Qatar Today December 2016

inside this issue December 2016 / Vol. 42 / Issue 11

20I6 THE YEAR THAT WAS COVER STORY

22 THE YEAR THAT WAS

When Qatar Today published its year-end round-up last year, we had hoped that 2016 would be the year that brought peace and harmony, the year when world leaders would debate on inclusive policies, border-free humanitarian activities and bring to fulfillment the utopian dream of a globalised world in the true sense of the word.

But 2016 has proved to be even more detrimental.

16 A MAN OF ENERGY

Qatar Today goes down memory lane with the man who put Qatar on the map of top energy suppliers in the world, His Excellency Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, the former minister for energy.

58 OPENING UP THE SKIES

After the 28 European Union Transport Ministers authorised the European Commission to start negotiations for the EU-level aviation agreements with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

(ASEAN), Turkey, Qatar and the UAE, there are still many unknowns ahead. However, a future deal between the EU and the Gulf carriers may finally put an end to a long-lasting dispute over open skies and the level of liberalisation of the European market.

73 FERRARI FEVER

The GTC4Lusso and 488GTB, signature offerings from the stables of Ferrari, each come with their own set of unbeatable specs, combining luxury and performance to deliver a top-class driving experience.

76 THE ART IN BEAUTY

Beauty isn’t just skin-deep at Qatar’s first Korean dermatology clinic.

It’s as deep as the celestial explosion pasted above snow-capped mountains at night in Kang Chan Mo’s "Sky filled with lights showing endless love", or a calming acrylic-on-canvas contemplation of the volcanic Korean island of Jeju, in Kim Sung Oh’s "JejuOreum".

inside this issue December 2016 / Vol. 42 / Issue 11

50 A COP OF ACTION

In some ways COP22 in Marrakech could be considered equally as important as the historic meeting that preceded it. This was to be a COP of action; crunch time, some might say, with euphoria around the Paris Agreement winding down and the tedious realities of implementation setting in. Qatar Today brings you highlights from COP in Morocco, along with insights into the role of Qatar, and the larger GCC region, in climate action negotiations.

20 NEW VISA MEASURES BOOST TOURISM

A range of new visa measures recently announced by the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) have been widely welcomed by tourism industry professionals, as well as the country’s hospitality and retail operators.

62 DECIPHERING TRUMP

The election of Donald Trump in the US is largely viewed as a coming flood that will change the face of the world. Qatar Today talks to political analysts and academics in order to separate rhetoric from realism and understand what this unprecedented and surprising turn of events will mean for the region.

66 POWER CHALLENGES OF THE FUTURE

Qatar Today chats with Mazen Zein, General Manager Qatar & Bahrain at Schneider Electric, about regional power trends and how the advent of renewable energy will require innovation that will take us out of our comfort zone.

72 BRIDGING GAPS IN BUSINESS

CNA-Q’s Corporate Services Department offers training solutions to Qatar’s businesses.

and regulars 06

NEWS BITES

14

BANK NOTES

16

OIL & GAS REVIEW

17

REALTY CHECK

62

TECH TALK

64 Ferrari Editorial Picture Courtesy: Aparna Jayakumar

A UTO NEWS

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MARKET WATCH

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DOHA DIARY

PUBLISHER & EDITOR IN CHIEF YOUSUF BIN JASSIM AL DARWISH MANAGING DIRECTOR & CEO JASSIM BIN YOUSUF AL DARWISH MANAGER DR FAISAL FOUAD EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR SINDHU NAIR DEPUTY EDITOR IZDIHAR IBRAHIM SENIOR CORRESPONDENTS AYSWARYA MURTHY UDAYAN NAG KARIM EMAM CORRESPONDENTS AARTHI MOHAN KEERTANA KODURU ART SENIOR ART DIRECTOR VENKAT REDDY DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR HANAN ABU SAIAM ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR AYUSH INDRAJITH SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER MAHESHWAR REDDY PHOTOGRAPHER ROBERT F ALTAMIRANO MARKETING & SALES MANAGER SAKALA A DEBRASS TEAM SONY VELLATT DENZITA SEQUIERA MATHEWS CHERIAN ANIS MANSOURI NISHAD N P EVENTS OFFICER GHAZALA MOHAMMED ACCOUNTANT PRATAP CHANDRAN DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT ESLAM ELMAHALAWY BIKRAM SHRESTHA ARJUN TIMILSINA BHIMAL RAI BASANTA POKHREL PRADEEP BHUSAL

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from the desk How would we best describe 2016? The year when all of our worst fears came true? If 2015 was bleak, 2016 was worse.

