SPORT | Page 1
FIFA Arab Cup
GULF TIMES
Qatar keeps rank
as most peaceful
in Mena region
Qatar has been ranked the first
in Middle East and North Africa
(Mena) and 29th globally in the
Global Peace Index (GPI) for the
year 2021. Issued by the Insti-
tute of Economics and Peace in
Australia, the 2021 report covered
163 countries. The report measures
the state of peace across three do-
mains: the level of Societal Safety
and Security, the extent of Ongoing
Domestic and International Con-
flict, and the degree of Militarisa-
tion. For the thirteenth year in a
row, Qatar maintained its first rank
in the Mena region. Page 3
Education ministry to
announce results today
The Ministry of Education and
Higher Education will announce
this morning the results of the
general and specialised secondary
certificate for the 2020/2021
academic year. The ministry will
hold a press conference at 10am, in
which Assistant Undersecretary for
Evaluation Affairs Khaled al-Harqan
and senior officials in the evaluation
sector will speak to review the
success rates and other educational
indicators for the result of the
general secondary certificate. (QNA)
MoU signed for free
EV charging units
The Ministry of Transport and
Communications (MoTC) yesterday
signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with Alfardan
Automotive, the automotive
division of Alfardan Group, for
providing free electric vehicle (EV)
charging units. Page 5
Iran-linked websites
‘seized’ by US
Notices appeared yesterday on a
number of Iran-affiliated websites
saying they had been seized by
the United States government as
part of law enforcement action.
Iranian news agencies said that
the US government had seized
several Iranian media websites and
sites belonging to groups affiliated
with Iran such as Yemen’s Houthi
movement. Some sites later started
to display as normal.
4 held after man
beaten to death
Four people, including a 15-year-
old boy, were yesterday charged
for beating a man to death over
his alleged theft of video game
consoles, a French prosecutor
said. The alarm was raised over
the weekend by the mother of the
31-year-old victim, named as John,
after she couldn’t contact him at his
home.
T m
o a
t
d c
a h
y’ e “As a matter of fact we are the largest
s s
Group E: Slovakia vs
Spain (7pm, Seville)
Group E: Sweden
vs Poland (7pm, St
Petersburg)
Group F: Germany
vs Hungary (10pm,
Munich)
Group F: Portugal
vs France (10pm,
Budapest)
(All timings are Qatar time)
qualifier: Clinical
Mauritania book
spot in main draw
HE Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari with other officials during the visit to the new Qatar Vaccination Centre – for Business
and Industry Sector yesterday.
‘World’s biggest’ vaccination
centre opened in Mesaimeer
H
E Dr Hanan Mohamed al-
Kuwari, Minister of Public
Health, yesterday visited the
new Qatar Vaccination Centre – for
Business and Industry Sector as it be-
gan operations.
The new facility, one of the larg-
est vaccination centres in the world,
is located near Asian Town in Me-
saimeer. It is the result of a collabo-
ration between the Ministry of Pub-
lic Health (MoPH), Hamad Medical
Corporation (HMC), Primary Health
Care Corporation (PHCC) and Qatar
Charity (QC), with support from the
Ministry of Interior and ConocoPhil-
lips Qatar.
The facility is one of multiple vac-
cination centres that have been es-
tablished to ensure Qatar’s vaccina-
tion programme is delivered at speed.
“The opening of this new vaccina-
tion centre highlights Qatar’s com-
mitment to continuing the fast rollout
of the National Covid-19 Vaccination
Programme, which has seen a notice-
able increase in the number of vacci-
nated people,” said HE the minister.
“At the start of the year, we an-
nounced a phased plan to deliver
the vaccination programme and
committed to vaccinate all eligi-
Qatar opens military representation office in Nato HQ
T
he head of Qatar’s Mission to
Nato HE Abdulrahman bin Mo-
hammed al-Khulaifi and head
of the International Military Co-op-
eration Authority Brigadier General
Abdulaziz Saleh al-Sulaiti inaugu-
rated yesterday the offices of Qatar’s
mission and military representation,
inside Nato headquarters in Brussels,
in implementation of the arrange-
ments for the Individual Partnership
and Co-operation Programme. Qa-
tar’s Defence Attache to Nato Staff
Brigadier (Air) Ali Abdulaziz al- Mo-
QATAR | Page 12
Aspire Academy
The new facility
near Asian Town in
Mesaimeer is to serve
the Business and
Industry Sector
 It covers over
300,000sq m and
has more than
300 vaccination
stations and 700
staff members, with
capacity to administer
more than 25,000
doses a day
 Three vaccination
centres to close this
month
ble members of the population
throughout 2021. Thanks to the hard
work of healthcare staff and the
overwhelming support of the pub-
lic, we are now ahead of where we
planned to be in terms of vaccina-
hannadi and Qatar’s Defence Attache
to Belgium Staff Brigadier (Air) Rashid
Saif Fahd al-Khayarin and members
of the military and diplomatic corps
in Brussels attended the inauguration
ceremony.
The inauguration of the offices of
Qatar’s mission in the Nato headquar-
ters represents a new page of co-op-
eration between Qatar and Nato and
the culmination of the distinguished
relations between the two sides. The
offices of the mission will contribute
to the continuity and strengthening of
celebrates the
largest batch of
graduates
tion coverage. However, we remain
committed to vaccinating as many
eligible members of our community
as possible and I encourage anyone
who is offered an appointment to
accept it without delay and get pro-
tected,” she added.
