News | Ministry of Transport

Monday, November 14, 2022

MOT Holds Meeting on Maritime Vessels Docking at Corniche

Doha – QatarA coordinating meeting MOT organized with the bodies concerned has discussed the maritime vessels docking at the Corniche area. Assistant Undersecretary, Maritime Transport Affairs, Dr. Saleh bin Fetais Al-Marri represented the Ministry.The meeting tackled the procedures of individuals’ entry and exit into those vessels, as well as coordination with the bodies concerned with regard to regular inspections to make sure the crafts meet all maritime safety and security, and tourism requirements.

Thursday, November 10, 2022

Prime Minister Inaugurates “Hamad Port Visitor Centre”, Launches “MWANINA”

Doha – Qatar Prime Minister and Minister of Interior His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani today inaugurated the “Hamad Port Visitor Centre.” He toured the Centre and inspected its facilities; Qatar’s first aquarium, a maritime museum, a multipurpose auditorium equipped with latest technologies and interactive simulators His Excellency also launched the port community system “MWANINA” - an electronic platform that allows smart and secure exchange of information between persons concerned and the entities associated with the port, thus helping improve and develop the importation and exportation operations and making them more efficient and less costly. H.E. the Prime Minister was accompanied by a number of Their Excellencies the Ministers and senior officials. On this occasion, Minister Al-Sulaiti said that inaugurating the “Hamad Port Visitor Centre” will contribute to educating the current and future generations, as well as visitors and the world, about Qatar’s maritime history and heritage as it narrates the ancestors’ role in the field of maritime navigation and trade over a considerable lapse of time. The Minister, who is also Mwani Qatar Chairman, added that the Centre would support the country’s effort of preserving such a historic heritage and making it an unforgettable memory thanks to its facilities that embody the Qatari maritime heritage and its evolution throughout the years, toward achieving the goals of QNV2030. He said the Centre would also elucidate more about Hamad Port, its vision, resources and the commitment to deliver such a megaproject. The Centre includes an aquarium, featuring 17 basins of different sizes. It displays some 80 species of fishes and aquatic animals; 3063 in total. It will be playing a key role in promoting maritime culture and knowledge to its visitors and introducing them to the Umm Al Houl environment, where Hamad Port is located, and Qatar’s maritime environment in general, he added. The Centre also includes a maritime museum that will be narrating unique stories on the history of the State of Qatar through portraits that demonstrate the old ways of living in Qatar, in addition to stories on maritime trade and how it evolved over the years. The museum visitors will also learn more about the history of containers, ships, Hamad Port’s operations and its importance to life in Qatar. The museum’s interactive screens can simulate several maritime life activities, harbor operations, and ship maneuvering. Commenting on the launching of “MWANINA” system, H.E. the Minister said that launching that new system corresponds to MOT’s plans to provide an integrated network of smart commercial ports that are efficient and effective and also integrating with other modes of transportation, aiming to connect our economy with global markets in step with the QNV2030 goals. He said “MWANINA” system, which will contribute to facilitating vessel entry in general, keeps pace with the country’s plans to transform Qatar into a vibrant regional commercial hub through simplified trade operations and improved efficiency in line with highest safety and security standards. He said this also helps enhance the digital transformation in trade and logistic services industries in Qatar. The port community system “MWANINA” is an electronic platform that allows smart and secure exchange of information between stakeholders and all the entities associated with ports. This will help make importation and exportation more efficient and effective in terms of time and cost. “MWANINA” will also support the green initiatives by reducing paper dependency, manual intervention, delays, and the associated errors and this helps improve performance, boost productivity, support the national economy and trade, in addition to developing the logistic services across Qatar. Mwani Qatar’s CEO Capt. Abdulla Mohamed Al-Khanji said that “MWANINA” will facilitate the exchange of information between exporters, importers, shipping lines and all entities and stakeholders associated with ports via a signal point of contact, thus saving beneficiaries’ time and effort. So far, 141 entities have been registered in the system, including shipping companies, custom clearance companies, and shipping agencies, he added.

Monday, November 7, 2022

Minister Receives Message from Egyptian Counterpart

Doha – Qatar Minister of Transport H.E. Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti received a written message from Minister of Transport of the Arab Republic of Egypt H.E. Vice Admiral Eng. Kamel Elwazir, on cooperation between the two countries in the fields of transportation, ports, and civil aviation and ways to further develop it. The message was handed over by Egyptian Ambassador to the State of Qatar H.E. Amr Kamal El-Din El-Sherbiny, as he met with H.E. Minister Al-Sulaiti today.

