The Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani addressing the opening of the 42nd session of the Advisory Council yesterday.
DOHA: The government has initiated measures to control the rising inflation in the country and is concerned about delays and mismanagement of projects that are leading to wastage of the country’s resources, the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said yesterday.
Opening the 42nd session of the Advisory Council, in the presence of the Father Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir said a special committee had been set up to propose solutions to inflationary pressures and called for a study to find out the reasons behind the unjustified rise in the cost of some projects.
“Despite the high standard of living that we can provide, yet we must deal responsibly with our resources and our economy. This is not only about the next generation, but also the type of man we are keen on grooming at present. Is he productive or just a consumer? Social responsibility and abstention from irresponsible extravagance are among the attributes of the human personality that we want… In this context, a study has to be made on the causes that raise the cost of some projects in a way that does not conform with the cost and profit as well as supply and demand,” said the Emir, in his first address to the Advisory Council.
The inaugural ceremony was also attended by H H Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Chairman of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, among other dignitaries.
The Emir said, “It is our right to be happy with what has been achieved in the past years, but we should not overlook some of the negative phenomena that may be associated with it, foremost among them is the inflation problem. No doubt that inflation has a negative effect on growth and society, and therefore price rise is a problem that worries everyone and the government will seek to contain it by all available means and tools, and I mention in particular the monetary and fiscal policies, combating monopoly, encouraging competitiveness, setting an appropriate timetable to invest in major projects, and coordinating between these projects to avert being concentrated in a short period of time leading to pressure on the available potential capacity,” he added.
A government panel has been set up to propose solutions to control internal or external inflationary pressures. Individuals and civil society organisations and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Qatar must play their role and endeavour to avoid any unjustified price rise, because it is a joint responsibility, and the role of those institutions is no less important than that of the State in this area, said the Emir.
The Emir called on the citizens to pass over all the good values of the Qatari society to the younger generation. “Qatari citizens have been known from time immemorial for their good morals, generosity, modesty, speaking little and working more, and championing oppressed people. I am afraid that we fail to pass on to our young people these genuine values, the values of work, humility, and good manners, and treating others with respect, and we are keen to see that young people find meaning and purpose in their life in all this, in the context of the civilisation of consumption.”
“The policy of human development cannot be implemented if we do not hold accountable those who commit negligence, mismanagement, or corruption,” he added.
In the economic domain, the Emir said, Qatar has sustained its accomplishments by achieving the best results as per the vision and strategy worked out for this purpose, despite global economic uncertainty and instability that prevent complete recovery from the successive crises that afflict a number of advanced and emerging economies alike. The real GDP increased by lesser rate in 2012 compared to the previous growth rates.
“But if we take into account the low growth rate in the oil sector , then we could figure out that achieving this growth rate in the GDP required a growth rate of up to 10 per cent in the non- oil sector, and this is not an easy achievement,” said the Emir.
The rate of growth achieved in the year 2012 is considered remarkable rate when compared with the growth rates of a number of economic groups and is twice the global growth rate, and five times the growth rate in developed countries.
“Maintaining a good annual growth rate in the coming years is considered a major challenge in view of the expected decline in growth rates of hydrocarbons sector. This requires doubling our efforts to increase productivity, improving economic and technical efficiency, promoting economic diversification, encouraging entrepreneurship, expanding research and development, and moving forward towards the knowledge-based economy,” said the Emir.
The government expenditures in the public budget for the 2013-2014 fiscal year is higher than any spending in previous budgets and higher than the spending in the 2012-2013 fiscal year by 17 per cent.
Qatar has maintained its top ranking in global competitiveness and in human development. Qatar also has attained the highest Human Development ranking among the Arab Gulf countries in the Human Development Report for 2013 issued by the United Nations Development Program.
Highlighting the importance of the private sector, the Emir said, “encouraging this sector, removing obstacles encountered by it, and providing it with adequate incentives, rests with the government in the first place, and it is the duty of the business community and the Qatar Chamber to cooperate with the government by providing all necessary proposals and solutions to enable the private sector to play its role.”
In spite of the economic turmoil taking place in the world, the financial sector in Qatar has pushed its way to progress and upgrading its services. This has culminated in Qatar Stock market joining the group of emerging markets. Qatar has also maintained its high credit rating, which we seek to upgrade as well, through promoting transparency of competitiveness procedures in the markets, and simplifying legislations and laws. On the other hand, Qatar continues to enjoy a strong financial position, as it has achieved a surplus of 10.4 per cent of GDP, supported by a conservative approach in estimating crude oil prices for budgeting purposes.
Coming to education and the importance of preserving cultural identify, the Emir said: “There is no contradiction between progress and originality. On the contrary all the people of the world achieved progress by using their own languages and at the same time developed these languages, yet this did not prevent them from learning and mastering foreign languages as a requirement for scientific, economic and civilisational development in general.”
He said, the government will spare no effort to increase funds allocated for education and its development. Spending on education accounted for 13.4 per cent of the total budget for this year, i.e. 3.8 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, and “we shall seek to continue spending on research and development and expanding school vouchers system, scholarship and training programs, and improving the quality of the educational process, because education is the driving force to progress.”
In the health sector, the 2013-2014 fiscal year budget included a 13pc increase to achieve better health services, also a primary health care strategy has been adopted and there will be a double number of health centres in the next five years. Also the first phase of the social health insurance system has been launched this year, and is supposed to cover all citizens by the beginning of 2016.
The Emir also touched upon regional and global issues.
