Doha : Former Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, was and will remain one of the dedicated soldiers serving this great nation.
He was devoted since his appointment as the Prime Minister and Interior Minister in June 2013 and did his best to implement several development projects in different fields.
Under the wise leadership and directives of the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani; Sheikh Abdullah directly supervised the country’s economic advancement, and facilitated the active partnership between the government and private sector through the establishment of the Technical Committee to Stimulate Private Sector Participation in Economic Development Projects.
Also, instructions were issued to the ministries and institutions to prepare plans which ultimately led to the formulation of the National Development Strategy 2011-2016.
The National Development Strategy 2011-2016, the first comprehensive development strategy in Qatar aimed at achieving QNV 2030 goals of a sustainable and balanced growth, sought to establish major values, including value-for-cost through responsible use of oil and human resources, developing and modernising government institutions to ensure efficient performance, ensuring a governance of development programmes and projects, and providing high quality public services.
The Strategy was based on QNV 2030 pillars, targeting: sustained economic prosperity, promotion of human development, integrated methodology for social development, and environmental preservation for future generations (sustainable environment). In terms of solutions, NDS-1 contained eight chapters drawn up from 14 sector strategies. A major achievement of the NDS-1 is that it created a national culture of development planning across all government entities and other development stakeholders.
Along the same lines, the second National Development Strategy (2018-2022) aims at sustaining economic prosperity through economic infrastructure development, economic diversification and private sector development, and management of natural resources; promoting human development.
Based on the directives of H H the Amir to develop the health sector, the H E Sheikh Abdullah directly monitored health projects and instructed the concerned authorities to implement health projects within its timeframe and in accordance to the highest level world standards.
Under the directives of H H the Amir, the former PM also represented the State of Qatar in many Arab and International summits and conferences.
The modernisation and development of legislative aspects, also got attention from H E in line with the goals of the State to facilitate business and foreign investments. H E directed concerned Ministries to develop several laws that regulate investments in the country and encourage investment under high level of transparency, which helped Qatar to achieve at high rank in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index.
Under the wise leadership and directives of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani; Former Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani supervised several developmental projects.
H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani inaugurated Al Daayen Naval Base, the new building of the General Directorate of Coasts and Borders Security, in Sumaysimah area in northern Qatar in July last year.
Built on a total area of 639,800 square meters, Al Daayen Naval Base is located in the middle of the country’s eastern coast, in order to facilitate securing of all territorial waters of the State and border posts.
The base includes all the advanced requirements for marine security, which will contribute to securing the maritime borders of the State and tightening the security control and protection of all its coasts by conducting maritime patrols to prevent infiltration and smuggling of prohibited materials and control maritime violations, as well as providing marine services to citizens and residents at the same level in term of performance efficiency.
Former Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani on Decemeber 1, 2016 witnessed the ceremony marking the start of full operations of Hamad Port.
Spread over 28.5 square kilometres, Hamad Port’s basin is 4km long, 700 metres wide and 17 metres deep — specifications that enable it to receive the world’s biggest ships.
The capacity of Hamad Port is to reach 7.5 million TEU annually on completion of all construction phases. It has a general cargo terminal with a capacity of 1.7 million tonnes annually, a terminal for cereals with a capacity of one million tones annually, a terminal to receive vehicles with an annual capacity of 500,000, a terminal for livestock, a terminal for coastguard vessels and a terminal for marine support and backup. Hamad Port has a uniquely designed port Control Tower at a height of 110 metres, a customs inspection area for rapid cargo clearance (5,600 containers per day), a ship inspection platform and multiple maritime facilities, in addition to other utilities such as storage units, mosques, rest areas, medical clinics and the offices required for port operation. Hamad Port, in September last year, also entered the Guinness World Record for having the deepest artificial port basin created on land.
Qatar’s aviation sector also got boost under the tenure of
H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani as Hamad International Airport (HIA), Qatar’s state-of-the-art airport started operations under his tenure.
The world-class airport began its operation on May 27, 2014 by an inaugural flight from Qatar’s national airline, Qatar Airways, HIA has since been on a road to success. The airport has become one of the fastest growing hubs in the world. HIA celebrated its fifth year of operations in May 28, last year.
HIA announced its multi-phased airport expansion plan in 2019. Phase A of the expansion is set to comprise of a central concourse linking concourses D and E and will increase the airport’s capacity to more than 53 million passengers annually by 2022.
Phase B, which will be completed after 2022, will extend concourses D and E to further enhance the airport’s capacity to more than 60 million passengers annually. The expansion project will also feature a 10,000 sqm indoor tropical garden, a 268 sqm water feature, 11,720 sqm of landscaped retail and F&B space and 9,000 sqm of world-class Al Mourjan lounge.
H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani also supervised the progress of Doha Metro project. He reviewed the progress of the Lusail Tram and Doha Metro projects during his tenure.
The initial Preview Service of the first section of Phase 1 of the Doha Metro Project was successfully launched by Qatar Railways Company on May 8, 2019. The first section runs for 21.5 kilometres and has 13 stations, linking Al Qassar in the north of Doha to Al Wakra in the south. It represented almost two-thirds of the entire Red Line, which spans a total distance of 40 kilometres and features 18 stations.
The second successful preview service was the Gold Line, covering 11 stations, including Ras Bu Abboud, National Museum, Sport City and interchange station, Msheireb.
