3rd Best News Website in the Middle East BUSINESS | 23 QATAR SPORT | 29 UNDER SIEGE Mannai Corp EGM RD Belmadi impressed approves changes 183 by Al Markhiya’s in AoA DAY gritty display Monday 4 December 2017 | 16 Rabia I 1439 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com Volume 22 | Number 7365 | 2 Riyals Subscribe to Shahry Packs and enjoy 6 months of savings! Terms and Conditions Apply Emir visits 28th Doha International Book Fair Emir appoints Board Qatar to attend of Directors of Free Zones Authority GCC summit QNA mir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Eissued yesterday the in Kuwait Emiri Decision No. 24 of 2017 on forming the Board of Directors of free zones Mohammed Osman authority. The Peninsula The Decision appointed “We accepted the H E Ahmad bin Mohammed atar will participate invitation and we will Al Sayed as Chairman of the in the 38th annual attend the ministerial Board of Directors, Moham- summit of Gulf meeting tomorrow, med Ali Al Mannai as Deputy Cooperation Council Chairman, in addition to Q(GCC) member coun- and God willing, the appointing H E Sheikh Hamad tries which will be held on Emir will participate bin Faisal Al Thani, Brig. Abdul- December 5 and 6 in Kuwait. in the summit,” said lah Salim Al Ali, Mohammad “We accepted the invitation Deputy Prime Minister Hassan Al Saadi, Abdulaziz Jas- and we will attend the minis- sim Al Muftah, Tamim Hamad terial meeting tomorrow, and and Foreign Minister Al Kawari, Yousuf Mohamed God willing, the Emir will par- H E Sheikh Mohamed Al Jaidah, Nasser Khalil Al Jai- ticipate in the summit,” said bin Abdulrahman Al dah as members. The Decision Deputy Prime Minister and For- also authorised the Prime Min- eign Minister H E Sheikh Thani. ister to assign two additional Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al experienced board members. Thani. Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani visited yesterday morning the 28th Doha Sheikh Mohamed was International Book Fair, which is being held under the slogan of “Towards a Knowledgeable QIA Board speaking at the “Gulf Crisis: six months, putting a Gulf state Society”, at Doha Exhibition and Convention Center. The Emir toured the pavilions of the The Emir also issued the Regional and International under siege without any rea- Emiri decision No. 25 of exhibition where H H was briefed on the participation of the government organisations, Contexts and the Role of the son and surprisingly,” the 2017, renewing the term of the cultural sectors, and also the Arabic and international publishing houses, as well as the Media” forum which opened on Deputy Prime Minister said. the Board of Directors of the Saturday. Sheikh Mohamed added latest publications, books and manuscripts displayed in the exhibition. → See also page 2 Qatar Investment Authority. “We hope the crisis will be that Qatar did not call for inter- The decisions are effective solved within the GCC and nationalisation of the Gulf crisis starting from its date of issue under the Kuwaiti mediation. and remained committed to the and is to be published in the This summit is supposed to Kuwaiti mediation. official gazette. result in a clear mechanism to end the crisis which has crossed → Continued on page 9 Qatar condemns and denies Qatar flays attack in Afghanistan Yemen mediation statement he State of Qatar has strongly condemned the Texplosion which tar- QNA have been better to investigate The source reiterated the geted a political gathering in such serious statements that do need to end the fighting and the Jalalabad, eastern Afghani- he State of Qatar has not serve the interests of the senseless war and to appeal to stan, that caused a number of denied and strongly con- brotherly Yemeni people. all parties in Yemen to resort to deaths and injuries. Tdemned the statements of The source revealed that dialogue in order to restore sta- In a statement, the Min- the UAE Minister of State for Qatar welcomes any mediation bility to the people of Yemen istry of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs which were that would end the senseless and to preserve its territorial reiterated Qatar’s firm posi- reported by some media outlets war that the Yemeni people are integrity. tion rejecting violence and in the siege countries regarding paying its price and bring The source confirmed that terrorism regardless of Qatari mediation between some about a political solution that Qatar spares no effort to pro- motives and reasons. Yemeni parties, a Foreign Min- complies with the resolutions vide all the assistance needed to The statement expressed istry official source said. of international legitimacy, and the Yemeni people to face the the condolences of the State The source stated that the it continues to support and tragic situation and conditions of