HH Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad AlThani, Amir of the State of Qatar • Inside perspective

HH Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani AMIR OF THE STATE OF QATAR His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar, discusses Qatar’s response to COVID-19

Our meeting today comes while we are still facing, together with all humanity, the dangerous COVID-19 pandemic, which has put everyone against difficult tests and choices.

It has become obvious that a full lockdown only postpones the spread of the pandemic, and at the same time harms the economy. Yet, ignoring the pandemic and pursuing the concept wrongly dubbed "herd immunity" – aside from the dangerous risking of the lives of people (who are not a herd) - it has become evident that immunity isn’t guaranteed after contracting the disease. However, Qatar has opted for carefully considered partial and interim lockdowns while stressing precautionary measures and maximum readiness to isolate and treat those infected after the assessment of cases, in addition to the State's intervention in supporting the economic facilities affected by the pandemic. The correctness of our resilient choice, which sacrifices neither people's health nor the economy, became clear.

Our health system has proven its reliability in dealing with the pandemic, so our country, by the grace of Allah, has remained as one of the world’s least affected countries. The results of our health policies and persistent investment in developing the health system and medical staff, including prevention, daycare centers and hospitals have been evident.

It must be underlined that the pandemic is still raging at its height in different parts of the world, and we are still facing it in Qatar, and it is necessary not to be complacent in order to avoid a second wave of pandemic, and to comply with the instructions, especially social distancing, wearing masks and adhering to home quarantine when necessary. And as I previously said we would not hesitate to take strict preventative measures in the event of a new pandemic outbreak.

Realizing the importance of international cooperation in addressing the pandemic, we have supported the efforts of the international community and provided necessary assistance to more than seventy countries and international organizations. We will continue to support international efforts to accelerate the development of a necessary vaccine and make it affordable in a fair way to the neediest countries.

There are lessons learned from this pandemic regarding the significance of the public health sector and the importance of synergy between the role of the State, community and the individual in disease prevention, and how the economy and the educational process continue despite everything, as well as the importance of social solidarity, and appreciation of the role of workers in vital areas who extend services to quarantined people in their homes, such as the provision of food, health services, security, police, transportation, etc.

On the global level, the pandemic has inflicted heavy damage on most of the economic activities, as well as the movement of funds and people. As a result, forecasts regarding growth on the global level this year envision an economic recession that may reach 5%.

It is normal that an economic deflation results in a decline in energy prices. Accordingly, oil and gas exporting countries were hit by a double crisis due to a drop in prices on the one hand, and the impacts inflicted by the pandemic on the local economic activity on the other hand.

The State has taken two-tier swift measures: first, to support the private sector and maintain the integrity of the financial and banking markets and the Qatari riyal. Second, to maintain the general State’s budget. In this regard, we have directed to provide 75 billion Qatari riyals in support to the private sector affected by the measures taken by the State to limit the pandemic outbreak, as well as removing all obstacles facing this sector to maintain its business continuity and enhancing the ability of small and medium enterprises to face these ramifications.

A set of facilities and exemptions from customs duties on food and medicine, and on electricity fees and other services fees have also been approved.

As a result of these procedures, we were able to maintain the integrity of the monetary, banking, and fiscal position. So, the official reserves continued to grow in the current year and the diverse range of sources and deposits of the financial sector has expanded. The Qatari riyal also proved its strength and potential against external crises as it preserved its value and exchange freedom.

The State has also taken urgent and necessary measures to mitigate the negative effects of low oil and gas prices on the general budget. The preliminary results showed that the general budget deficit during the first half of this year reached about 1.5 billion riyals only, although deficit projections were much higher. This was achieved due to the rationalization of government spending associated with raising the efficiency of the public sector. Despite cuts, the budget continues to concentrate spending on health, education, and major infrastructure projects.

Out of our keenness to avoid the negative economic effects resulting from the market fluctuations in the oil prices, we have directed that the drafting of the general State’s budget be based on the price of oil at $ 40 per barrel, which is lower than the expected price.

The energy sector in the State was able to overcome the repercussions of this pandemic with minimal detriments. Production and export operations haven’t been affected, and Qatar Petroleum has continued to fulfill its obligations towards all contracting parties. Also the workflow proceeds unhindered in the main energy projects, namely, the liquefied gas production expansion project, in addition to projects overseas.

Our efforts for achieving Qatar’s national vision goals continue, especially in the field of realizing food security, encouraging investment by issuing a series of legislations stimulating investment and enhancing business environment, particularly the law organizing public-private partnership.

These laws and procedures are beginning to bear fruits, as from the outset of this year the number of established factories and the volume of investments and the number of employees therein have increased considerably.

There has also been a notable increase in establishing foreign companies and the volume of foreign investment.

In the field of environment protection, Qatar has started to develop a national network for air quality monitoring at various locations in the State, formulating a program for marine environment monitoring, and programs to respond to emergencies resulting from oil spills, hazardous and radioactive materials.

And by the grace of Allah Almighty, and in light of our long-term vision of the future of our country and planning for it, we have been able to overcome developmental obstacles and challenges we came through in the last few years. As a result, Qatar has maintained its credit rating as per studies conducted by the international rating agencies in 2020. These agencies have unanimously affirmed a high credit rating for the State of Qatar with a stable economic outlook.

This indicates confidence in the strength of Qatar’s economy and its ability to absorb major economic crises, including the current pandemic crisis.

However, this should not lead us to slackness and complacency. There are still great challenges ahead of us in achieving the goals of our long-term vision. To accomplish that, it is inevitable to accelerate minimizing dependency on the volatile revenues of oil and gas due to their price fluctuations and decline in price ceiling over time, as revealed by the recent crisis. This can only be achieved through enhancing economic diversification in Qatar and proceeding towards increasing the productivity and efficacy of labor in the public sector and encouraging private sector investment.

The State should exert its utmost effort to diversify its income sources through investment in its sovereign fund for future generations, etc. But diversification of income sources also depends on the community, and the economic and service sectors, where the community members work, by resorting to saving, private initiatives, investment and relocating from consumer mentality to the mindset of productive community. The way must be cleared for that end.

As for the government sector, it is necessary to emphasize that development programs and projects must be implemented with utmost precision and efficiency. I reiterate that jobs in various sectors of the State are not just an entitlement, but rather a duty and a responsibility. Therefore, wages and promotion must be linked to excellence and productivity and to apply that, without exception, on all employees in the State. And just as no private sector investor tolerates that individuals be paid without work and real return, we should not expect otherwise from the State.

*Excerpt from the speech of HH The Amir at the 49th ordinary session of the Shura Council on November 3, 2020.