BUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 1 Kerber aims to bounce INDEX DOW JONES QE NYMEX QATAR 5-10, 27, 28 COMMENT 24, 25 IBQ 2016 net REGION 11 BUSINESS 1, 10-12, 18-20 back in 20,223.00 10,663.49 53.86 ARAB WORLD 11, 12 CLASSIFIED 13-18 profi t jumps 25% +87.00 +34.36 +0.86 INTERNATIONAL 13-23, 26 SPORTS 1-12 Doha +0.43% +0.32% +1.62% to QR500.3mn Latest Figures published in QATAR since 1978 MONDAY Vol. XXXVII No. 10363 February 13, 2017 Jumada I 16, 1438 AH GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals PM meets Dubai ruler New product promises to In brief enhance workers’ safety By Joseph Varghese QMIC is collaborating with some Staff Reporter of the key entities in the country and the details of the product will be an- QATAR | Offi cial nounced next month. Post QITCOM, National Sport Day he Qatar Mobility and Innova- the product is to be launched with holiday tomorrow tions Centre (QMIC) is set to QMIC’s national partners ‘within a few Tlaunch an innovative product months.’ The Emiri Diwan yesterday announced that will increase the safety of labour- According to Abu-Dayya, the new that on the occasion of Qatar National ers at work places in a big way, accord- product is a solution that will help all Sport Day, marked annually on the ing to an offi cial. the stakeholders involved in support- second Tuesday of February, tomorrow “The new product, to be displayed ing the safety of labourers. will be an off icial holiday. at the QITCOM (Qatar ICT Conference “It involves all the stakeholders and Exhibition) 2017 early next month, right from decision makers to end us- is developed under our Hawa’ak plat- ers. It will show the world that we are MIDDLE EAST | Infrastructure form,” Dr Adnan Abu-Dayya, executive doing our part to help the labourers. Palestine PM, Qatari director and CEO of QMIC, said. Hopefully, it will enhance the welfare offi cial hold talks Hawa’ak was developed locally and of a great section of the population,” fully by QMIC to put useful real-time Dr Adnan Abu-Dayya he said. Palestine Prime Minister Rami and historical information about air QMIC’s Hawa’ak platform provides Hamdallah yesterday met in Ramallah quality, weather, and radiation in the of dealing with heat conditions,” Abu- tools and mechanisms for research with chairman of the Qatari National hands of those who need it most. Dayya said. and health studies from the collected Committee for the Reconstruction of “The new product is an end-to-end “It is a combination of heat and hu- information, essentially providing a Gaza ambassador Mohamed al-Emadi. innovative system that will allow to midity information. The product will national platform for unifi ed visibility They discussed the progress of Qatari monitor the heat index intelligently and show how these factors can be handled into diff erent aspects of Qatar’s local projects in Gaza, especially those HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa develop and enforce policies and regu- intelligently and effi ciently in a way environment. It is used by leading or- related to infrastructure and housing. al-Thani yesterday met Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Vice President lations that are put in place by the Min- that it has not been done earlier. It will ganisations such as Qatar Foundation The Palestinian prime minister praised and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, on the sidelines istry of Labour and other authorities. It be very informative and helps everyone and the Supreme Committee for Deliv- Qatar’s continued eff orts to support the of the Fourth Session of the World Government Summit (WGS 2017) held in Dubai. is something that becomes a business involved in the whole ecosystem,” the ery and Legacy to monitor air quality at Palestinian people, especially in Gaza Page 5 enabler as well as an innovative way offi cial said. their premises. Strip. QATAR | Business Ministry’s advice to company owners White House The Ministry of Economy and Trade has called on owners of Limited Liability Companies, owned by one offi cial attacks person, whose branches’ names and GCC eyes simultaneous activities are diff erent from the main branch to contact the Ministry at its court after headquarters to rectify their situation and be exempted from the prescribed fee starting today until February 27. legal setbacks The announcement comes within the VAT rollout by next Jan framework the Ministry’s keenness Reuters to provide all means of support and Washington flexibility for the business sector in Reuters However, Younis al-Khouri, under- seven sectors – education, healthcare, sidering any