DOHA: Qatar’s emerging private sector can play a pro-active role in realising the country’s ambitious food safety programme, provided the government is extending support. The government can support private sector in various ways, including leasing of lands for attractive prices and offering subsidies to import materials those required for developing infrastructure and logistics, a veteran Qatari businessman has said.
Launched in 2008, Qatar’s national food security programme was aimed at ensuring the country’s food security. The private sector, which contributes over half of the country’s total GDP can play a better role in supporting the country’s initaitve, Ahmed Hussain Al Khalaf, Chairman, International Projects Development Company told The Peninsula.
Al Khalaf, a senior member of Qatar Chamber (QC), is the third generation member of a family which has been involved in family businesses, including in the food sector for more than four decades.
“If you really means food security, you have to store whatever you cannot grow locally or long standing. And you have to produce whatever you can produce locally. When we talk about food security, storage and its related logistic is a fundamental issue in Qatar and the private sector can support the government in a big way,” he said.
Because of Qatar’s extreme weather and soil condition traditional farming is not a good idea. Instead, we have to focus on alternative methods of cultivating agri produces. For this, the private sector needs strong support from the government. Family businesses and private sectors should be encouraged to get involved in cultivating organic and high quality produces. The private sector is capable of making the country self-reliant on vegetables and fruits. Livestock market is another sector which the country can strengthen with the support of private sector. This is possible with the support of government. Lands should be leased out for the national entrepreneurs on subsidised rates. There should be tax exemptions on importing logistic materials.
“Without the government support it is not possible work very successfully. May be it can work in a small scale, but not in a big way as we expect. We expect the government to allocate required lands in a subsidised rate and support us in developing the infrastructure and to avoid all customs duty and taxes on the imports of agriculture equipments”, Al Khalaf added.
Al Khalaf beleives Qatar’s new international airport has got all the potential to emerge as one of the largest ports in the region with better logistic facilities..”The new port can be the main hub in the region in ensuring the food security of the region. The port can be the region’s biggest re-exporting facility as well”, he said.
The Peninsula
