PM receives phone call from Georgia’s FM
HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani received a telephone call from Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Maya Panjikidze. Bilateral relations and issues of common interest were reviewed.
Greetings
HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, HH the Deputy Emir and Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani have greeted Azerbaijan’s president on his country’s National Day.
Import of Qatar-supervised Australian meat to begin soon
The import of the first shipment of sheep and frozen meat, produced under Qatari supervision in Australia, will begin soon for the local market through Hassad Food, local daily Arrayah has reported.
The announcement was made by Ahmed Nasser Sraiya al-Kaabi, the managing director and chief executive of Widam Food, at a recent industry workshop on best practices and techniques in meat quality and hygiene.
The event was organised by Widam Food in collaboration with Meat & Livestock Australia.
Al-Kaabi said that for the coming Ramadan, Widam Food was ready to revive the programme of subsidising Arab lamb.
This programme has been adopted by the Ministry of Business and Trade in the past two years.
The company will carry out the subsidised meat programme in co-operation with Qatar Development Bank, according to the report.
The demand for meat is expected to rise by 25% during Ramadan.
Al-Kaabi said Widam is committed to abiding by industry rules and procedures and strictly implemented them to ensure food safety and quality.
This was followed across all the stages of production, shipment and distribution, the report said.
Diversions on Dukhan highway
Ashghal has announced a traffic diversion on Dukhan Highway between the existing interchanges at Al Wajba and Al Shahaniyya heading to Dukhan from tomorrow onwards. There will also be another diversion on the same road in the direction heading towards Doha starting June 2.
The diversion (road) in the direction of Dukhan covers a distance of approximately 6km opposite Umm al-Afaei petrol station, while the diversion in the direction of Doha will be stretched over a distance of about 2km.
According to Ashghal, the two diversions will remain in effect for the coming nine months as part of construction works on Dukhan Road between Rayyan Stadium roundabout and Al Shahaniyya interchange.
Ashghal has appealed to all road users to abide by the speed limit of 80 km/hour on the two diversion roads, and to obey traffic instructions and signboards in order to ensure their safety and that of others. The speed cameras will be operational on the two roads.
Mango festival
at Safari Mall
opens today
More than 60 varieties of mangoes from across the world will be available at the ‘Mango Festival 2013’ starting at Safari Mall today.
The festival features mouth-watering mangoes sourced from India, USA, Thailand, Kenya, Australia, Philippines, Brazil and other Latin American countries.
“Mango festival is the result of our continuous efforts to bring something unique for our customers. It is being hosted for the second successive year because of the tremendous response that it received last year.
Fresh Mangoes has been imported on a daily basis by air from its source countries, said Safari Group General Manager K Zainul Abideen.
The festival will last for five days.
“Safari’s fabulous sales promotions are in line for this summer, including Bonvoyage promotion and others in coming weeks to give value for the money to all the valued customers of the mall”, added Zainul Abideen.
Justice ministry to launch legal website
The Ministry of Justice will launch today the (West Law Qatar) legal website in co-operation with “Thomson Reuters” Company, at a ceremony to be held under the patronage of HE the Minister of Justice Hassan bin Abdullah al-Ghanem, at Renaissance, West Bay, Doha.
Silatech partnership to mentor microfinance professionals
Silatech and the Mowgli Foundation have partnered with the Alexandria Business Association (ABA) and the Egyptian Microfinance Network to offer specialised mentorship training in Alexandria and Cairo for loan officers working in Egyptian microfinance institutions.
As the primary point of contact between microfinance institutions and micro-entrepreneurs, properly-trained loan officers can play a significant role in providing mentoring support for young entrepreneurs, thus increasing their chances of success and growth.
Silatech is a Qatar-based social initiative that works to create jobs and expand economic opportunities for young people throughout the Arab world. Mowgli is a UK-based institution which offers high quality mentoring programmes throughout the Arab world and beyond.
With projects in 11 Arab countries, since 2009 Silatech micro-enterprise partnerships have fully financed over 30,000 businesses and provided assistance to over 190,000 young people. Silatech is the largest provider of youth-focused micro-enterprise services in the Middle East and North Africa.
“This training is intended to help bring a paradigm shift for loan officers, elevating their role from merely providing financial support to their clients—in the form of loans—to offering them a more holistic set of support services including mentoring,” said Silatech CEO Dr. Tarik M Yousef.
Mentoring is the core of a transformational process that will enable us to develop new models of support to grow micro-enterprises into thriving small businesses, according to ABA CEO Motaz Tabaa.
According to the World Bank, each year around 600,000 young people enter the Egyptian labor market, but only about 250,000 of these are able to find jobs. Micro-entrepreneurs needed reliable, affordable capital and appropriate business guidance.
Ford green grant scheme accepting applications
The Ford Motor Company Conservation and Environmental Grants, supported by the Unesco Office in Doha, is now receiving applications from not-for-profit on-going environmental projects that are seeking additional funding.
In its 14th year, the longest-running private initiative of its kind in the region, makes available a total of $100,000 to environmental activists in Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon to help them further their projects and raise awareness about the environment.
Application forms can be downloaded from The Ford Middle East Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/FordMiddleEast/app_139075899602371) with the deadline of submission set for July 1, 2013.
“There are many environmental projects that need support in this region and we are happy to partner with the Ford Motor Company Conservation and Environmental Grants,” an official from Unesco Doha Office said yesterday.
“We encourage participants to try and connect their projects geographically, technically and/or intellectually with the establishment and management of biosphere reserves,” he explained.
An independent panel of jurors consisting of nine experts will choose the winning projects. The jury panel will look for initiatives that demonstrate a well-defined sense of purpose, a commitment to maximising available resources, and a reputation for meeting objectives and delivering planned programmes and services.
The winners for 2012 included projects such as a comprehensive assessment of sharks in the UAE and the Gulf, the creation of a mobile app where guidelines and tips for energy-saving could be downloaded, initiatives that engaged local communities to become educators of natural conservation, plantation of oak saplings by schoolchildren, as well as preserving biodiversity in Iraq.
The Ford Grants are part of the company’s efforts to support grass-roots level initiatives that protect and preserve the environment and natural resources in the GCC and Levant countries, and have awarded a total of $1.3mn to more than 150 projects since its inception in 2000.
Ashghal, HMC to set up sites for ambulance
Ashghal and Hamad Medical Corporation are co-ordinating to set up sites for ambulances and landing pads for helicopters beside highways, so as to facilitate faster response in the event of accidents, local Arabic daily Al Arab reported yesterday.
This was informed by Ashghal official engineer Badr al-Darwish while addressing the Qatar and Singapore Urban Planning Forum.