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Thursday, December 11, 2025 | Daily Newspaper published by GPPC Doha, Qatar.

Tag Results for "GU-Q" (360 articles)

Gulf Times
Qatar

Junior’s Qatar signs its first-ever franchise agreement in Jordan

We are thrilled to announce the signing of our first-ever franchise agreement, a historic milestone in Junior’s journey from a homegrown Qatari brand to a leading regional player in the fast-food industry.This landmark partnership is with Venicia International Restaurants Management, led by the renowned entrepreneur and visionary leader, Mr. Abdullah Tareq Al Hasan, one of the most influential figures in the F&B and investment sectors in the region. With his proven expertise, business acumen, and forward-thinking strategy, we are confident this collaboration will lay the foundation for a highly successful expansion into the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.The signing ceremony took place at our Doha headquarters, led by our CEO Mr. Abdulla Al Ansari, marking not just the signing of an agreement but the beginning of an ambitious chapter. Together, we aim to take the Junior’s – The New Love experience beyond borders and share our passion for exceptional food and outstanding service with customers across the region.This milestone is the start of an exciting expansion journey, and under the leadership of Mr. Abdulla Al Ansari and in partnership with Mr. Abdullah Tareq Al Hasan, we are setting the stage for new partnerships, broader market reach, and memorable dining experiences across the Middle East.Stay tuned as we continue to expand and bring The New Love experience closer to you!

