DOHA - Through heavy investment, Qatar has shown it can achieve high standards in education, but there is a need to increase the number of students, which will take time. The main challenge Qatar faces in addressing this issue is the country's small population, the Emir, H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, has said.
In 'The Report: Emerging Qatar 2007', released by Oxford Business Group, the Emir also speaks about the expansion and reorganisation of Qatar University as well as the important role played by the Qatar Foundation (QF) in educational reform. In 1995, QF invited institutions which would best supply the needs of the Qatari economy, all of which have now set up shop at Education City.
"It is this strategic education policy that will ultimately pay the greatest dividend. A country that empties its purse into the minds of its young earns the best interest of all. However, consolidating this new social system will require time and effort, yet it is a prerequisite for political reform to bear fruit," says the Emir.
Addressing the issue of democracy, the Emir said: "Democracy is the way to progress, development and cooperation with international partners. The State of Qatar has chosen democracy as a means to achieve this vision, while also protecting human rights and developing the people's participation. We believe this tendency towards democracy corresponds with our practice of Al shura, or consultation, which is acknowledged in Islam as a basic rule."
The concept should not be disregarded but rather, to be applied in order to expand participation. This would ensure that it is not practised selectively to cover only a limited class of people, but to cover all of the country's people.
This will be a right that cannot be ignored or trespassed, said the Emir. "If the reality sometimes shows the contrary, then this is not due to any deficiency in the shura principle itself, but comes down to misinterpretation and malpractice. Islam does not only urge its people to participate in public affairs, but it also admonishes them to respect minorities and protect their rights."
While stating the country's reforms process was targetted at developing Qatar's social system and at the same time keeping in mind the country's religious and national values "with the spirit of the age and its requirements", the Emir said education was the best vehicle for long-term reform.
On economic matters, the Emir said the country had been blessed with natural resources. "Oil and gas may account for 62 per cent of GDP today, but we are strategically working on reducing our reliance on these revenues. Investing $130bn in the next five years, with half going to non-energy-related projects, will go some of the way in creating an infrastructural platform that will allow Qatar to continue to grow," he said.
Inflation likely to be 4-5% this year: Minister
DOHA • Finance Minister H E Yousuf Hussein Kamal says he expects the rate of inflation in the country to be restricted to four to five per cent this year. "Our expectations are that in 2007 inflation will be 4-5 per cent, the single reason for this is supply meeting demand," the minister told Oxford Business Group (OBG), which carried his interview in 'The Report: Emerging Qatar 2007'.
To offset imported inflation, Qatar has recently increased its gold reserves fivefold to QR240m ($66m), and Qatar Petroleum (QP) has begun accepting payment for petroleum in sterling and euros, says 'The Report: Emerging Qatar 2007'. In broader terms, the overall GCC sentiment towards the dollar peg and the future of the planned common currency has become somewhat murkier following Kuwait's switch from a dollar peg to a basket of currencies.
© The Peninsula 2007
