ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER El Jaish and Lekhwiya reach semis Sport | 28 Thursday 4 December 2014 • 12 Safar 1436 • Volume 19 Number 6269 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 Private sector must take lead role: PM Oil price fall a cause of concern, Premier tells businessmen BY MOBIN PANDIT and opportunity in economic activities.” its role, said the Premier. rate to 12 percent this year. MOHAMED OSMAN The PM, who also holds the One of the main issues the This key sector will continue interior ministry portfolio, was government is working on is to with its upward march until its DOHA: Fluctuating world oil speaking during his maiden make land available for different ratio to the GPD has reached 50 prices are causing alarm and interaction with the business purposes, among other things percent. prompting Qatar to rise up to community at the Ritz-Carlton for housing, including labour As for the GDP itself, its the occasion and speed up its last evening. accommodation, industries, growth this year is expected to diversification effort, the Prime The meeting was held by Qatar warehouses, commercial activi- be 6.2 percent. Next year also, Minister said yesterday. Chamber, the representative ties, food security projects, health despite falling global crude H E Sheikh Abdullah bin body of the private sector. and education. prices, the GDP is likely to grow Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani told The PM said effective policies Various ministries have been five to six percent. businessmen that the time had were being framed and imple- asked to estimate the require- The government is bolstering come to promote the private sec- mented to improve the com- ment of land for the above pur- the non-hydrocarbons sector tor and rely on it for economic petitiveness and productivity of poses over the next five years. through a number of measures, development. private businesses. The PM said the government and one of them is to encourage The government, he said, The government would rather was fixing a time frame for com- the private sector, said the PM. didn’t want to continue with its play a supervisory and legislative pletion of projects (since people A board member of the role as an investor and direct role and encourage private busi- have been complaining of undue Chamber, Mohamed Jawhar, operator of productive sectors nesses to shoulder their respon- delays). said in his address at the meet- and as a monopolist. sibility, he said. Talking about the diversifi- ing that the private sector’s situ- “The government is keen Instructions have, therefore, cation effort, the PM said the ation was pathetic. The capital of to implement development been given to various minis- good news was that the non- 75 percent of the local companies projects faster and ensure that tries to identify sectors which oil sector was performing very accounted for just 20 percent of required legislations are in place the government can support the well. It grew 11 percent in 2013 the total capital of companies in The Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin to give the private sector more private sector in and enhance and is expected to improve the Qatar. And two percent of the compa- Khalifa Al Thani speaking during his annual interaction with businessmen nies, including venture firms as yesterday. well as foreign entities, account Tourist visas to be made easier for 50 percent of the total capital of imported goods at Doha Port A highlight of the meet was of companies in the country. and other points of entry. the presence of a fairly large DOHA: The government said during his maiden interaction their choice were being allowed Some 95 percent of Qatari Mega development projects are number of foreign businessmen yesterday it is making tour- with businessmen at the Ritz- that privilege. companies are in the construc- all being launched almost simul- and women. ist visa procedures easier and Carlton last evening. “The government is indeed tion sector and the majority taneously, causing a shortage of In remarks to this newspaper adding many more nationali- Answering a question from taking into account their request of them are financially hard- building materials that is pushing later, a foreign investor attending ties to the list of beneficiaries. a businessman as to why the to recruit professionals from pressed. The majority of them up their prices, he said. the meet, Shelley D Chuchmuch, A new law is on the anvil to government was not opening countries of their choice,” said have no share in government Traffic jams on Doha’s roads said that to help the Qatari mar- ease tourist visa procedures and up the tourism sector to people the PM. projects. were also among the problems ket expand not only local but all its draft has already been sent by from more nationalities, the PM “But, you must remember that Qatari companies have a share facing the private sector, Jawhar companies needed to be provided Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) talked of plans to make tourist we have bilateral labour agree- of barely 10 percent in develop- said. equal opportunities. to the Cabinet. visa procedures easier. ments with countries, so we must ment projects of the government, The PM, in his address, said He said a joint committee This was disclosed by the Replying to another question, respect them.” he said. the focus in the present situa- needed to be set up with repre- Prime Minister and Interior the Premier hinted that compa- The PM first delivered a brief Jawhar raised issues like tion was clearly on the role of the sentatives of the government and Minister, H E Sheikh Abdullah nies requesting work visas for speech and then fielded ques- shortage of land for various pur- private sector and its competi- the private sector to help resolve bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, professionals from countries of tions. THE PENINSULA poses, including warehousing and tiveness and on attracting more the woes of the latter. labour camps, and slow clearance foreign and local investment. THE PENINSULA Top cleric urges tougher action New law will let SEC take over errant schools DOHA: A new law is on the for more than one academic year, law deals with coaching classes Once it comes into force, all pri- non-government organisations to against Islamist anvil to regulate private schools. the draft suggests. and training centres for languages, vate schools must comply with its their employees. Its draft was approved by the The SEC would have the power computer science, secretarial serv- provisions within a year. There are an estimated 154 pri- State Cabinet yesterday. to launch investigations against a ices, and accounting and manage- However, the Minister may vate schools in Qatar, according to militants Once it comes into effect after private school, including those run ment courses. All these centres extend this deadline for another the latest data. Some 138,174 stu- CAIRO: A prominent Muslim the necessary approvals, the law by communities, and its employees will be licensed and monitored year. The grace period for coach- dents are enrolled in these institu- cleric yesterday said the US-led would empower the Supreme in the event of a serious complaint. by the SEC, Qatar News Agency ing classes and training centres tions, which employ thousands of coalition carrying out air Education Council (SEC) to take If a school is found breaching (QNA) reported yesterday. would be six months. This dead- teachers and administrative staff. strikes on Islamic State insur- over a private school temporarily provisions of the proposed law, The draft law, which also deals line can also be extended by the Their job contracts would, argu- gents should widen its scope to in case of a serious complaint. its licence can be cancelled or its extensively with licensing proce- Minister. ably, need to be endorsed by the include all other militant groups However, the SEC, the licens- financial grant stopped, or it can dures, is to be forwarded to the The law wouldn’t, though, apply SEC. QNA, however, didn’t say if that were tarnishing Islam. ing authority for private schools, be taken over temporarily. Advisory Council for review and to educational or training services this provision is in the draft law. Islamic State, an offshoot of would not control an errant school The second part of the draft recommendations. provided by the government or THE PENINSULA Al Qaeda, has seized wide areas of Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate to try to revive theo- cratic rule that prevailed in the Snowscape region more than 1,000 years ago. Its militants have beheaded some NHRC sets up help desks prisoners and been accused of massacring and enslaving non- Sunni Muslims. for various communities “The international coalition must call on all its material and DOHA: In a new initiative, to six complaints daily. Today, a moral energies to eradicate this the National Human Rights group of 18 workers approached terrorism, in all its manifestations, Committee (NHRC) has set up the help desk seeking a solution doctrines and schools, and to con- exclusive help desks catering to to their salary-related problems,” front the countries that support different expatriate communi- Abdullah said last evening. it,” Sheikh Ahmed Al Tayeb, the ties, staffed by members of the The complaints range from non- Grand Sheikh of Al Azhar, told a respective communities. payment of salary, denial of exit conference on fighting extremism. An Indian help desk was the permit and sponsorship change “If it does this, the coalition first such facility to open at the by employers to legal and crimi- is defending its own people first, NHRC premises about two-and- nal issues.