ARABIALINK Daily News – QATAR – Excerpts from International Media Reports
[Links to full articles were active on the date posted here]
Qatar Plans to Secure Food Supplies Domestically [Jun 1]
“Qatar is placing the emphasis on home-grown agricultural production over foreign farmland buys as it seeks to increase its food security, a top food supply official told Reuters on Tuesday. Farming in the Gulf region is a challenge due to extreme heat, limited water supplies and high soil salinity. Despite the obstacles, Qatar and some other Gulf states are investing in technology that would help secure food supplies domestically. “Qatar’s priority right now is to put in place the resources to enhance domestic production,” said Mahendra Shah, director at the Qatar National Food Security Program (QNFSP), a state entity established in 2008 to set the policy strategy for the securing food supplies. Food price rises as commodities ran up to record highs in 2008 sent a shock through the Gulf, one of the world’s biggest food importing regions, and sent governments on a quest to secure future food supplies and defend against future inflationary rises in the prices of basic foodstuffs. Only a tenth of Qatar’s around 65,000 hectares of arable land is being used for agriculture due to lack of fresh water supplies..” [Complete Report]
Qatar Condemns Israel [Jun 1]
“HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani yesterday condemned Israel’s deadly raid against a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, branding it an “act of piracy”. The crimes that were committed at dawn today… remind all of us that there is an unjust blockade” in place against Gaza, the Emir told the 10th Doha Forum, calling for an end to the lockdown imposed by Israel. “All those who speak of justice and freedom and democracy are now required to do something to break this blockade,” said Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa..” [Complete Report]
South Korea Denies New LNG deal with Qatar [Jun 1]
“outh Korea’s energy ministry and state-run Korea Gas Corp Tuesday denied a media report that it had struck a new LNG import deal with Qatar. The report quoted Seoul’s energy ministry as saying that Kogas has
agreed to buy an additional 2.1 million mt/year of LNG from Qatar’s RasGas. “The report is false. We have no such a deal,” said an official at the knowledge economy ministry. Kogas also denounced the report as “wrong”. “We are consistently seeking new deals with LNG producers, including Qatar, as part of securing stable supplies, but we have no new deal with Qatar,” said the official..” [Complete Report]
Al Jazeera Accepts Resignations of Female Presenters [Jun 1]
“Al Jazeera satellite channel has accepted the resignations of five female presenters who clashed with management over several issues, ranging from alleged harassment to dress code, a London-based Arab newspaper has reported. “Al Jazeera, in line with its policy of rejecting arm-twisting, has accepted the resignation of the five rebellious presenters,” an official from the pan-Arab station said, quoted by Al Quds Al Arabi on Tuesday. Jumana Nammour, Lina Zahr Al Deen, Jullinar Mousa, Nawfar Afli and Luna Al Shibl were among a group of eight women working for the Doha-based pan-Arab channel who had filed a complaint to protest against “repeated offensive public remarks” by an official from Al Jazeera about “clothes and decency”.. ..Ayman Jaballah, the deputy editor in chief, whose attitudes were cited by the women presenters in their petition as a major cause for their resignation, was appointed head of “Al Jazeera Live,” one of the station’s channels. An ad-hoc investigation committee set up by Al Jazeera to look into the presenters’ petition had cleared Jaballah of the harassment complaint, saying that his attitudes and behaviour were within his prerogatives and that he did not make any remarks that could harm the presenters’ reputation..” [Complete Report]
Qatar to Sell 5 Billion Riyals of Local Bonds at 6.5% [Jun 1]
“Qatar, holder of the world’s third- largest natural gas reserves, will sell 5 billion riyals ($1.4 billion) of eight-year bonds as the Gulf nation seeks to develop a domestic debt market. The securities will pay a coupon rate of 6.5 percent, Finance Minister Yousef Kamal told reporters in Doha today. Qatar sold 8.4 billion riyals of 10-year notes in June at 6.55 percent, according to Bloomberg data. The government also plans to offer 5 billion riyals of Islamic debt in the local market, Kamal said yesterday. Qatar is spending billions of dollars diversifying its economy and plans to invest in infrastructure projects, the international oil and gas industry, and sports and cultural attractions. The sale is the first from the Gulf nation since it raised $7 billion from international debt markets in a multi- tranche sale in November..” [Complete Report]
Qatar to invest in Macedonia [Jun 1]
“The office of the Qatar Emir will receive some twenty projects related to investments in construction of hotels, shopping centres, filling stations and petrol depot in Macedonia by the end of June. This has been agreed by Macedonian President Dorde Ivanov and Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Kalifa Al Tani at the meeting held within the framework of the 10th Forum in Doha. They concluded that economic relations should focus on the cooperation between the two countries. The Emir of Qatar will personally entrust Qatar investment organs with the task of dealing with investment possibilities in Macedonia for the purpose of enhancing political and economic relations. Furthermore, the Emir plans to open Qatar embassy in Macedonia..” [Complete Report]
