* 47th ordinary session of Advisory Council adjourned
The Advisory Council held its regular weekly meeting Monday under the chairmanship of HE the Council's Speaker Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud.
At the outset of the meeting, HE the Secretary-General of the Advisory Council Fahad bin Mubarak al-Khayareen read out the Amiri Decree No 27 for 2019 extending the Advisory Council's term for two years, beginning on July 1, 2019 and ending on June 30, 2021.
The council continued its meeting, during which HE the Speaker briefed the members on the results of his official visit to Portugal at the head of a delegation from the Council from June 24 to 28 at the invitation of President of the Assembly of Portugal Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues.
During the visit, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Advisory Council and the Portuguese Assembly, under which the two sides agreed to promote relations, establish two parliamentary groups of friendship and work on unifying positions of common interest.
HE al-Mahmoud also met the Chairman of Twelve Plus Group Duarte Pacheco. The group includes the parliaments of the European countries, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The meeting reviewed the existing parliamentary relations between Qatar and the Twelve Plus Group, and ways of supporting and strengthening them.
The Speaker also met during the visit with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, Augusto Santos Silva, and discussed with him bilateral relations and ways of boosting them, in addition to a number of issues of common concern.
He also briefed the council on his visit to Geneva where he attended the celebrations of the 130th anniversary of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). HE al-Mahmoud also held several meetings during the visit with IPU President, IPU Secretary-General and the Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
HE the Secretary-General of the Council also read Decree No 34 for 2019 adjourning the 47th regular session of the Advisory Council as of 6th of Dhu Al-Qa'dah, 1440, corresponding to Tuesday, July 9, 2019.
At the end of the meeting, the Speaker delivered a speech on the occasion of the adjournment of the current session of the council, in which he expressed, on his own behalf and on behalf of the Council's members, sincere thanks and appreciation to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani for his support to the council, as well as the Amir's keenness for the council to play its full role in accordance with its functions and responsibilities.
He praised the government's efforts and sincere and constructive co-operation with the council in the legislative field, and for its prompt response to the council's proposals and recommendations in the general discussion requests held by the council on many issues of concern to the nation and citizens such as health, education, land and sea environment, food security, infrastructure projects and traffic accidents and their causes and how to reduce them.
HE al-Mahmoud expressed satisfaction with the council's achievements, referring to the numerous draft laws, the general discussions held by the council and the resulting proposals and recommendations.
The speaker also addressed the external activities carried out by the council and that achieved fruitful results in supporting and developing the relations of Qatar with sisterly and friendly countries, praising in particular the role of the parliamentary friendship groups established by the council with various countries in the world, which proved to be effective although being new.
The Speaker thanked the members for their efforts, both in the council's regular meetings and through its specialised committees.
He also thanked the General Secretariat of the Advisory Council and all its staff.
