(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Ambassador of Sweden, Ewa Polano (centre), cutting a cake with H E Dr Mohammed bin Abdul Wahid Al Hammadi, Minister of Education and Higher Education (second left), Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Ali Ibrahim Ahmed (left) and Ibrahim Fakhroo, Director of Protocol at the Foreign Ministry (right), on the National Day of Sweden held at St. Regis Hotel yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula By Irfan Bukhari / The Peninsula
Ambassador of Sweden to Qatar Ewa Polano yesterday said that Qatar and Sweden were set to sign an MoU ‘very soon' under which top universities of Sweden would offer one year master's degree programme to Qatari graduates of engineering.
'Our cooperation in education sector primarily revolves around spirit of engineering and innovation in which we are at number one in the world, she said while addressing a press conference on the eve of celebrating National Day of Sweden.
Later on, addressing the gathering at Swedish National Day celebrations, she said that Qatar's Minister of Education and Higher Education had recently paid a successful visit to Qatar and an MoU related to enhancing research and innovation cooperation between two countries was almost ready to be signed.
Minister of Education and Higher Education H E Mohammed bin Abdul Wahid Al Hammadi was chief guest at the glittering event. The ambassador lauded Qatar's vision of transformation from oil-based economy to knowledge-based society and diversified-economy. 'Sweden has already become a creative economy and Qatar's vision makes both countries a perfect partner, she added.
During the press conference, the ambassador said that annual trade between Qatar and Sweden was above $1bn. 'There was some decline due to fall in oil prices but very soon it will again start growing. In near future, a high-level delegation from Qatar will visit Sweden in which a number of new agreements and MoUs on port-management, education, health, urban-planning and waste management are most likely to be signed, she added.
Ewa Polano was accompanied by regional heads and officials of various Swedish companies like Volvo, Scania, Ikea, SAAB, ABB, Gac, Sensys Gatso Group etc in the press conference.
'Ashghal's slogan is ‘Qatar deserves the best' and Sweden is the best in world in technology, sustainable development, entrepreneurship, road safety etc., she said, adding Sweden was cooperating with Qatar in its endeavors to achieve goals set in Qatar National Vision 2030.
Saman Naziri, General Manager - Middle East of Sensys Gatso said that his company's pilot project of vehicle-mounted speed radars had been very successful. 'We hope our ongoing negotiations with authorities will take a final shape and these systems will be deployed on traffic police vehicles in Qatar, he added.
Talking to The Peninsula, Naziri said that Sensys Gatso had provided 400 systems to France where authorities were using them in civilian vehicles to make speed enforcement campaign more effective. He said those vehicle-mounted cameras could also record images of number plates of violating vehicles.
On road safety, Swedish ambassador said that Sweden had set ‘Vision Zero' to reduce traffic accident deaths and injuries to zero. 'Our experts on road safety and traffic congestion are visiting Qatar on periodical basis to help Qatari officials to address road safety issues. General Secretary of National Traffic Safety Committee, Brig Mohamed Al Malki will attend ‘Vision Zero Conference' in Stockholm in June this year, she said.
Dr Professor Niclas Adler from "Accelerated Innovation" said that under an agreement, likely to be signed soon, Sweden would offer entrepreneurship training to young Qatari nationals. 'This cooperation with Qatar will be from the platform of Qatar Science and Technology Park, he added.
An official representing Volvo buses said that his company like all other Swedish companies believed in three things: quality, safety and environment care. Antonie Azor from Scania, a Swedish company, said that they had recently provided 32 buses to Qatar Petroleum for school use which were ‘environmentally friendly'.
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