increase of the tax above Qatar and enhance the private sector’s Dubai secretary at the UAE fi nance ministry, renewable energy, water, space, trans- 5%, and would not raise it in the fu- role in the economic development said GCC governments were planning port and technology – might get special ture without a thorough study of the White House offi cial yester- towards achieving the Qatar National for early, simultaneous adoption. treatment. economic and social impact, Khouri day criticised a US court ruling Vision 2030. olicy makers in the six-nation “By 2018, January 1, we are aiming “There might be areas but currently, said. Athat blocked President Donald Gulf Co-operation Council are to adopt 5% VAT across the GCC,” he as the Ministry of Finance, we are not To broaden its fund-raising options, Trump’s executive order on immigration AMERICA | Music Paiming to introduce a 5% value- said in a joint interview with Reuters aiming towards exemptions, which the UAE has been working on a debt as a “judicial usurpation of power” and added tax at the start of next year, de- and fellow Thomson Reuters company could create some leakages, some con- law that would allow the federal gov- said the administration is considering a Jazz singing great spite administrative and technical ob- Zawya. fusion.” ernment, not just the seven individual range of options, including a new order. Al Jarreau dead at 76 stacles, a senior United Arab Emirates Khouri said the government expect- emirates, to issue sovereign bonds. Sustained criticism of the judici- Al Jarreau, the aff able jazz singing fi nance offi cial said yesterday. “There might be areas but ed around 12bn dirhams ($3.3bn) of rev- Khouri said authorities had wanted ary from the White House comes amid great who reached new audiences by The GCC has long planned to adopt currently, as the Ministry of enue from the tax in its fi rst year. the law to pass at the end of last year concern among Democrats and legal seamlessly merging styles and through the tax in 2018 as a way to increase Finance, we are not aiming That would be about 0.9% of the but unspecifi ed issues within the min- scholars over Trump’s view of the con- television, died yesterday days after non-oil revenues, but economists and towards exemptions, which UAE’s gross domestic product of istry had prevented this. stitutional principle of judicial inde- announcing his retirement. He was 76. offi cials in some countries have said could create some leakages, $371bn in 2015, offi cial data shows. “The sooner for the UAE, the better pendence as the administration seeks to The seven-time Grammy winner – a privately that simultaneous introduc- some confusion” From the start, authorities will seek it will be for the country,” he said. overcome legal setbacks to its travel ban rare artist to win in jazz, pop and R&B tion in all countries may not be feasi- to register all companies with annual Once the law is passed, the federal issued on January 27. categories – died in a Los Angeles ble. Other GCC members are Saudi Ara- revenues exceeding $100,000 for the government will aim to start issuing It has also become the backdrop hospital where he had been treated for That is because of the complexity of bia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. tax, and anticipate 95% or more of debt within six months, but its minimal against which US senators consider fatigue, his manager said. Jarreau, who creating the administrative infrastruc- Asked whether some sectors in the companies will comply in the initial budget defi cit means the debt will not Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, grew up in Milwaukee where he heard ture to collect the tax and the diffi culty UAE might be exempt from the tax to stage. be used to fund the budget. Judge Neil Gorsuch, for a lifetime ap- his parents play music in church, is best of training companies to comply with reduce the drag on the economy, Khou- Revenues from the tax may increase Instead, it will be issued in conjunc- pointment to the nation’s highest court. known for the singles We’re in This Love it, in a region where taxation is mini- ri said the government was aiming for gradually with economic growth but tion with the central bank to manage The Republican president said on Together and After All. mal. a 5% rate across the board but parts of the government is not at present con- liquidity in the banking system, he said. Friday that he may issue a new ex- ecutive order rather than go through lengthy court challenges to the original one, which restricted entry to the Unit- ed States of people from seven Muslim- majority countries.