Qatar Chamber Participates in Consultative Meeting of Commerce Ministers, Heads of GCC Chambers
19-10-2022
Qatar Chamber participated in the Consultative Meeting between the GCC Ministers of Commerce and Industry and the Heads of the GCC Chambers of Commerce and Industry which was held on Wednesday in Riyadh, KSA.
The Chamber’s delegation was led by Second Vice-Chairman HE Rashid bin Hamad Al-Athba and included board members HE Mohamed bin Mahdi Al-Ahbabi and Eng. Ali bin Abdullatif Al-Misnad.
The meeting discussed several issues related to enhancing cooperation in the commercial and industrial fields between GCC countries.
During the meeting, the Chamber introduced a proposal on the importance to adopt industrial strategies that offer incentives for the GCC private sector to invest in the green economy and renewable energy sources in light of climate change and the depletion of natural resources.
Al-Athba said that the global economy witnesses a major inflation of uncertainty due to many reasons, including the repercussions of the pandemic, the Russian-Ukrainian war, climate changes and the depletion of natural resources, affirming the need to exert accelerated efforts that focus on the green economy and renewable energy sources.
HE pointed out that the Gulf economy is not away from these changes due to the inflation resulting from the high prices of imported raw materials and the high costs of shipping to global supply chains.
HE also indicated that the surge in global oil and gas prices has a positive impact and a recovery of government revenues in Gulf budgets, assuring that this urges GCC governments to adopt economic policies based on intensifying investments in infrastructure to build technological capabilities for the green economy, in a way that enhances economic diversification and sustainable development.
“The Gulf private sector is an active partner in the development process. It needs a government support and clear policies to adopt environmentally friendly practices capable of changing industrial behaviour and improving production efficiency to reduce emissions and improve companies’ performance and competitiveness, making them more resilient in the face of crises,” he stressed.
He added that the private sector, especially SMES, is in pressing need of various types of financial, technical, and training support from governments, affirming that governments are required to prepare strategies for environmental sustainability and draw flexible policies for the process of transformation into a green industrial sector.
Governments also are urged to consolidate the establishment of industries based on clean technology with low emissions, build capacity for clean manufacturing and prepare programs to develop and enhance knowledge, transfer, and ownership of clean technology.
They are also encouraged to promote foreign direct investment for green industries and renewable energy projects, support private sector companies to improve governance, risk management, and comply with environmental requirements, and facilitate access to green technology through cooperation with other countries.
QC Second Vice-Chairman also pointed to the importance of raising awareness about cleaner and more efficient production methods that keep pace with sustainable industrial development goals, and building a flexible and innovative statistical information system through the Gulf Statistics Center that can provide the required data for the private sector to integrate it into the development process,
Building green Gulf specifications and encouraging companies to comply with them through various incentives, providing encouraging financial and tax incentives through legislation and regulations to attract and encourage the private sector to invest in renewable energy projects through public-private partnership models, and providing soft loans to urge the private sector to invest in renewable energy projects and green projects are among recommendations.