Gulf Times
Business

Why end of ‘de minimis’ tariff exemption risks higher prices, shipping delays

A Latin term that used to be little-known outside the world of customs brokers has become the stuff of headlines this year. That’s thanks to a decision by US President Donald Trump to end the tariff-free treatment of “de minimis” merchandise that had been in place for almost 90 years.The phrase — which loosely translates as “too small to matter” — refers to small packages shipped directly to consumers from abroad, millions of which arrive in the US every day. Qualifying as de minimis came with a huge perk: no customs declarations and no duties.This worked to the advantage of Chinese dis-count marketplaces such as Shein Group Ltd and Temu, which have tapped Americans’ appetite for buying cheap clothing, toys, electronics, and more, online. But the tariff exemption came to an end for packages from mainland China and Hong Kong on May 2, and ceased for the rest of the world on August 29.US consumers now face the prospect of higher prices and a longer wait for their orders. Ahead of the de minimis changes taking effect in August, many postal operators paused US-bound parcel shipments, citing a lack of clarity over how the tariffs will be collected.What was the US de minimis exemption?For a package to qualify, it had to have a re-tail value of no more than $800, which was high compared with other countries. The threshold in Canada is C$150 ($109) for parcels from the US and Mexico to be exempt from customs duties and C$20 ($15) for those from elsewhere, while in the European Union it’s €150 ($175). China, for its part, generally waives duties on packages worth up to about $7.The exemption in the US dated back to 1938, when Congress tweaked tariff rules to drop duties on low-cost items to avoid unnecessary expense for little reward, or, as one former Treasury official put it, “spending a dollar to collect 50 cents.” The exemption started at $1, where it stayed for decades before rising to $5 in 1990, $200 in 1993 and then jumping to $800 in 2016 during the Barack Obama presidency.What do the new rules mean for US consumers?The end of the de minimis exemption doesn’t mean Americans can’t order small packages from abroad. What’s changed is that the goods will be channelled through customs and incur levies.Sellers could absorb the additional costs or they could pass them on to consumers — either indirectly through a higher retail price, or directly by making buyers pay the duty.Shein and Temu raised prices on a wide range of products — from dresses to kitchenware — ahead of the tariffs kicking in on May 2. The average price of 98 products listed on Shein tracked by Bloomberg News increased by more than 20% by early May from two weeks prior.Elsewhere, South Korean beauty retailer Olive Young — which has been capitalising on the social media-fuelled popularity of Korean skincare products among American consumers — said it would add a 15% duty to all US orders at the checkout from August 27.The end of the de minimis carve-out could dis-proportionately impact lower-income households in America. Almost 75% of direct shipments imported by the poorest zip codes were de minimis, compared to 52% for the richest zip codes, according to analysis from the National Bureau of Economic Research using data from 2021.Could the end of the de minimis exemption cause supply chain disruption?Mail carriers in more than two dozen countries, including Australia, Singapore and Norway, temporarily suspended shipments to the US ahead of the August 29 de minimis cutoff date, as they grappled with how the new system will be implemented.The restrictions imposed by Deutsche Post and DHL Parcel Germany — part of DHL Group, one of the world’s largest couriers — reflected uncertainty over “how and by whom customs duties will be collected in the future, what addition-al data will be required, and how the data transmission to the US Customs and Border Protection will be carried out,” according to a company statement.Postal services have never had to handle this amount of paperwork before. The packages that enter the US now have to have a customs declaration that details the contents of the parcel, the value, and the country of origin of the goods — not just where they’re shipped from, but where they were made.Beyond the near-term disruption from potential backlogs, many e-commerce deliveries are likely to become slower because the added costs will make air cargo — already an expensive way to move freight — a potentially unprofitable mode of transportation for low-cost goods.Rather than fly on a plane and take a couple of days to arrive, a package might instead take a three-week journey on a container ship from China to the US West Coast.Which companies will be most affected by the de minimis carve-out disappearing?Low-cost online retailers such as Temu, Shein and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s AliExpress used the de minimis exemption for years to expand in the US — a trend that was supercharged by the Covid-era boom in e-commerce.Cross-border online retail has been a lifesaver for many Chinese manufacturers running on wafer-thin profit margins as spending by domestic shoppers plunged during the pandemic and never really recovered.Shein pioneered the model of targeting cost-conscious Americans with $2 blouses and $10 shirts during the pandemic, and Temu jumped in around 2022 with its “Shop Like a Billionaire” catchphrase. TikTok Shop, the shopping platform of the popular video app, is a more recent entrant.The end of the de minimis exemption appears to have had a dampening effect on US demand. Shein’s weekly sales dropped by as much as 23% year-on-year in late June before staging a recovery, according to Bloomberg Second Measure, which analyses credit and debit card transactions in the US. Temu saw a deeper decline — its weekly sales slumped by more than a third year-on-year in June and had yet to rebound to the prior year’s levels by mid-August.It’s not just the bottom line of the Chinese marketplaces that will be impacted by the de minimis changes. The exposure to tariffs will also hit “dropshippers,” who use e-commerce platforms to fulfil orders and send goods directly to customers, as well as small US businesses that have been importing products in batches under the $800 threshold to avoid tariffs. Small international businesses selling into the US will be affected too, including those using marketplaces such as eBay Inc and Etsy Inc.There are fears that the end of the de minimis exemption in the US could spur a flood of cheap goods, particularly those from China, to be sent to other countries instead. Amid concerns about domestic producers being undercut, markets including the UK are reviewing their own duty-free treatment of low-value imports.How have Trump’s de minimis changes evolved?Within days of taking office, the Trump administration suspended the de minimis rule for mainland China and Hong Kong. However, it soon delayed the change while the US Postal Service wrestled with how to implement the policy.The suspension was effectively reimposed on May 2, hitting buyers of packages worth up to $800 arriving from mainland China and Hong Kong with either a levy equivalent to 120% of their value or a flat fee of $100.When the US and China later announced an agreement to lower triple-digit tariffs on each other’s imports, Trump signed an executive order cutting the de minimis duty to 54%, while maintaining the flat fee.Then, on July 30, Trump said the de minimis ex-emption would end for items sent from anywhere in the world, although gifts valued at less than $100 will remain duty-free. According to a White House fact sheet, starting August 29, a posted package will be taxed in one of two ways:* The importer can pay a percentage levy on the parcel’s value. This is equivalent to the pre-vailing tariff rate the US has assigned to goods from the country of origin as part of Trump’s broader trade war.* Or, for the first six months of the new policy, the importer can pay a flat duty ranging from $80 to $200 per item, depending on the applicable country-specific tariff rate.What effect has the US de minimis exemption had?With the threshold as high as it was in the US, around 4mn small packages claiming de minimis exemptions crossed into the US every day in 2024, according to US Customs and Border Protection. These parcels often went unchecked be-fore being transferred to a truck for delivery directly to the consumer’s doorstep.This helped Americans access lots of cheap merchandise sold by e-commerce retailers in China. It also strained global supply chains, raised air cargo costs and swamped border enforcement efforts.The packages are thought to be one of the ways illegal drugs such as fentanyl have been smug-gled into the US and how other goods have entered the country in violation of rules against imports from regions known for human-rights abuses.The administration of President Joe Biden was well on its way to cracking down on de minimis abuses before he lost his re-election bid in November 2024, so Trump’s decision to eliminate the exemption wasn’t a complete surprise.How much trade did the de minimis rule affect?The de minimis exemption affected quite a bit of trade in both volume and value, with both rising exponentially. Such packages used to be confined to t-shirts and small electronics, but they’ve expanded to include bigger-ticket items such as electric bikes retailing for $799.According to a White House fact sheet, the number of individual shipments to the US claiming de minimis exemptions surged to nearly 1.4bn in 2024, up from 134mn a decade earlier. While China officially reported about $23bn worth of small parcel exports to the US last year, Nomura Holdings Inc estimates as much as $46bn of US-bound packages came from the country. (There’s a discrepancy because with so many parcels, it’s hard to count all of them in official statistics.) That’s still just a small fraction of the value of total US goods imports, which last year surpassed $3.2tn. Consequently, the suspension of the de minimis ex-emption isn’t expected to have a major effect on the US economy.

