Qatar: Guide to Protect Marine E-assets to be Issued

Qatar’s Transport and Communications Minister has announced the country will issue a first of its kind guide in the region to protect marine assets and information about ships and goods from cyber attacks. The announcement was made at the Qatar Maritime and Logistics Summit. The guide will facilitate greater cooperation between the national navigation companies and the National Information Security Centre, Q-cert to improve cybersecurity in this area.

Qatar: Industrial Licenses and Land to Become Easier to Obtain

Investors in Qatar will be able to apply through the Single Window platform at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to secure industrial licences and plots of land in the Small and Medium Industrial Area and complete financing procedures via the same application. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) together with Qatar Development Bank has launched the Land and Industrial Loan initiative to enable this. Investors will fill out and submit the application electronically through the Single Window Services website on singlewindow.gov.qa. They will also provide all the required documents (a complete feasibility study, the engineering plan and a copy of audited financial accounts) and any other documents which may be requested during the application review period. After submitting the application and the required documents, a technical team from the Ministry and QDB will review the application and there will then be an application review by the Land Commission.

Qatar: Universities to be Accredited by Education Ministry

Qatar’s Education and Higher Education Ministry will soon be responsible for accrediting universities. The Ministry is going to launch a quality control and accreditation programme for all of the country’s universities. It hasn’t yet decided whether it will be undertaken by the Ministry itself outsourced to other organisations abroad. Alternatively the universities may carry out self-assessment and submit these to the Ministry who will then assess these reports. A new private Lusail University is also going to be established by next year and an Indian University is going to be up and running by the end of the year. The aim is to ensure standardisation in the sector.

Qatar: Draft Decision Reorganising the Finance Ministry’s Compensation Claims Committee

Qatar’s Cabinet has approved a draft decision to reorganise the Finance Ministry’s Compensation Claims Committee. The Undersecretary of the Ministry will be the Chairperson and representatives from the relevant authorities will be members. They will receive and study compensation requests submitted to Ministries, Government agencies, public bodies and institutions as well as consider compensation requests arising from contracting and supplies contracts and related compensation requests for delay in the implementation of obligations or completion of original or additional works, change orders or amendments which have been made to those contracts.

Qatar: Penal Code Amended

Qatar’s Emir has issued amendments to the country’s Penal Code. Under the amendments, anyone who broadcasts, publishes, or re-publishes rumours, fake news, or biased news, locally or abroad, with the intent to harm national interests, stir up public opinion, or infringe on social harmony or public order will be jailed. Biased broadcasting or publication will be jailed for up to five years and fined 100,000 Riyals. The amendments have been published in the Official Gazette.

Qatar: New Controls and Procedures for the Exit of Expatriates not Subject to the Labour Law

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Interior Minister has issued Qatar Decision No. 95/2019 on controls and procedures for the exit of some categories of expatriates who are not subject to the Labour Law. The Decision allows expatriates to exit the country during the validity of their work contract. It applies to workers in Ministries and other Government agencies as well as public bodies and institutions. In addition, it applies to those in the oil and gas sector, maritime industries, agriculture and grazing, domestic and private office workers. An employer has the right to submit a request to the Interior Ministry with the names of those who may require approval before they leave the country because of the nature of their work, up to 5% of the number of their employees. Domestic workers should inform their employer at least 72 hours before they want to leave.

Qatar: Crypto Currency Trading Banned

Qatar’s Financial Centre Regulatory Authority is understood to have banned crypto currency trading although no official announcement has been made. The ban apparently applies to ‘anything of value that acts as a substitute for currency, that can be digitally traded or transferred and can be used for payment or investment purposes’. However, digital forms of securities or any other financial instrument under the remit of the Authority, the Qatar Central Bank or the Qatar Financial Markets Authority, will apparently still be allowed.

Qatar: Independent Body to Oversee Public Private Partnership Projects Should be Established

A group of experts have called for an independent body to oversee public private partnerships in Qatar to be established. The experts made their call during a seminar on Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) which was hosted by the Qatar Chamber, the Qatar International Centre for Conciliation & Arbitration and the College of Law at Qatar University. The body would serve a similar function to competition commissions in other countries.

Qatar: National Address Law to be Implemented Soon

The Qatari Interior Ministry has announced the National Address Law (Qatar Law No. 24/2017) will be implemented soon. The Ministry added the relevant procedural and operational steps needed to implement the law have already been completed. The Law is part of an e-Government and digitisation strategy. When it is implemented, nationals and residents will have to register their addresses via the Metrash2 application or at any of the Interior Ministry centres in the country.

Every citizen or expatriate or their legal representatives will have to register their residential address, land telephone number, mobile number, email, employer address for Government and private sector employees and permanent address abroad. The guardians of minors will have to register them and verify the data is correct.