Doha, Qatar: Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani chaired the weekly Cabinet meeting held today at the Amiri Diwan.
Following the meeting, HE Ibrahim bin Ali Al Mohannadi, Minister of Justice and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, stated that at the outset of the meeting, the Cabinet renewed the State of Qatar's condemnation in the strongest terms of the renewed attacks launched by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the sisterly Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the sisterly United Arab Emirates, the sisterly Kingdom of Bahrain and the sisterly State of Kuwait, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of these sisterly countries and a blatant breach of international law, the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of good neighbourliness. The Cabinet affirmed the State of Qatar's full solidarity with these countries and its support for all measures they take to safeguard their sovereignty and security. It stressed the need for the immediate and complete cessation of all military actions and attacks that threaten the security and stability of the region, and for refraining from any actions that could widen the scope of escalation. The Cabinet also called for a serious return to dialogue and negotiations and adherence to the understandings reached through diplomatic efforts.
The Cabinet then reviewed the topics on its agenda and approved a draft law on cloud computing and its referral to the Shura Council.
The draft law, prepared by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in coordination with the Communications Regulatory Authority and the competent entities, aims to establish a comprehensive legislative framework governing the storage and disclosure of digital data, enhancing its protection and security, and setting controls for lawful access to such data in a manner that strikes a balance between law enforcement requirements and safeguarding individuals' privacy. It also seeks to strengthen frameworks for international cooperation in this field, support digital transformation, strengthen the State's position as an attractive destination for investment in the data centre and cloud services sector, and establish it as a trusted regional destination for data hosting.
In particular, the draft law includes provisions governing the obligations of data service providers and telecommunications service providers, ensuring open and neutral access, fair pricing, non-discrimination, interoperability, and customers' freedom to choose their service providers, in addition to rules on transparency and mutual legal assistance.
The Cabinet also approved a draft law on the regulation of competition and its referral to the Shura Council.
The draft law, prepared by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, comes as part of efforts to modernise the regulatory framework for economic activity in the State. It is intended to replace Law No. 19 of 2006 Concerning Protection of Competition and Prevention of Monopolistic Practices and to keep pace with comparative best practices in this field.
The draft law aims to protect and promote free and fair competition, combat monopolistic practices, and curb practices that may harm, restrict or undermine competition. It also regulates mechanisms for overseeing economic concentration, thereby contributing to greater market efficiency and enhancing the business and investment environment in the State, in line with international standards and the objectives of the Third National Development Strategy (2024–2030).
The draft law includes provisions on the establishment of the Competition Regulation Committee and the determination of its competencies; prohibited agreements, acts and practices; abuse of dominance; exemption applications and decisions thereon; notification and review of economic concentration transactions and decisions thereon within specified timeframes; the submission of complaints and investigation procedures; measures and financial penalties; appeals against the Committee's decisions before the Investment and Trade Court; settlement; and exemption from penalties.
The Cabinet reviewed the findings of a study of the proposal submitted by the Shura Council titled “Enhancing Parental Care and Supporting Family Cohesion," and took the appropriate decision thereon. The relevant entities indicated their intention to take practical steps to develop and implement a comprehensive package of family-related programmes, policies and initiatives. These include enhancing parenting support services, introducing benefits and measures to support work-life balance, improving nursery and kindergarten services, strengthening partnerships between families and educational institutions, and intensifying awareness and media efforts to reinforce sound upbringing, family values and national identity. The measures also include strengthening coordination and institutional integration and building on existing initiatives, thereby contributing to improving quality of life and strengthening family stability and cohesion, while reflecting positive engagement with the Shura Council's proposal and constructive cooperation between the two authorities to achieve the desired social and development objectives.
The Cabinet decided to approve a draft Letter of Intent on cooperation between the Ministry of Interior of the State of Qatar and the Ministry of Interior of the Kingdom of Spain regarding security arrangements for the FIFA World Cup 2030; a draft Letter of Intent on security cooperation in the field of training and exchange of expertise between the Ministry of Interior of the State of Qatar and the Federal Ministry of the Interior of Germany; a draft Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of labour between the Ministry of Labour of the State of Qatar and the Ministry of Economy and Labour of the Republic of North Macedonia; a draft MoU on cooperation in the field of tourism between the State of Qatar and the Republic of Serbia; a draft executive programme for cooperation in the field of sports between the Government of the State of Qatar and the Office of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic for 2026–2027; and a draft extension of the Memoranda of Understanding with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) concerning the OECD's hosting of the Secretariat of the Multilateral Organisation Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN).
Concluding its meeting, the Cabinet reviewed the 63rd report on the outcomes of the work of the National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons from January 1 to April 30, 2026; the 2025 annual report on the achievements and work programmes of the General Tax Authority; a report on the outcomes of the participation of HE the Minister of Finance in the Annual Meetings of the Islamic Development Bank Group (Republic of Azerbaijan, June 2026); a report on the outcomes of the visit of HE the Minister of Municipality to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and participation in GreenTech 2026 (June 2026); and a report on the outcomes of the participation of HE the Minister of Municipality in the 39th Session of the General Assembly of the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD) (Kuwait, June 2026), and took the appropriate decisions thereon.