Gulf Times
Community

US Scientists pioneer eco-friendly wheat that fertilizes itself

Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have successfully developed new varieties of wheat capable of producing natural fertilizer autonomously, paving the way for reducing air and water pollution globally.The university explained in a statement Saturday that researchers used genetic modification techniques to stimulate the plants to produce additional amounts of certain chemicals, which interact with the soil to form natural fertilizer.The statement pointed out that this innovation could help reduce the costs borne by farmers, in addition to minimizing the negative environmental impacts caused by nitrogen pollution.In this context, Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the university Eduardo Blumwald said that this discovery could significantly contribute to ensuring food security by increasing productivity in small farms, especially in regions such as Africa, which face major challenges in this field.Wheat production uses about 18% of the total nitrogen fertilizers produced globally, while plants absorb only between 35%-50% of the nitrogen, with the remainder ending up in water bodies and the atmosphere, causing significant environmental damage.

Gulf Times
International

Microsoft launches its first internally developed AI models

Microsoft announced the launch of its first internally developed artificial intelligence models. The first model is named MAI-Voice-1, dedicated to generating natural voices, while the second model, MAI-1-preview, is classified as a foundational text model that was fully developed and trained within the company.According to the company's statement, the MAI-Voice-1 model is distinguished by its ability to generate a full minute of audio in less than one second using only a single graphics processing unit (GPU).The model is already being used in some Copilot services, such as Copilot Daily, which provides a daily audio summary of news, in addition to producing podcast-like discussions to explain topics.Users can also try it via the Copilot Labs platform, with the ability to adjust the tone and delivery style. As for the text model MAI-1-preview, it was trained using approximately 15,000 Nvidia H100 chips and is designed to handle textual instructions and provide useful responses to daily inquiries.Microsoft confirmed that this model offers a glimpse of what it will present in the future within the Copilot ecosystem. The company has already begun testing it through the LMArena platform, which measures the performance of AI models, and it will be gradually integrated into some Copilot services over the coming weeks.This step comes at a time when Copilot services still rely primarily on Open AI technologies. Microsoft believes that combining a set of specialized models that serve diverse needs and uses will provide tremendous value to users and pave the way for a new phase of competition in the global AI race.

Gulf Times
Qatar

Transport minister meets Saudi counterpart

HE Minister of Transport Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulla bin Mohammed al-Thani met with Minister of Transport and Logistic Services of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Eng Saleh bin Nasser al-Jasser Thursday.The two ministers discussed aspects of bilateral co-operation in transportation, and ways to propel them to new heights, particularly in logistic services that support that vital industry.They also discussed the common opportunities that can be utilized by the two countries thanks to their unique geographical locations, thereby enhancing their leading regional and international positions in sustainable transportation.The meeting was attended by HE the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport Mohammed Abdullah al-Maadeed, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the State of Qatar Prince Mansour bin Khalid bin Farhan al-Saud, Vice-Minister of Transport and Logistic Services of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Dr Rumaih bin Mohammed al-Rumaih, and several other officials from both sides.

