Qatar urged to support Arab firms Wednesday, 22 February 2012 00:59

DOHA: Arab businessmen attending a key convention here yesterday have urged Qatar to give priority to ‘competent’ Arab firms while awarding 2022 World Cup projects.

‘Competent’ Arab companies from almost every realm of business, including consultancies, material and manpower suppliers as well as developers, must be accorded priority in contracts, said the businessmen in a communiqué.

Food security is a major problem facing the Arab world along with water scarcity. The delegates said that strategic reserves be ensured for grains, dates, other basic food items including meat, fish, edible oil, dairy products, juices and fodder as well as seeds for agricultural purposes.

Arab states with arable land, natural water resources and workforce like Sudan, Syria, Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq should focus on farming, said the communiqué

The convention urged Arab governments to encourage the agricultural sector just as western states were doing, by developing rural areas by providing basic services, loans and setting up agencies to boost the industry.

This was the first Summit of Arab Businessmen held after the Arab Spring. About pharmaceutical industries, the communiqué said that the sector has developed very fast and is quite advanced.

“What we need today is to make sure that our medicines and pharmaceutical products are used as much as possible instead of the imported foreign stocks,” the meet urged.

It talked of laying emphasis on research and development work in the pharmaceutical industry and setting up an advanced market that could compete with its foreign rivals.

THE PENINSULA

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