News | Ministry of Transport

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Qatar, US Sign LOIs on Cybersecurity, Collaboration Platform

Washington-The State of Qatar and the United States have signed letters of intent (LOIs) in the area of cybersecurity and on the US-Qatar Collaboration Platform.The two LOIs were signed by Mr. Eng. Khalid Al-Hashmi, Assistant Undersecretary of Cyber Security, at Ministry of Transport and Communications, and from the U.S. side, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service Ms. Erin Walsh, and Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Ms. Manisha Singh.The two LOIs are among several other agreements and MoUs signed between Doha and Washington in various fields during the Qatari-US Strategic Dialogue that started in Washington DC Tuesday.The first LOI, signed by MoTC and the Department of Commerce on the US-Qatar Collaboration Platform, aims to strengthen and expand the bilateral commercial cooperation through fostering increased collaboration between U.S. and Qatari companies in areas of mutual interest, including smart cities and infrastructure areas such as transportation, logistics, environment, healthcare, sports, and e-commerce.It also aims to encourage companies of both countries to explore cooperation in the Middle East and other appropriate opportunities, to increase the international competitiveness of companies from both countries.The second LOI was signed with the Department of State in the area of cybersecurity, as the two sides intend to promote the expansion of bilateral cooperation, and cooperation in multilateral fora.Forms of cooperative activities may include information exchange and sharing of cybersecurity best practices, cooperation on counter-cybercrime, cyber defense, and capacity building activities.

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

27 New Ideas Win Incubation at MoTC’s Digital Incubation Center

Doha – QatarTwenty-seven new innovative ideas have been accepted and will be incubated within the Startup Track at the Ministry of Transport and Communications’ Digital Incubation Center (DIC), as the DIC IdeaCamp events have come to an end after six weeks of exciting live pitching from a total of 31 competing innovative ideas, before specialized evaluation and assessment committees. IdeaCamp had initially started with 85 innovative ideas, 31 of them qualified for finals and 27 won the incubation.The participating ideas covered a wide range of fields that interest all segments of society, based on modern technology. The ideas are meant to help solve problems at the environmental, educational, economic and social levels, including e-commerce, Blockchain, iBeacon, biotechnologies, IoT, VR and social technology.IdeaCamp is a new DIC program designed for entrepreneurs, developers and designers who have a great idea for a technology solution. Over six weeks, IdeaCamp featured several workshops and training and mentorship courses conducted by specialized training institutions where entrepreneurs were educated how to develop a business model, build a prototype and test their ideas with potential customers.Participants were introduced to sample prototypes for well-known companies such as Airbnb, Uber and Flickr.Winning ideas will be assessed and tested again after one year of incubation at the DIC in order to establish whether it should continue being incubated. This depends on how far the concept idea develops and grows.“We are delighted for the success of the IdeaCamp events after achieving the aspired goal, which was the introduction of a new big batch and unique levels of entrepreneurial businesses. IdeaCamp saw a great deal of intense competition, which is propitious for a promising future for entrepreneurship and innovation projects in Qatar,” said DIC Manager Duha Al-Buhendi.She added that the DIC under MoTC would continue supporting entrepreneurs to harness their capabilities and help their ideas grow into real business on Qatari market.Ms. Amal Al-Shummari is the owner of Nefaish innovative idea, which qualified for incubation. She said IdeaCamp “was the ideal place to develop my idea”, and that she “enjoyed attending all tainting courses and lectures. The team were very helpful. I’d advise all those who have ideas to join IdeaCamp to develop their ideas.”Shiekha Al-Marri, owner of Abilitx, said IdeaCamp “was the proper environment to exchange and develop my ideas with the proper people. IdeaCamp help me a lot to find a way to run things smoothly, solve issues swiftly and improve my plans.”

Monday, January 29, 2018

HE Minister Holds Talks with Malaysian Ambassador

Doha – QatarHE Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti met here today with HE the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Malaysia to Qatar Dato Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin. The two officials discussed the bilateral relations between the two friendly countries in the fields of transportation, ports, aviation and communications, and means of further enhancing them.

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Qatar Deposits Instruments of Accession to UN’s TIR Convention

Doha – QatarQatar has recently deposited its instruments of accession to the TIR Convention, which will enter into force for the State of Qatar this July 25.By so doing, Qatar has become the 73rd Contracting Party to the United Nations’ TIR Convention, the only global customs transit system, to facilitate trade and the seamless and secure movement of goods across its borders.The only global customs transit system for moving goods across international borders, TIR, or Transports Internationaux Routiers, has been supporting trade and development for over 60 years, by allowing customs-sealed vehicles and freight containers to transit countries with minimal border checks. It is governed by the United Nations TIR Convention, which is hosted by UNECE, and managed by the world road transport organization, IRU.The TIR Convention came into effect in 1975. It facilitates the transport of goods between countries. It is the only global customs transit system in existence. It now has 73 Contracting Parties covering the whole of Europe, and reaches out to Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. The TIR Convention is expanding rapidly, with Pakistan, China and India, which are home to almost 40% of the world population, acceding to the Convention within the last three years alone.The Ministry of Transport and Communications emphasizes that Qatar’s accession to TIR Convention will allow its land transport fleet and other land shipping modes to move to ports and harbors of TIR Convention countries by RoRo ships, move by land to where goods are released in any of TIR countries, and ship and transport goods on same track to Qatar. The new system will enable free movement for land transport modes that belong to those countries when shipping goods from or to Qatar, the Ministry says, adding that this will contribute to saving transport costs significantly thanks to removing transaction fees for those goods, in addition to reducing transport duration from countries of origin to Qatar.

Sunday, January 28, 2018

HE Minister Meets with Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure

Doha – QatarHE Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti met here today with Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure HE Mr. Volodymyr Omelyan.The two officials discussed aspects of cooperation between the two friendly countries in the field of aviation, maritime transport, ports and railroads and means of further enhancing them, in addition to benefiting from investment opportunities in the field of transport in both countries.The meeting also discussed a number of matters of common interest and was attended by HE Mr. Akbar Al Baker, Group Chief Executive, Qatar Airways, and HE Mr. Abdulla bin Nasser Turki Al Subaey, Chairman, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Thursday, January 25, 2018

HE Minister Holds Talks with French Counterpart

Paris - FranceHE Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti held talks with HE Minister of Transport of France Ms. Élisabeth Borne, in Paris today.The two ministers discussed a number of issues of common interest between the two friendly countries and means of further enhancing them.They also discussed cooperation in the fields of aviation, marine transport, ports, railroads, smart mobility, and integrated transport systems, as well as encouraging cooperation with French companies specialized in the field of transportation.The meeting was attended by Qatar's Ambassador to France HE Mr. Khalid bin Rashid Al Mansouri.