Gulf Times
Sport

Aspire Academy padel programme boosted with new courts

Aspire Academy’s burgeoning padel programme has been further boosted with the opening of four world-class courts inside the iconic Aspire Academy dome.The new courts are an important step in the development of Aspire Academy’s padel programme, which was launched in 2023. A third intake of six new student-athletes will begin their journey at Aspire Academy in September when the new academic year begins.Following a training camp and tournament in Alicante, Spain, in July, many student-athletes and pre-academy players are utilising the state-of-the-art facilities to prepare for the upcoming season. The regular training timetable will resume in September.Aspire Academy’s Padel Head Coach, Mariano Amat, emphasised the importance of the new courts not just for the Academy but also beyond.“Having our own padel courts at Aspire Academy means much more than just a new facility – it consolidates a global development project that aims to become a world reference in training young padel players,” he explained.“These courts allow us to apply our methodology with consistency, give our athletes a true high-performance environment, and open the door to hosting official and international competitions in the future.”“The players’ reaction has been fantastic: they feel these courts are their home, which multiplies both their motivation and their sense of belonging.”Several Aspire Academy student-athletes have been selected to represent Qatar at the GCC Team Championships, which will take place in Doha from September 15 to 19.The players are also aiming to impress and be selected to play for Qatar at the Junior Padel World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, from September 29 to October 4.Having the courts on site means the padel players and coaches no longer need to spend time travelling to and from the nearby facilities provided at Padel In.The use of the Padel In courts was part of a two-year agreement signed in 2023, as one of the initial steps the Academy took in establishing its own padel programme, and to help lead the way in developing the sport in Qatar.In addition to the training opportunities, the collaboration resulted in the first-ever International Padel Federation (FIP)- recognised youth event in Qatar: the FIP Promises Aspire Academy Tournament.The highly successful tournament was part of the FIP’s global tour for youth padel players and was part of Aspire Academy's 20th-anniversary celebrations.Plans are already underway for Aspire Academy to organise and host another FIP event, as well as other tournaments to help develop the sport in Qatar.

Gulf Times
Region

Targeting Journalists in Gaza is a systematic policy to suppress free speech

Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA) regarding the turning point in the Palestinian cause and the targeting of journalists in Gaza, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Press Center, Saad Al Rumaihi stated that the Israeli assaults on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, represent a historic shift in the course of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as the people of Gaza stood alone in the face of this brutal aggression that did not distinguish between people and stone.He added that the Palestinian people have recorded a heroic epic that will be immortalized in history. Now, as the second year nears its end, the struggle and resistance of Gaza's people continue, despite the imbalance of power between the two sides.Regarding the objective of the Israeli entity in continuing its aggression on the devastated Strip, Al Rumaihi stressed that people cannot learn the facts and what is happening on the ground and the course of battles, except through journalists and media professionals who deliver information to the public, as known in wars and major events.He added that they are unknown soldiers who stand bravely so that the world can see, hear, and read the news of these events and understand the reality and what is happening.Therefore, he accentuated, the Israeli occupation has deliberately silenced these voices as long as they convey to the world the true image and the tragedies faced by the people of Gaza.He highlighted that the occupation can only achieve this through the most heinous and extreme violations, unfortunately, through the physical elimination of these great journalists.He underscored that the Israeli assaults on Palestinian journalists clearly reveal Israel's insistence on imposing its unilateral media narrative, which contradicts the reality on the ground.In light of the world's failure and inability to enact binding laws to protect journalists and media professionals and defend them against Israeli arrogance, the Chairman of the Qatar Press Center affirmed in his statements to QNA, that the situation requires urgent action to protect journalists, so that the matter does not remain a mere dream difficult to achieve.Al Rumaihi confirmed that Israel continues its arrogance without any deterrent punishment from international bodies and organizations concerned with humanitarian and journalistic affairs.He reiterated the need to capitalize on the wave of international outrage and the storm of criticism directed at Israeli policy due to its continuous and deliberate targeting of civilians in the Gaza Strip, including journalists, emphasizing the importance of harnessing the growing global humanitarian sentiment toward the Palestinian cause and Al Aqsa Mosque.He pointed out that the demonstrations and sit-ins that have swept many countries around the world now reflect this solidarity, even in the United States of America, where university campuses have turned into platforms for defending Gaza and its people.He explained that the Qatar Press Center has sought and continues to support the steadfastness of the people of Gaza through numerous media initiatives, seminars, exhibitions, news coverage, and other means, which it considers a duty as it lives through these events and follows their developments.The Chairman of the Qatar Press Center concluded by emphasizing the necessity of standing by the Palestinian people, moving beyond mere condemnation and denunciation, which is all we currently possess.He added that specialized global organizations must exert more pressure on Israel to stop its aggression against the Palestinian people, enabling them to obtain their most basic rights to live in safety and dignity.With every Israeli assault on media workers in Gaza and the Palestinian territories, renewed calls emerge from all press unions, media, human rights, and legal organizations around the world for explicit condemnation of these repeated crimes, with the urgent need to put an end to them, so that Israel does not succeed in its attempts to silence voices and images and prevent the transmission of the truth about the crimes it commits against the Palestinian people.

