The Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani on Thursday held his first meeting with the Editors-in-Chief of newspapers in Qatar. H E the Prime Minister spoke at length on several issues and praised the role of the media in supporting the State’s vision to ensure bright and prosperous future for all its citizens and residents.
H E the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior affirmed the keenness of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to hold the Shura Council elections, in accordance with the Constitution that was approved through public referendum. H E praised the health sector and the great role played by health workers in preventing the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. H E said Qatar chose the best vaccines — Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna — that have been proven effective in trials, adding that the early investment in these companies allowed Qatar to have priority in obtaining vaccine doses.
H E the Prime Minister said preparations for hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 are progressing at an accelerated pace. On plans to deal with the influx of fans, some of whom may not be vaccinated by the time, H E said: “Qatar would not allow fans to enter stadiums without receiving full doses of vaccine. Therefore, we are currently negotiating with a company to provide us with one million doses to vaccinate these people coming to watch World Cup Qatar 2022.”
Qatar has implemented wide-ranging reforms to strengthen labor laws and efforts to protect the rights of all its workers. These reforms, widely praised by the global human rights groups and UN organizations, make Qatar a role model in the region in labor market reforms, H E the Prime Minister said. A new pension law to ensure a decent life for retired citizens was also outlined. in this regard, H E the Prime Minister said that H H the Amir directed to raise the minimum retirement pension to QR15,000 and confirmed that the draft law is currently in the final stages of preparation.
H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani lauded the role of media in supporting the State’s efforts to confront corruption, spreading a culture of integrity and transparency, preserving public money, and giving priority to public interest. H E also spoke about the government’s strategy to advance administrative competencies and improve the performance of ministries and government entities. H E also talked about motivating citizens to work in the education sector and supported scholarship plan for students. Touching on the tourism sector, H E said: “We seek to create new destinations that suit and interest all segments of society and tourists. A tourism law will be issued soon.”