Global forced displacement increased in 2015, with more people forcibly moved from their homes by war, conflict and persecution than at any time since World War II. By the end of 2015, 65.3 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide. This is 5.8 million more than the previous year’s figure of 59.5 million.

While the number of displaced people for 2016 has not been tabulated yet, a few available figures appear to show a dip. In summer 2016, an average of about 100 migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries landed each day on Greece’s shores, down from the thousands who arrived daily last summer. Meanwhile, migration into Italy this year continues at a similar pace to 2015. An average of about 500 refugees, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, arrived daily between January and August of both 2015 and 2016.

But what has perceptibly changed is the tolerance levels of citizens in these countries.

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, warned of a “climate of xenophobia” gripping Europe. He has said, “It’s time for Europe and the rest of the world to accept that we can’t wish the refugee challenge away. We must take collective action to address the root causes driving migration and ensure refugees are not marginalised, or left unproductive for years in camps. Children must be given education, communities should have access to healthcare and adults must have work opportunities. Such factors restore dignity and reduce reliance on expensive and unsustainable aid handouts.”

This rise of xenophobia can be seen gripping the entire world: Britishers who opted for Brexit indicated their concern for the EU policy on migrant refugees; Angela Merkel, who recently called for the burqa ban in Germany and said that the refugee crisis “must never be repeated”, made an attempt to pacify her critics as she pitched for a fourth term as Chancellor; and the final blow came when Donald Trump, whose one substantive policy while he was running for the elections was to build a gigantic wall along the US-Mexico border to keep out illegal immigrants, was voted as the next president of the USA. Will this set the tone for 2017? Is there no hope?

Then we fix our eyes on Canada and the young and charismatic leader, Justin Trudeau, who teared up listening to a Syrian refugee tell the story of the day he was welcomed into Canada. We look closer to home at Qatar and realize that the day when the evil of the Kafala system is to be abolished is almost upon us and then we hang on to our hopes...

SINDHU NAIR Managing Editor

affairs > local SHEIKH HAMAD PAYS RESPECTS TO CASTRO HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani flew down to Cuba to take part in Fidel Castro’s funeral along with several heads of states and senior leaders from around the world.

AFP PHOTO / JUAN BARRETO

HH Sheikh Hamad gave a speech in which he highlighted the achievements of the late president and his historical stances, especially in supporting the just Arab causes, on top of the central Arab issue of Palestine, and the revolution of a million martyrs in Algeria. He also pointed to the friendship between him and the late president of Cuba, as well as the mutual visits that have contributed to strengthening cooperation between Qatar and Cuba in various fields.

HAMAD PORT FULLY OPERATIONAL PICTURE COURTESY: QATAR NEWS AGENCY

PETROL PRICES GO UP BY 7% The New Port Project came online last month as Phase 1 of the megaproject was completed several months ahead of schedule and on budget.

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E Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani witnessed the ceremony marking the start of full operations of the $7.4 billion Hamad Port before touring the port facilities and its operating administrative buildings. He said the project was a perfect example of the contribution of the Qatari private sector to national mega projects where the share of Qatari companies and local market in the contracts for the establishment of the port was nearly 60%.

The first phase of the new port has a

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capacity to handle two million twenty-footequivalent units per year, close to triple that of the old facility at the Corniche. The new port enables large container ships to come directly to Qatar for the first time.

Large vessels previously had to dock at ports in the United Arab Emirates and transfer cargo destined for Qatar to smaller vessels.

Qatar has also set up a joint venture to manage operations, QTerminals, which is 51% owned by ports and logistics management company Mwani Qatar and 49% by Milaha Qatar.

Petrol prices in Qatar went up by QR0.05-0.1 a litre in December, according to the Ministry of Energy and Industry.

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he ministry said that 91-octane Premium gasoline will cost QR1.45/litre in December, a rise of QR0.10 from QR1.35 in November, while 95-octane Super will cost QR1.50/litre, an increase of QR.05 from QR1.45. Diesel, on the other hand, will remain unchanged at QR1.40/litre in December. Premium grade petrol has increased by 16% from the October price, and is up by 20% from when the new pricing system was introduced.

PRIME MINISTER VISITS INDIA

Doha News faces ban

Popular English-language news website Doha News was blocked suddenly inside Qatar, leaving viewers unable to access the site.

