa indicated that in 2022, the Chamber completed more than 61 thousand electronic transactions and 26 thousand non-electronic transactions and issued more than 44 thousand certificates of origin for exports, of which 30 thousand online certificates, referring that the total number of QC members exceeded 72 thousand members.
During 2022, the Chamber has organised more than 200 events, whether in person or virtually. It hosted a lot of business delegations, participated in numerous trade fairs, and organised many seminars and forums, in addition to a multitude of external visits, training and arbitration activities and various publications.
QC Chairman reviewed the accomplishments made by the board of directors during the sixth council 2018-2023, noting that the Chamber continued to play its leading role in protecting and representing the interests of the private sector and enabling it to play its hopeful role in economic activity.
Despite the significant challenges faced by the economy during that period, including the blockade, Covid-19, and the global economic changes imposed by the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Qatari economy continued to grow, benefiting from several factors, such as the domestic legislation, higher energy prices, the growing contribution of non-oil sectors in the GDP and the expansion in foreign investments, as well as the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which was a remarkable success and a milestone in the World Cup history.
HE also said that during the sixth council, the Chamber’s sectorial committees reviewed issues facing the private sector and discussed obstacles facing each sector with government bodies for finding appropriate solutions.
The Chamber contributed to the promotion of the private sector’s participation in economic decisions, put forward its views on a range of laws and legislation relating to the private sector, and strengthened cooperation relations with stakeholders, ministries, and bodies.
Furthermore, the Chamber witnessed active presence in many regional and international forums and contributed to supporting the national product through exhibitions it organised or those it participated in.
On the level of technical development and digitization, he pointed out that the Chamber strengthened its digital structure and worked to add more online services to the business community, noting that there is a plan to develop all services to be online.
In line with the state’s economic boom, HE pointed out that the Chamber continued to equip its new headquarters on the “Boulevard” in Lusail to match the services provided by the Chamber to the private sector, noting that the transfer to the new building is expected to take place soon to coincide with the new board of directors for the seventh council.
Concluding his speech, Sheikh Khalifa expressed sincere thanks and appreciation to HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Deputy Amir HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani and HE the Prime Minister for their continuous support to the private sector, praising the interest of HH the Amir to enable the private sector to accomplish its desirable role in economic development and being a genuine partner to the public sector and a key drive in the state’s economic boon in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.
HE also thanked the Chamber’s management and all employees for their efforts during the previous council, and the Chairman and members of the Supervisory Committee for Elections, in addition to the Chamber’s internal committee for election for their efforts during the election process.
