Doha: Under the Patronage of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani opened the 6th Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable conference in Sheraton Doha Resort and Convention Hotel on Monday morning.
Addressing the opening session, HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister highlighted the importance of the meeting which is being held under the patronage of HH the Emir, and in critical time where the global energy markets are witnessing fundamental changes.
HE the Prime Minister also stressed the importance of the meeting among partners of the same continent to deliberate on regional challenges facing this great continent, in order to find common solutions for the benefit of sustainable development.
Since 2008, the global economy has been witnessing structural changes in all sectors of economy because of the economic openness on one hand and the interdependence between goods, services and financial markets on the other hand, HE the Prime Minister said. Once the financial markets witness a crisis, most goods and services rates influenced by the repercussions of that crisis, influencing the efforts of the comprehensive development in all countries of the world, he noted.
HE the Prime Minister said the fluctuations in global markets lack rationale and are merely based on speculation to achieve realtime gains without creating real added value.
These fluctuations have negative repercussions on economic achievements of all countries around the world and affected standard of living of individuals in Asia, he added, saying that Asia's population is nearly 60 per cent of the world's population , however, their production is 27 percent of world GDP.
In spite of development of value-added industrial products in Asia, but the unprocessed (raw) materials still make up a large part of the Asian countries' exports such as oil and natural gas , HE the Prime Minister said.
He noted that the Asian countries should have markets respect market forces , investment size and risk that producers may face.
HE the Prime Minister stressed that the WTO's Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001, is a live translation of Qatar's faith in right of human being to have a better standard of living .
HE Sheikh Abdullah said that the economic boom and the accompanying communication technology revolution have led to accelerated development gains among countries of the world , a matter which led to enshrine the concept of international peace and security , concept of partnership among nations based on mutual interests and mutual respect, which resulted in holding discussions in order achieve to the common objectives among nations.
He also stressed that the meeting held here today under the umbrella of the International Energy Forum is to enhance principle of dialogue between partners and even among parties as a civilized model for communication between nations .
HE the Prime Minister said that Qatar appreciates efforts being exerted by organizers of this important world forum ,stressing that the global energy sector conditions reinforce the need for dialogue between producers and consumers to reach a common understanding .
HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior said that we are encouraging organizers to continue the march towards opening channels of communication between all parties of energy sector market.
HE Sheikh Abdullah added that Qatar's wise leadership believes that the world is a one family and believes in justice and integrity in dealing with partners , the State of Qatar is exerting efforts to be an Asian example in communication with the current humanitarian concerns, thus easing the burden on governments in continents of the world.
He went to say we are now living a new reality thanks to economic, political and technological events in terms of unprecedented abundance in petroleum products and the decline in world prices is justified in terms of oversupply and weak demand.
He confirmed the directives of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al -Thani towards the Qatari government's commitment and keenness to accelerate diversification of Qatar's economy and rapid development of non-petroleum activities in addition to its contribution to the economy and growth , without prejudice to the financing of these projects .
HE the Prime Minister said that the government takes steps to raise private sector's contribution rate in state investment and a gradual increase of its role in the development of economic system.
Their Highnesses and Excellencies Ministers of Energy , Ambassadors , high-ranking officials and guests attended the opening session.
QNA
