Qatar National Day deepens understanding of noble human values and the firm conviction of achieving justice - moves that made Qatar a safe haven for the oppressed since the reign of founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al-Thani, HE Director General of the General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority (GRSIA) Ahmed Ali Al Hammadi said.
Speaking with Qatar News Agency (QNA), His Excellency said that Qatar was moving towards implementing its development vision and plans, based on humanity, sustainable development and justice. The GRSIA's tireless work to maintain the continuity of retirement investment funds since the inception of the new Social Insurance Law and the Military Pension Law best testifies the GRSIA's endeavors to fulfil the requirements of this vision, meet the needs of the current and future generations, and ensure a decent living for Qatari citizens in the future, His Excellency said.
HE Al Hammadi stressed that humanitarian and magnanimity values, including supporting justice, integrity, giving, hard work, and solidarity with just causes had always topped Qatars priorities. Today, Qataris follow in the footsteps of their ancestors to complete the path of justice and development, and create new glories to the history of humanity, under the wise leadership of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, His Excellency said.
Commenting on the GRSIA investments, His Excellency cited the GRSIA reports till December, 2022 that showed a gradual increase in the investments of civil and military funds over the past five years to hit nearly QR 114.6 billion, 99,5 percent of which within Qatar, with over QR 8-billion insurance expenses in 2022.
His Excellency added that the statistics of those subject to the Civil Retirement and Pension Law showed that the number of active subscribers reached 83,376, of whom 83 percent work in government agencies and 17 percent work in the private sector. Females represent 58 percent while males make 42 percent.
For the insurance protection extension system, His Excellency put the total number of Qataris working in the GCC countries covered by the protection at 26 citizens, and the total of GCC nationals working in the State of Qatar and subject to the same system at 2,344, 64 percent of whom are active in the government sector.
Omanis top the GCC employees in the State with a vast majority of 51 percent, His Excellency said, indicating that the number of employers subject to the law referred to above has reached (402) entities, including 86 government agencies, 267 non-government agencies, and 49 agencies subject to the unified insurance protection extension system.
The retirees from the civil and military funds totaled 26,181 - 91 percent from the government and military sectors, and nine percent from the non-governmental sector, and the GRSIA has surged Qatarization of jobs to 82.1 percent of its total employees, His Excellency added, affirming the GRSIA offered its employees training courses and workshops to create a stimulating and achievement-conducive work environment.
As part of its endeavors to meet the Quality Management System (QMS) standards, the GRSIA has filed an application to qualify for the ISO 9001-2015 certificate, His Excellency said. The GRSIA presented institutional performance standards during the Civil Service and Government Development Bureau's evaluation in 2022. During the second half of 2023, the GRSIA prepared its application for the Qatar Government Excellence Program, which was evaluated in October.
To meet the CSGDB requirements, His Excellency added, the GRSIA introduced a manual for defining and documenting its services and procedures, revised work procedures for all administrative units in line with the manual and updated and prepared a draft of the second version of the legislative reference manual.
HE Al Hammadi said that GRSIA revised its open data policy and introduced a manual regulating the right to information, in implementation of the requirements of Law No. (9) of 2022 regulating the right to obtain information. He added that the application of the service will be available online as a first phase in preparation for transforming it into a complete digital service.
His Excellency added that they had prepared a plan to create a culture of quality, measure its impact on the beneficiaries, design questionnaires to calculate the impressions of parties related to the GRSIA - employers, partners, employees, beneficiaries and suppliers.
His Excellency added that the GRSIA had offered over 70,000 e-services, including telephone call answering, completing transactions, and issuing certificates and cards. As part of these e-services, a periodic update project was launched in collaboration with the Information Systems Department to improve and upgrade the E-services portal for citizens and the retirement app for smart phones.
Commenting on the GRSIA's external participation, His Excellency highlighted the GRSIA's participation in the 22nd meeting of the heads of civil retirement and social insurance agencies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and the meetings of the Technical Committee for GCC Retirement and Social Insurance Agencies. The gatherings discussed several initiatives including reviewing and modernizing the unified system to extend insurance protection, updating a comparative study of civil retirement and social insurance systems, launching the Scientific Research Award for Civil Retirement and Social Insurance Agencies in the GCC states, and honoring leading civil retirement and social insurance figures.
GRSIA took part in the UAE in a virtual forum on the best practices of mass communication in civil retirement bodies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. It .also participated in the 15th symposium of GCC Retirement and Social Insurance Agencies on effective investment tools of retirement and social insurance funds, which addressed several topics including assessing the investment risks of pension funds, and the methodology for managing assets and liabilities.
At the international level, His Excellency said the GRSIA participated in the 7th Arab Pensions and Social Insurance Conference 2023, an event organized by National Authority for Social Insurance of the Arab Republic of Egypt, under the theme of 'Complementary systems and securing the future of retirement' on the retirement systems and infrastructure issues that impact their flexibility, suitability, and sustainability. It also took part in the technical symposium on the best approaches to reforming social insurance systems in Arab countries, in cooperation with the International Social Security Association (ISSA).
His Excellency pointed to the GRSIAs participation in the meetings of the ISSA's Executive Council 2023.
HE Al Hammadi highlighted the training workshops the GRSIA held on Law (1) of 2022 on social insurance, several sports, entertainment events and awareness lectures for its employees, in cooperation with many state agencies such as the Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC), Wifaq Family Counseling Center, Al Rami Sports Club, and United Development Company (UDC Qatar).
His Excellency pointed out that at the end of 2023, the GRSIA launched the Scientific Research Award for Civil Retirement and Social Insurance Agencies in the GCC states.
