Qatari cabinet holds weekly meeting

 HE Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani chaired Wednesday cabinet meeting that was held at the Emiri Diwan.
After the meeting, HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud said that the cabinet made a number of decisions including the approval of a draft law amending a number of provisions in Law no. 17 of 2001 on regulating the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC).
According to the draft law, NHRC enjoys full independence in exercising its activities related to human rights and no committee member shall be held criminally or disciplinarily accountable for opinions or statements shown before the committee and its subcommittees in respect of matters within its competence.
The cabinet also ratified amendments to some provisions of its Decision no. 36 of 2011 on renewing fees and charges in Qatari sea ports as well as vessel registration fees.
In addition, the cabinet approved draft decision of the interior minister on determining the information on the identification card (ID) and procedures of obtaining them. The draft decision includes the personal information on the IDs of Qataris and expatriates in addition to the documents required to obtain the ID card.
The cabinet approved a draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) on security cooperation between the governments of the State of Qatar and the United Kingdom.
The cabinet reviewed a set of issues and took the appropriate measures. It examined the annual report of the Permanent Emergency Committee for the period of April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014, which featured the committee's activities including coordination with the different member entities to provide them with the needed equipment during emergencies, detailed emergency plans for anticipated occurrences in the country, preparing final drafts of the national emergency plan, activities and programs of the national program of preparation for disasters and following up on their implementation, and completing procedures for the project on building national capacities in responding to radiological and nuclear incidents in coordination with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The session also reviewed HE the finance minister's memo on the outcome of a study on the effects of cooperating with and joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
OECD is a leading international institution of 34 countries that contributes to the steering the general policies of several influential world countries. Its member states are characterized as ones with the best economies among developed countries, and its recommendations are used in various economic, social and environmental issues.
The cabinet also reviewed a letter by HE the minister of justice on considering Qatar's accession to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was adopted in 1948.
Additionally, the cabinet discussed a letter by HE minister of development planning and statistics, who also heads the Permanent Population Committee (PPC), pertaining to the outcome of the committee's study on the views and recommendations included in the Qatar Population Status Report 2013. The cabinet also reviewed the minister's letter on Qatar's ranking in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2014.
The cabinet commended Qatar's status that saw the country rank highly in the fields of economic performance, government efficiency, business sector competency and infrastructure. It came 19th out of 60 mostly advanced countries included in the yearbook