Qatar to the families of the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh statements are baseless and sur- stand by the mediation efforts imposed by the current war and victims, the government and Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani speaking at the “Gulf prising as they were attributed made by the brotherly State of that the Qatari aid is still wait- the people of Afghanistan, Crisis: Regional and International Contexts and the Role of to an official of the UAE Foreign Kuwait between the Yemeni ing for approval to enter Yemeni and wished the injured a the Media” forum, yesterday. Ministry, adding that it would parties. territory. speedy recovery. QU unveils strategy 500,000 cruise tourists expected by 2022 Ministry identifies areas for for next five years Sachin Kumar a record high number of tour- passengers, more than triple building 16 urban centres The Peninsula The Peninsula ists with expectations of the capacity of a standard 60,000 passengers in 2017 and cruise ship. The large number Sanaullah Ataullah / The Peninsula atar University (QU) yesterday released atar is targeting cruise our goal is to reach 500,000 of mega ships arriving this sea- details of its new strategy (2018-2022) passengers to boost its passengers by 2022,” Mwani son is set to raise the UNDER the master development plan, the Ministry of Qthemed “A Strategy for Transformation From Qtourism. Doha Port is Qatar tweeted yesterday. cumulative number of visitors Municipality and Environment has earmarked areas to build Reform to Transform” at a launching ceremony aiming to attract half a million Concerned authorities have welcomed at Qatar’s shores. about 16 new urban centres across six municipalities to held at QU Library. cruise passengers by 2022. stepped up efforts to make sure German vessel Mein Schiff speed up the development. The municipalities of Doha, Al The event was attended by QU President Dr Looking at the sharp rise in the that the inflow of cruise tour- 5 was the first mega cruise ship Rayan, Al Shihaniya, Al Dain, Umm Salal and Al Shamal Hassan Al Derham and QU Chief Strategy and number of cruise passengers ists remains strong in the of the year received by Doha have been selected to build these 16 urban centres. Development Officer Dr Darwish Al-Emadi, as in the past few years, it looks coming days. Port. The German vessel meas- well as QU leadership, college deans, faculty and that the country is on stronger Many cruise ships have ured 293 meters in length and →Full report on page 8 staff. It featured the screening of a short film on footing to accomplish this feat. plans to dock at Doha Port. The is 15 decks high with a capac- “QU Strategy (2018-2022)”. Doha Port welcomed just cruise ship Seaborne Encore ity to carry nearly 4,000 QU President Dr Hassan Al Derham noted that 4,000 cruise passengers in docked at Doha Port with more passengers and crew. Qatar attends forum on Silk Belt the new strategy is inspired from the speech of the 2015 but this number jumped than 500 passengers on board Mein Schiff 5, which is GUANGZHOU: The State of Qatar participated in the Inter- Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on multiple times in just one year on the last week of October that expected to return to Doha Port national Forum on Wealth and Innovation in accordance July 21, in which he said: “We require diligence, as the port received 35,000 marked the start of 2017-2018 seven more times this season, with the Silk Belt Initiative in the 21st Century. Qatar was creativity, independent thinking, constructive ini- cruise passengers in 2016. The Cruise Season. This year there is not the only mega cruise ship represented H E Ali Ghanim Al Hajri, Consul General of tiatives and interest in academic achievement in strong inflow of tourists is are five new ships making their to carry thousands of passen- of Qatar in Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China. all disciplines, self-reliance and fighting indolence likely to continue as the Port is maiden calls to Qatar, and for the gers to Doha. The Italian mega Speaking at the Forum, Ali Ghanem Al Hajeri said that and dependency. This is not just wishful thinking, expecting to welcome 60,000 first time two megaships will be ship MSC Splendida which car- the Belt and Silk Road Initiative, which Qatar was the first and these are not mere dreams. Our goals are real- passengers in the current year. making calls into Doha Port. ries 3,900 passengers, is also of its signatories, as well as one of the first contributors to istic and practical.” “From 4,000 passengers in A mega ship carries scheduled to make six calls to the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank, is one of the → Continued on page 8 2015, Doha Port has achieved between 2,500 and 6,000 Doha Port this season.