WCM-Q faculty member Dr Ghizlane Bendriss (centre) with students Hamad al-Karbi (left), Donia Baroudi, Ali al-Kuwari and Abdulla al-Khuzaei.
Qatar

Finding by WCM-Q students proposes solutions for antimicrobial resistance

Four students from Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar (WCM-Q) are named as joint first co-authors on a perspective paper proposing microbiome-based solutions to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR).They were guided by their supervisor, Dr Ghizlane Bendriss, assistant professor of biology at WCM-Q, who is the lead author of the paper. The paper has been published in Frontiers in Microbiomes, a leading scientific journal.Students Ali al-Kuwari, Hamad al-Karbi, Abdulla al-Khuzaei and Dounia Baroudi conducted the study in response to an announcement at the 7th edition of the World Innovation Summit for Health, held in November 2024, which emphasised that tackling AMR was a national priority.The perspective paper discusses several strategies to address the loss of diversity caused by antibiotics, including diet, probiotics, fecal transplants (FMT), and the fermentation of animal and plant products.Preliminary findings from an experiment with camel milk fermentation suggest that fermentation increases microbial diversity, enhances microbiome resilience, and potentially reduces resistance to common antibiotics like tetracycline, streptomycin, penicillin, and chloramphenicol.The increase of diversity allows the microbiome to naturally resist pathogens without additional antibiotic use.Dr Bendriss said: “Over the past four decades, antibiotic innovation and approvals have sharply declined, with annual FDA approvals dropping from about three in the 1980s to barely one today, the share of new antibiotics falling from 20% to 6% of drug approvals, and almost no truly new classes emerging since the mid-20th century.To effectively address AMR, we really need to completely shift our strategy. Microbes already possess a natural ability to fight one another by competing for nutrients and by producing antimicrobial metabolites.Therefore, I believe that microbiome-based solutions such as probiotics or FMT can offer the most sustainable alternative to traditional pharmaceutical interventions.”Additionally, the paper discusses a mechanistic model to underscore the importance of maintaining microbial balance as an effective strategy for mitigating AMR and promoting long-term health.Further research is, however, still needed to better understand the mechanisms behind these changes and their implications for public health.Student al-Kuwari said: “This project deepened my understanding of the microbial world and introduced me to the boundless potential of microbiome-based approaches in tackling real-world health challenges.With antimicrobial resistance becoming an increasingly urgent global concern, contributing to research that explores innovative, targeted solutions has been both timely and meaningful.”Fellow student Baroudi said: “Through this research, I realised that fighting harmful bacteria isn’t just about using more antibiotics; sometimes, it’s about finding better ways to restore and encourage a healthy balance of microbes.This research focuses on identifying sustainable approaches, like fermentation and restoring microbial balance, as innovative ways to nurture microbial ecosystems and offer new hope against the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.”

Gulf Times
Qatar

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Meets Korean Official

HE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi met on Wednesday with HE Deputy Minister and Government Representative for Korean Nationals Overseas Protection and Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea Jung Ki-hong, who is currently visiting the country. During the meeting, they reviewed cooperation relations between the two countries and ways to support and enhance them, in addition to a number of topics of common interest.

Gulf Times
Sport

Arab U-18 Athletics Championship: Qatar add four more medals

Qatar’s athletics team added four more medals including one gold, two silver, and a bronze on Tuesday at the 11th Arab U-18 Athletics Championship in Tunisia, bringing their total to five with one day of competition remaining.Younis al-Balushi led the charge with gold in the pole vault, while teammate Abdullah Al Abdullah secured silver in the same event.Timo Jumaa clocked 10.76 seconds to take silver in the 100m sprint, and Saleh Mahmoud added a bronze in the discus throw to his earlier gold in shot put.

