Committee pursues and affirms preparations for Mena

The private sector committee entrusted to prepare for the Doha economic conference held its 12th meeting yesterday in Doha under the chairmanship of Abdul Hadi al-Shahwani, member of the board of the directors of Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry and deputy chairman of the committee, to review activities of a sub-committee formed to implement a number of tasks.

The tasks include following up the registration process and issuing a booklet on 17 private sector projects to be forwarded to the conference. The tasks also involve contacts with foreign embassies in Qatar to find out how many businessmen will take part in the conference.

The committee also discussed arrangements for a seminar to be held by the private sector in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry this month. The seminar will discuss a timetable to finalize all main tasks assigned to the private sector to prepare for the conference before the end of October in coordination with the Foreign Ministry and others concerned to take the executive measures in the first week of November.

The committee also reviewed results of a meeting held in Doha on Sunday, which was attended by members of the committee and a US businessmen's council.

Meanwhile, the State of Qatar affirmed again today that the Middle East and North Africa economic conference (MENA) would be held as scheduled in the Qatari capital Doha.

In a statement to Qatar News Agency, Qatar's foreign ministry official spokesman described recent reports by some news agencies about postponement of the conference, attributed to the Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jaseem Bin Jabor Al Thani, as distorted and untrue. The conference would be held on time and arrangements for holding it were going on properly, he underlined.

The State of Qatar started as of today sending official invitations to states and international organizations to participate in MENA, still scheduled for November 16 through 18 in Doha.