Dr Khalid Abdulnoor, senior con-
sultant - Emergency Medicine at
HMC and lead for the Qatar Vaccina-
tion Centre – for Business and Indus-
try Sector, said: “The new centre is
dedicated to vaccinating key business
and industry workers, which plays an
important role in supporting the safe
rollout of Qatar’s phased plan to lift
Covid-19 restrictions. Covering more
than 300,000sqm, this is probably
the largest vaccination centre in the
world, with more than 300 vaccina-
tion stations and 700 staff provid-
ing capacity to administer more than
25,000 doses a day.”
“To date, more than 300,000 key
business and industry workers have
already been vaccinated as part of
the National Covid-19 Vaccination
Programme, with many of these re-
ceiving their vaccination at the Vac-
cination Centre - Industrial Area,
which opened at the start of April,”
explained Dr Abdulnoor. To Page 3
these relations with Nato and its mem-
ber states, as it will facilitate the proc-
ess of direct communication, intensify
bilateral and multilateral meetings, and
enhance the presence of Qatar within
the organisation and its participation
in military and civil activities.
Qatar has signed several agree-
ments with Nato, including the Indi-
vidual Partnership and Co-operation
Agreement, the Information Security
Agreement, and the agreement to sta-
tion Nato forces and staff at Al Udeid
Air Base. (QNA)
WEDNESDAY Vol. XXXXII No. 11953
June 23, 2021
Dhul-Qa’da 13, 1442 AH
www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals
Qatar’s focus on
being the lowest
cost producer of
LNG: al-Kaabi
By Pratap John
Business Editor
Q
atar’s focus is on being the
lowest cost LNG producer and
then placing volumes in the
market that are growing most, said HE
the Minister of State for Energy Affairs,
Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi.
“Qatar is very disciplined in what
it does about its LNG marketing,” al-
Kaabi said at a session entitled ‘Energy
shifts’ at the Qatar Economic Forum,
Powered by Bloomberg, yesterday.
“We don’t look at competition as
competition… we look at how we can
compete better with ourselves to be the
lowest cost producer and then place
volumes in the market that are growing
most,” al-Kaabi said.
In terms of gas pricing, al-Kaabi said:
“We don’t really discuss pricing per se
but in general we go with the market –
its supply and demand. When there are
ample supplies, prices do come down
and when there is a shortage, it goes up.
We are with the market.”
Qatar, he said, started decarbonising
LNG a long time ago.
“As we are speaking, we are captur-
ing or sequestering 2mn tonnes CO2.
‘Qatar is keen to confront corruption’
HE the Minister of Commerce and
Industry and Acting Minister of
Finance Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari
affirmed the keenness of Qatar’s
wise leadership, represented by His
Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim
bin Hamad al-Thani, to confront
corruption in all its forms and types,
and to ensure the highest level
of transparency, governance and
compliance.
During his participation at the
Qatar Economic Forum, Powered
by Bloomberg, he said that all the
organisations are run to the best
standards and that Qatar runs in a
very transparent legal system.
Air freight an important part
of Qatar Airways’ strategy
By Pratap John
Business Editor
A
ir freight will remain an impor-
tant part of Qatar Airways’ total
strategy, said Group Chief Ex-
ecutive HE Akbar al-Baker.
freight carrier (minus Fedex and UPS)
in the world for the last two years. And
more so, over the pandemic period,”
al-Baker said at a panel conversation
with Guy Johnson, anchor, Bloomberg
Television at the Qatar Economic Fo-
rum yesterday.
“We are really hungry for more
freighters. Unfortunately, David Cal-
houn (Boeing CEO) cannot produce
more 777s…the earliest they can give
me is in 2023. And we are very keen to
be a launch customer- be it for the Air-
bus A350F or the Boeing 777X freight-
ers.
“At Qatar Airways, we will concen-
trate on air freight as an important part
of our total strategy. But first, we are an
airline to carry passengers.”
pu
bl TA 978
Q since
is
A 1
he R
d
in
HE Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi
And with the plans for the North
Field Expansion (as announced in the
past) by 2030, we reach around 9mn
tonnes of Co2 that will be sequestered.”
While talking about energy transi-
tion, al-Kaabi said it needs to be re-
membered that there are about 800mn
to 1bn people who are currently de-
prived of the basic needs for electricity
and basic fuels.
“So I think when we talk about tran-
sition, we also need to be cognizant of
the fact that we are harming a lot of
people by really not giving them enough
supplies of basic needs that they may
have and they may not be able to afford
some of the things that we are talking
about in energy transition. To Page 3
See also Pages 2, Business Pages
1-4, Sport Page 1
On the current economic and
financial situation, HE al-Kuwari said
that Qatar’s economic and financial
situation is very good, adding that
the budget was managed well. He
noted that, despite expectations
of a deficit, there was a surplus
of QR200mn recorded in the first
quarter, thanks to the recovery
of oil prices and the efficiency of
spending.
He added that given these facts,
Qatar will be in a good position and
with the expansion of oil and gas
projects during the next few years,
the Qatari economy will be in a
better position.
HE Akbar al-Baker
On net (carbon) neutral al-Baker
said: “We are under a lot of pressure
from our government to reduce our
emissions and make our airline very
fuel efficient.
“At the end of the day, it all depends
on the engine manufacturers, but most
importantly, also on the oil companies
to invest in efficient technology that
helps us reduce emissions.”
HE al-Baker touched on the reality
of the global travel market in light of
the Covid-19 pandemic, and the dif-
ficulties faced by the aviation sector,
stressing the importance of controlling
the pandemic through vaccinations so
that conditions return to norm.