QNA
Doha
Prime Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani on Sunday underlined the government efforts to coordinate with the private sector to support Qatar's economic growth.
The PM said spurring economic growth is a shared responsibility of the government and the private sector, which has great opportunities to play an effective role in this regard.
Presiding over a meeting with representatives from the private sector and the Committee on Promoting Business and Investment Environment in the presence of ministers, the PM called on the Business and Investment Environment Development Committee to continue its work to remove all obstacles for the private sector to boost economic growth.
The PM said the Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) is working on a guidebook to detail the business activities and investment opportunities in the country.
The data will be updated continuously and the ministry will decide quickly on granting licences for informal events for hotels and tourism sector through a single window.
The PM gave directives for implementation of the electronic link between various authorities to issue permits to facilitate the procedures.
The PM agreed to grant the 4 and 5-star hotels the rights to issue tourist visas and directed that hotels' requests for working visas to cover their needs for staff be met soon. The PM also directed setting criteria for classification of hotels in conformity with international standards.
The PM directed a comprehensive review of Qatar National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030 with the participation of the private sector.
The Qatar Tourism Authority is to continue meeting with private sector for the development of tourism sector, including proposals on the provision of land for establishment of tourist resorts and theme parks.
The PM underlined the necessity of the government's implementation of the Emir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani's directives to promote the economic growth by providing a proper environment to diversify the economy and attract local and foreign investments.
The PM announced that Lusail and the Pearl projects will be exempted from the procedures of issuing licences while their managements will be provided with the authority to grant special licences of construction, completion of construction, electricity and civil defence for real state developers.
In this context, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) in coordination with the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa), the Department of Civil Defence and other relevant agencies were directed to conclude an agreement with the management of two joint projects by the MME, Civil Defence and Kahramaa. According to the agreement, the management of the two projects shall assume full responsibility before the state in case of a breach by the developer of the standards and conditions stipulated by the agreement and the approved urban plan.
The PM directed the MME to set specific time to decide on building permit's applications, including preliminary and final licences or building completion certificates.
The PM said the Ministry of Energy and Industry is working on implementing the Single Window project for the issuance of licences for all private industrial projects and it is also going to announce all the required standards and measures for the issuance of industrial licences so as to facilitate the procedures within a specified timeframe.
The PM decided to form a committee to develop an appropriate mechanism for pricing of lands in the industrial and logistics areas.
He also directed the Ministry of Transport and Communications to study a project aimed at establishing free zones according to the latest international standards, which would have a vital role in promoting economic diversification and attracting local and foreign investments.
The PM pointed out that there are a number of allocated pieces of land, which are being developed, for the construction of schools and hospitals by the private sector.
The location of land and the date of their release will be done later along with the determination of their price as well as the evaluation of projects.
The PM also reviewed some of the actions taken by the government, including the extension of commercial licences' validity from one year to five years, and the steps taken by the MEC to prepare legislative amendments to Law No (25) of 2005 concerning the commercial register so as to allow an increase of the commercial registration validity to five years and extension of the deadline for the renewal of the commercial registration for two months.
The amendments will be submitted to the Cabinet General Secretariat to take legal action on its issuance in accordance with the applicable laws.
The validity of environmental permits from the MME was also extended from one year to three years while efforts are on to facilitate the renewal of environmental licensing procedures.