On the 10th December 2019, the Green Line, which runs from Al Mansoura to Al Riffa, entered into revenue service. The line includes 11 stations in total, 2 interchange stations that coincide with the Red Line (at Al Mansoura and Msheireb) and the Gold Line at Msheireb. The Green Line runs for 22.5 kilometres, and connects the new Education City to the centre of Doha.
The two remaining sections of the Red Line, linking Lusail and HIA airport, were also opened to the public on the same day which marked the completion of the Phase 1 of Doha Metro network.
Country's food and water security and road infrastructure also reached new heights during the tenure of H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani.
His Excellency inaugurated, on June 28, 2018, the first phase of water pumping of the strategic mega reservoirs project and pumping stations in the Umm Salal area. The launch of the first phase of the water pumping is part of the state’s plans to raise strategic water reserves.
The QR14.5bn “Water Security Mega Reservoirs” project includes 15 giant water tanks with a capacity of about 100 million gallons each, situated at five locations across the country.
His Excellency opened the Aquatic Research Centre of the Ministry of Municipal and Environment in Ras Matbakh, Al Dhakhira district on January 25, 2020.
The Aquatic Research Centre, which is key to country’s food security, will play a strategic role in developing Qatar’s fisheries wealth.
The Center will initially run with a production capacity of two million larvae of fish in one year. The production capacity will gradually increase as it targets to reach over 20 million larvae of fish within three years.
H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani inaugurated Al Majd Road which is the largest road project in the country, on February 6, 2019.
The new road, part of a 195km-long road project, extends from Mesaieed to Al Khor and Lusail. Al Majd Road provides seven lanes of free-flow dual carriageway with the capacity of over 14,000 vehicles per hour in each direction reducing over 50 percent travel times. It has two dedicated lanes for trucks and five lanes for light vehicles in each side.
H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani also attended the signing ceremony to build Al Kharsaah Large-Scale Solar PV Power Plant and to establish the project company as well as for power purchase from the plant held at Doha Sheraton Hotel on January 18, 2020.
Qatar signed an agreement with France’s Total and Japan’s Marubeni to build a solar power project with capacity of about 800 megawatts (MW), which equals about 10 percent of Qatar’s current peak electricity demand.
With an estimated total cost of QR1.7bn, the Large-Scale Solar PV Power Plant will be constructed at Al Kharsaah area west of Doha on a 10 square kilometer land plot.
H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani opened the state-of-the-art Kahramaa Awareness Park, an ambitious initiative to promote the culture of conservation of electricity and water among children on April 23, 2017.
The Kahramaa Awareness Park is a magnificent theme-facility having all features needed not only to educate kids about water and electricity but also teach them about the importance of resources.
A glorious sporting success for Qatar
H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani’s tenure was a period of glorious success.
H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani’s nearly seven-year old tenure as Prime Minister and Minister of Interior oversaw a great period of success when it came to Qatar hosting major sports events. World championships in track and field, swimming, boxing, cycling and gymnastics along with football were a few of the key events hosted by Qatar in the last six and a half years.
Last month, Qatar hosted the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup for the first time at two venues - Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium and the iconic Khalifa International Stadium where British football giants Liverpool won the event by beating South American champions Flamengo in the final.
The other top event staged in Qatar in the last few months was the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships at the iconic Khalifa International Stadium. During the 10-day championships (Sep 26 to Oct 6), a total of 1972 athletes comprising 1054 men and 918 women from 208 countries took centre-stage under lights for most part of the hugely followed event.
The IAAF event also witnessed the first ever midnight marathons held at Corniche, helping Qatar get official recognition as the first and only country in the Middle East to host the World Championships in track and field. IAAF President Sebastian Coe declared the championships in Qatar ‘as the best ever edition of the IAAF Worlds’.
A year earlier in October 2018, Qatar hosted the 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. The competition was held from October 25 – November 3, 2018, at the Aspire Academy with hosts Qatar luring in dozens of top gymnasts and fans in their thousands. American gymnast Simone Biles regaled fans with epic performances clinching 6 medals in Doha.
Three years ago in October, the 2016 UCI Road World Championships were held across Qatar where the event consisted of a road race, a team time trial and a time trial for elite men and women and a road race and a time trial for men under-23, junior men and junior women. It was the 89th Road World Championships and the first time that Middle East hosted the championships.
A year earlier in 2015, Doha hosted the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships. The two-week championships were staged at the magnificent Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena from 5 to 18 October 2015. With the Philippines boxing legend Manny Pacquiao and British boxer Amir Khan in attendance, the event’s coverage attracted 500 million viewers in 112 countries. A total of 260 boxers (from 74 countries in 10 weight classes) battled for 23 berths for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
A few days later, Doha staged the the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships. It was held between October 21-31 and featured around 1,300 athletes from 90 countries and took place at the 12,000-capacity Qatar Sports Club Stadium, also known as Suhaim Bin Hamam Stadium.
In January 2015, the world’s handball fraternity was in Doha for the 2015 World Men’s Handball Championship. The 24th edition of the World Men’s Handball Championship, organised by the International Handball Federation (IHF) in collaboration of the Qatar Handball Federation, saw the hosts reaching the final.
The tournament, held for the first time in Qatar, was staged from 15 January to 1 February 2015. France beat Qatar 25–22 to win their fifth world title. It was Qatar’s first podium finish in handball at the world stage.
Qatar went about building 2022 FIFA World Cup venues, meeting all deadlines with ease. The iconic Khalifa International Stadium was renovated and then inaugurated in front of the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and FIFA President Gianni Infantino in May 2017 at the Amir Cup final.