A terminal of the airport in Mumbai. Aviation in Asia-Pacific supports $890bn in GDP and 42mn jobs, with the potential to increase to $2.3tn in GDP and 62mn jobs by 2043.
Business

Asia-Pacific aviation outlook remains positive; still to address inefficiencies

Beyond the TarmacThe Asia-Pacific region’s aviation industry is back on the growth trajectory.The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global body of airlines, predicts 9% growth for Asia-Pacific in 2025.Which means, a region that has struggled to shrug off the strictures of Covid-19 is once again posting the highest growth rate in the world.Aviation in Asia-Pacific supports $890bn in GDP and 42mn jobs, with the potential to increase to $2.3tn in GDP and 62mn jobs by 2043.Analysts say rising middle-class populations, particularly in China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, are fuelling demand for both domestic and international travel.Asia is the epicentre of global e-commerce (China and Southeast Asia leading), driving robust demand for air cargo and integrated logistics.Asia-Pacific is home to some of the world’s most dynamic tourism markets. Countries like Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, and Australia continue to record strong inbound flows. Analysts believe regional tourism agreements and visa liberalisation policies are expected to boost connectivity.The UNWTO and IATA forecast Asia-Pacific to contribute more than half of global passenger growth over the next two decades.“Most countries have crossed the line of pre-COVID figures and are experiencing increasing air travel demand,” says Sheldon Hee, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Asia-Pacific.“Four of the most populous countries in the world are in our region and all are young, emerging economies with a fast-growing middle class. We are even seeing some significant visa relaxation policies.“But the resumption of growth comes with challenges,” he adds. “The profit margin for 2025 is expected to be just 1.9%, or $2.60 per passenger. Aviation in Asia-Pacific must become more economically robust to meet demand with a high level of customer service delivered cost-efficiently.”Airport and airspace capacity are naturally the main considerations. On the positive side, there are at least 90 new airports under construction or in the planning stage, including significant gateways in Australia, India, and Vietnam. Each is a sign that the relevant government has aviation development on its agenda.“But there is more room for collaboration,” says Hee. “Airlines don’t need over-investment in facilities that would require deeper cost recovery. Development must be calibrated correctly, and airlines must be part of the conversation so that investments are correctly staged.”To assist passenger throughput — especially amid narrow margins — digitalisation in both passenger and cargo operations is essential. Every efficiency will count.Digitalisation and contactless travel centred on IATA’s ‘One ID’ will also be key enablers in enhancing the customer experience.India’s ‘Digi Yatra’, a facial recognition system for verified domestic customers, is leading the way but interoperability will be critical.Meanwhile, airspace is also being upgraded across the region but there is a notable bottleneck in the Bay of Bengal where aircraft get bunched for a variety of factors.The different levels of maturity in this diverse region mean there are also plenty of areas still reliant on older equipment, which leads to inefficiencies on a broader scale.Air cargo is an important part of needed capacity as Asia-Pacific is a major origin point for the booming e-commerce trade. Cargo revenues are often critical to the profitability of a flight, and this is certainly the case in Asia-Pacific.Trade barriers and tariffs could change traditional flows but demographic conditions and the desire to trade more within the region mean there are multiple opportunities for air cargo ahead.Although the outlook remains positive for this sector, there are inefficiencies to address. Paper is still commonplace in the region and optimisation based on the ONE Record has plenty of room for growth.“The industry is also doing a lot of work to make the carriage of dangerous goods (DG), and particularly lithium batteries, safer,” says Hee. “Good progress is being made but this work is especially pertinent to Asia-Pacific given the manufacturing in the region. We must educate the upstream shippers about the need for correct DG packaging and documentation.”IATA said it continues to work with governments and aviation authorities to promote the benefits of aviation and the business case for unlocking capacity.Undoubtedly, Asia-Pacific will remain the fastest-growing aviation region globally, led by China and India. Regional connectivity, tourism, and cargo are estimated to expand strongly.That said, the region’s air traffic management systems need modernisation to handle rising volumes efficiently and safely. Despite expansion, congestion at major airports in the region remains a major concern.

HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani
Qatar

Qatar backs dialogue for peace, PM assures top Ukraine officials

HE Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani on Tuesday met the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, and Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine Rustem Umero, currently visiting the country.Discussions during the meeting dealt with co-operation between the two countries and means to support and enhance it.They also discussed the latest developments of the Russia-Ukraine crisis and ways to resolve it peacefully, in addition to a number of issues of common interest.HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs affirmed Qatar's support for all international efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis through dialogue and diplomatic means.The two Ukrainian officials expressed their country's appreciation for Qatar's efforts to reunite a number of Ukrainian children with their families in Ukraine. They also lauded Qatar's positive diplomatic efforts and its active role in Ukraine and the world.