Thursday, October 27, 2022

The Launch of “Smart Parking” Platform – The First Comprehensive Digital Parking Service in Qatar

Doha – Qatar His Excellency Mr. Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, Minister of Transport, and Mr. Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, launched the Smart Parking Service, which provides users with a seamless parking experience by offering information on the available parking spaces and allowing them to find out and reach parking spots, using their mobile phones. The launch of the Smart Parking service is part of the five smart sectors included in Smart Qatar Program (TASMU). The inauguration of this new service came as a result of concerted efforts between government entities, including the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Municipality, and the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), with the aim of providing unified digital experience for drivers and car parking owners in Qatar. The Smart Parking service contains parking spaces in adjacent parking lots in vital roads and areas, such as Corniche and West Bay, in addition to more than 28,000 parking spots in Souq Waqif, Al Bidaa Park, Corniche, Gate Mall, Lusail, Msheireb, and others, as well as other parking lots that will be added to the app. The launch of the Smart Parking service is part of the five smart sectors included in Smart Qatar Program (TASMU). The inauguration of this new service came as a result of concerted efforts between government entities, including the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Municipality, and the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), with the aim of providing unified digital experience for drivers and car parking owners in Qatar. The Smart Parking service contains parking spaces in adjacent parking lots in vital roads and areas, such as Corniche and West Bay, in addition to more than 28,000 parking spots in Souq Waqif, Al Bidaa Park, Corniche, Gate Mall, Lusail, Msheireb, and others, as well as other parking lots that will be added to the app. On this occasion, HE Minister of Transport Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti said: "Developing a comprehensive, effective parking management framework supports the integrated transport system, which in turn helps set priorities and support the paradigm transformation of comprehensive, sustainable transport." His Excellency added: “The Smart Parking project provides direct data, supported by best recommendations and real-time forecasts about available parking spaces, which enables reducing the mobility time for drivers on the roads and contributes to the achievement of a key performance indicator for the transportation sector, which is reducing traffic congestion and delays on the roads. The project also helps diminish environmental pollution by minimizing the duration of the car journey and the inefficient operation of the vehicle's engine, which directly reduces harmful emissions to the environment, in line with the strategic objectives of the transportation sector.” His Excellency Mr. Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, said: “The launch of the Smart Parking project is an important step towards Smart Qatar, as it provides sustainable benefits and technologies to our community in Qatar. The Smart Parking service seeks to increase the efficiency of using parking lots and provide drivers with access to real-time data via TASMU platform, allowing data-driven decision making and better management of parking facilities.” His Excellency added that through the integration of transformative technology and benefiting from latent technologies, such as the Internet of Things and Augmented Reality, the Smart Parking service came to achieve safety, environmental, and social advantages, in addition to increasing the efficiency of parking use in vital and commercial areas, which is a step to improve the level of users' experience." The Smart Parking service seeks to address the difficulties faced by vehicle drivers in parking spaces and to make all parking spaces in Qatar available digitally by using the latest parking sensors, as well as integrating all existing parking management systems to provide a standardized digital parking experience. The initial launch is just the tip of the iceberg for the Smart Parking service, with future releases to include more locations and features, such as pre-booking, parking sessions’ management, enabling various "Find My Car" choices, providing a record for each account, and other features that will be implemented in several phases, after the Ministry of Transport fully takes over this project. style="direction: rtl;">This service could be used through "TASMU" mobile app available on App Store.

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Mozambique Minister Visits HIA’s Control Tower

Doha – Qatar Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Mozambique H.E. Mateus Magala and his accompanying delegation today visited Hamad International Airport’s Control Tower and the Qatar Air Traffic Control Center where officials representing the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) briefed them on their service facilities and operational technologies applied.

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Minister Meets with Mozambiquan Counterpart

Doha – Qatar Minister of Transport H.E. Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti met here today with Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Mozambique H.E. Mateus Magala. The two ministers reviewed Qatar-Mozambique cooperation relations in the fields of transportation, mobility services, maritime navigation, commercial harbors, civil aviation, and air transpiration, and ways to develop them. The meeting was attended by several Ministry officials, representatives of Qatari transportation entities, Mozambique’s Ambassador to Qatar H.E. Isac Mamudo Massamby and the delegation accompanying the Mozambiquan minister.