Minister attends signing of QCAA-COCESNA MoU on enhancing civil aviation cooperation

MINISTER of Transport HE Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti yesterday attended the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) and the Central American Corporation for Air Navigation Services (COCESNA), on enhancing cooperation in civil aviation.

The MoU is aligned with the Third Qatar National Development Strategy. One of its top goals is strengthening Qatar’s global position in terms of air transportation and providing incentives to digitalise and automatise all means of transportation by taking advantage of Qatar’s advanced infrastructures, in addition to preparing a fresh generation of professionals in the industry.

The MoU stipulates the establishment of a framework between the two parties to develop cooperation in the fields of air safety, air traffic management, civil aviation security and facilitation, meteorological services, and legal affairs. This will be achieved through the exchange of trained and qualified competencies, along with information on civil aviation matters, let alone holding bilateral seminars, conferences, workshops, and training courses.

Mohammed Faleh Alhajri, in charge of managing the QCAA, and Juan Carlos Trabanino, executive director and CEO of COCESNA, signed the MoU. The document was signed in the presence of Cesar Augusto Davila Figueroa, COCESNA Board Member of Guatemala; Gerardo Gabriel Rivera Guifarro, COCESNA board member & director general Civil Aviation of Honduras; Fernando Naranjo Elizondo, director general of Costa Rica Civil Aviation; Ronise Rosel Caliz, director of operations of Belize Civil Aviation; and Jorge Adrian Solares Carranza, COCESNA corporate advisor.

Commenting on the MoU, Minister Al-Sulaiti said, “The signing of this MoU today represents a long-term strategic partnership between Qatar and Central American countries and constitutes an important new step in the country’s endeavour to build distinguished strategic partnerships with global aviation community’s main stakeholders.”

Having signed this MoU, he added, also reflects the major continued effort by the State of Qatar to reinforce cooperation in the areas of civil aviation with the COCESNA member states, thereby supporting the activities of training, expertise exchange, and the adopting of capacity building initiatives to further enhance efficiency and technology innovation in the industry, as well as ensuring highest safety and security standards.

The Minister thanked the QCAA and COCESNA for their efforts to clinch this MoU, which, he said, would serve bilateral cooperation frameworks in civil aviation and help advance this sector globally.

Following the signing ceremony, Alhajri said, “The signing of this MoU commemorates the establishment of a strong strategic partnership between QCAA and COCESNA. It represents a milestone in our enduring efforts to achieve further cooperation with the Central American countries and expanding the frameworks of work between us, while we continue to support the development of the civil aviation sector. It also reflects our common aspirations to enhance capabilities and expertise of human resources and empower workers in the aviation field through the development of their capabilities and skills.”

Trabanino commented by saying, “This MoU marks an important moment in our efforts to strengthen collaboration in the civil aviation sector. By joining forces with Qatar, we aim to leverage our respective strengths and expertise to drive innovation and enhance our overall capabilities whilst promoting safety and security in our countries.”

Established on February 26, 1960, COCESNA is a non-profit and public service organisation of Central American Integration governed by a Board of Directors composed of representatives of the signatory States of its Constitutive Agreement (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua), established with the purpose to respond and comply jointly in civil aviation matters to the international commitments undertaken as signatory countries of the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944.