Food and goods aplenty for FIFA World Cup: MoCI

Efforts are ongoing to ensure a regular market supply and maintain price stability: Ministry

THE Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) has confirmed the availability of food and consumer goods in the local markets, noting the stability of their prices, and their ability to accommodate all consumer needs during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

The ministry was keen to support the priorities of its action programmes aimed at ensuring the highest levels of food security and readiness to provide the required food and consumer commodities, in terms of type and quantity.

In this regard, the ministry referred to its efforts to achieve the defined goals to enhance the country’s food security throughout the World Cup tournament. The goals are as follows:

(1) Ensuring the availability of sufficient stocks of basic food and consumer strategic commodities during the period of hosting the World Cup.

(2) Maintaining stable prices of basic goods and services.

(3) Addressing emergencies that may arise during the World Cup tournament using risk management.

(4) Ensuring the availability of goods in the vicinity of guests of the global event, by establishing mobile sales outlets in the places of residence and dwelling of World Cup guests.

In this regard, the Ministry’s efforts to enhance publicprivate partnership has contributed to supporting supply in central markets and various sales outlets across Qatar, in addition to enhancing the strategic stock of basic and consumer goods, despite the fluctuations in the global supply chains.

In this context, the ministry praised the level of cooperation and coordination with a number of strategic companies, at the forefront of which are: Hassad Food Company, Widam

Food Company, Almeera Consumer Goods Company, and Qatar Flour Mills Company. The Ministry pointed, in this regard, to the key, pivotal role played by the FIFA World

Cup Qatar 2022 Food Security Emergencies Operations Room, which was formed at the Ministry.

Moreover, the ministry indicated the stability of prices of many commodities during the tournament. The prices of some products, such as vegetables, witnessed a significant decrease owing to being in season, in addition to the Ministry’s efforts to support the availability of national products in the local markets.

Additionally, the inspection campaigns conducted by the Ministry in the three central markets were key to supporting price stability and combating monopoly. These campaigns included 138 suppliers and 162 sales outlets (hypermarkets/ supermarkets and their various branches), in addition to other catering companies, restaurants, cafes, and cafeterias.

The Ministry also sought to support goods diversity and availability in the main regions throughout the tournament. In this regard, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with Ministry of Municipality, Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, and Almeera Consumer Goods Company, launched 10 temporary outlets in the vicinity of World Cup fans. Moreover, restaurants, exchange shops, and telecom operator kiosks were made available in various Almeera branches.

This initiative aims to give Qatar’s visitors easy access to products throughout the tournament, ensuring them an abundance and diversity of goods. Moreover, in addition to avoiding overcrowding in the permanent outlets, opening the temporary outlets seeks providing visitors with the chance to shop, round the clock, seven days a week.