(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday announced a series of new measures to boost private sector investment, especially in tourism, including a permission for five-star and four-star hotels to issue tourist visas.
The initiatives were unveiled at his meeting with representatives of the private sector and businessmen in the presence of several ministers and representatives of the government sector in the Committee for Promoting Business and Investment Environment.
The Prime Minister directed the authorities concerned to conduct a comprehensive review of Qatar National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030 with the participation of the private sector. Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) had held a meeting with private sector representatives to review the strategy and make recommendations and proposals on the promotion of tourism in Qatar.
QTA is scheduled to continue meeting with private sector representatives to examine a number of topics for the development of the tourism sector, including proposals on the provision of land for the establishment of tourist resorts, marine resources and theme parks.
The Prime Minister also directed to set clear criteria for the classification of hotels in conformity with international standards and give hotels a sufficient period of time to be repositioned.
The Premier agreed to grant permission to five-star and four-star hotels permission to issue tourist visas and issued directives to respond to hotels' requests for working visas to cover their needs of staff in the tourism sector.
He pointed out that passengers via foreign airlines will be given tourist and transit visas on the basis of the principle of reciprocity with Qatar Airways.
The meeting also discussed a draft Regulation for the Law of Tourism with the private sector, taking note of their observations and recommendations in preparation for its issuance.
The Prime Minister said that the Ministry of Economy and Commerce is working on the preparation and publication of a guidebook to clarify the business activities and investment opportunities.
The data will be updated continuously, and the Ministry will decide quickly on granting licenses for informal events for the hotels and tourism sectors through a single window.
The Prime Minister said that the Ministry of Energy and Industry is working on implementing the Single Window project for the issuance of licenses for all private industrial projects and it is also going to announce all the required standards and measures for the issuance of industrial licenses so as to facilitate the procedures within a specified and clear time frame for issuing licenses.
The Prime Minister also announced a decision to form a committee to develop an appropriate mechanism for pricing lands in the industrial and logistics areas. He also directed the Ministry of Transport and Communications to study a project aimed at establishing free zones according to the latest international standards, which would have a vital role in promoting economic diversification and attracting local and foreign investments.
In this context, the Prime Minister pointed that there is a number of allocated lands, which are being developed, for the construction of schools and hospitals by the private sector.
The location of the plots and the date of their release will be announced later along with their prices as well as the evaluation of projects and their value added for the health and educational process in Qatar. During the meeting, the Prime Minister reviewed the actions taken by the government based on the committee's recommendations which aims to overcome obstacles facing investment in the country.
They include the extension of commercial licenses validity from one year to five years, and the current steps taken by the Ministry of Economy and Commerce to prepare legislative amendments to Law No. (25) of 2005 concerning the commercial register so as to allow an increase of the commercial registration validity to 5 years and an increase to the deadline for the renewal of the commercial registration to two months.
The amendments will be submitted to the Cabinet General Secretariat to take legal action on its issuance in accordance to applicable laws.
The validity of environmental permits from the Ministry of Municipality and Environment were also extended from one year to three years, and it has been also working to simplify the renewal of environmental licensing procedures.
The Prime Minister directed to quickly implement the electronic link between the different competent authorities to issue permits to speed up the procedures, and to work on a study to simplify the procedures for the lease and the rental model in order to facilitate the issuance of licenses and business records. Premier underlined the necessity of implementing the directives of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to promote the economic growth by providing a proper environment to diversify the economy and attract local and foreign investments.
The Prime Minister announced that Lusail and the Pearl projects shall be exempted from the procedures of issuing licences while their managements shall be provided with the authority to grant special licences for construction, completion of construction, electricity and civil defense for real estate developers.
In this context, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment in coordination with Kahramaa and the Department of Civil Defense and other relevant agencies were directed to make an agreement with the management of the two projects giving them full responsibility before the State in case of a breach by the developer companies of the standards and conditions stipulated by the agreement and the approved urban plan. The Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Municipality and Environment to define specific periods of time to decide on building permit's applications, including preliminary and final licenses or building completion certificates.
The Prime Minister called on the Business and Investment Environment Development Committee to continue its ongoing work in order to study and discuss all the obstacles that may face the private sector and make recommendations to overcome them, stressing that the Committee plays a vital role in achieving communication and providing solutions to several problems.
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