In a statement Doha News said that access to its website has been blocked in an apparent act of censorship by the government. It said both of the Gulf state’s internet service providers had prevented readers reaching the site. It had created another domain, but that too stopped working. “We can only conclude our website has been deliberately targeted,” the statement read. “We are also puzzled because authorities did not discuss any concerns they had with us before taking such serious action.” There has so far been no comment from the ISPs or the Qatari authorities.

HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, during his first visit to India, met with several key high-ranking officials to sign significant deals on cooperation.

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ndia and Qatar discussed enhancing cooperation in defence and security, in particular in cybersecurity, and agreed on joint action to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed India’s keenness to invest in hydrocarbon projects in Qatar during talks with his counterpart on key issues of energy, trade and security. After the talks, the two sides inked five pacts including in the field of visas, cyberspace and investments.

FC BARCELONA DROPS QATAR AIRWAYS FC Barcelona kits will not feature the logo of Qatar Airways from the 2017-2018 season.

The club signed a new sponsorship deal with Japanese online retailer Rakuten, it announced last month.

Barcelona vice president Manel Arroyo confirmed that it is a four-year, $59 million/year deal, which will begin at the start of the 2017-18 campaign. Barcelona’s previous deal with Qatar Airways, signed three years ago, was reportedly worth approximately $40 million per year and expired in June, before being extended for another year.

The club initially entered into a $230 million five-year agreement with sovereign wealth fund Qatar Sports Investments in 2011, marking the first time that a paid sponsor’s logo appeared on the team’s shirts in 111 years.

Under the deal, the Barcelona jerseys featured the Qatar Foundation logo for two years, followed by the Qatar Airways logo.

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affairs > local

THIRD EDITION OF WISH OPENS More than 1,400 participants, including experts, policymakers and academics from over 100 countries, attended the two-day World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) hosted in Doha.

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H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser who inaugurated the conference stressed Qatar’s determination to make use of the global and regional expertise of WISH by employing its recommendations and research in practical implementations in the health sector as well as benefiting from its platforms to observe and assess national advances in the country’s health policy. The summit unveiled new research in several key areas, including policy briefings on patient safety, dementia, affordable cancer care and learning from internal collaboration. This year, the summit featured nine research papers that highlight and address some of the world’s most pressing healthcare challenges, including healthy populations, precision medicine, accountable care, autism, behavioural insights, etc.

QTA SET TO ANNOUNCE NEW FESTIVAL Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has confirmed plans to introduce a new addition to Qatar’s calendar of festivals and tourism events in 2017.

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he success of QTA events like Qatar International Food Festival and Qatar Summer Festival, which have previously led to a marked increase in visitor arrivals, has encouraged QTA to explore new events that can support the tourism sector. This new retail festival, which will be announced in December, will be organised in collaboration with public and private sector partners. Qatar’s burgeoning retail sector has proven to be an important part of tourism spending in Qatar; shopping represented a bigger portion of tourism spending in 2014 than hotel bookings or food and beverage, bringing QR6 billion to the country’s economy.

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RAINS CAUSE WIDESPREAD FLOODING

A weekend of heavy rains, which saw almost 35 mm of rainfall in a single day, resulted in flooding on several major roads and water logging in low-lying areas. “As the rain continues to pour in most parts of the country, motorists are advised to be cautious,” the Ministry of Interior tweeted after earlier calling the rainfall “medium to heavy”. Several outdoor events were cancelled, as premises like the Qatar Animal Welfare Society reported complete destruction of their property. The rain also caused leaks at shopping centres like Landmark Mall and Villaggio, while popular tourist destination Souq Waqif also witnessed flooding.

QATAR KEEPS OLYMPIC AMBITIONS ALIVE

At the annual meeting of the Association of National Olympic Committees, Qatar welcomed sporting leaders from around the world to the largest gathering of the Olympic Movement outside the Olympic Games.

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to the Olympic Movement, as well as exchanged updates regarding ANOC’s latest reforms and the latest progress reports of the upcoming Olympic Winter Games and Olympic Games. The 2024 Olympic Candidate Cities – Budapest, Los Angeles and Paris – also made important presentations to the General Assembly.

Commenting on the event, HE Sheikh

Joaan said, “Our hosting of the ANOC General Assembly in Doha this week highlights just how committed Qatar is to the Olympic Movement. We are a nation passionate about sport and about using the power of sport to facilitate the growth and development of Qatar, and to transform the lives of young people in Qatar and around the world.”

AFP PHOTO / STRINGER

he Prime Minister of Qatar addressed the General Assembly and was followed by International Olympic Committee President, Dr Thomas Bach, Qatar Olympic Committee President, HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, and ANOC President, HE Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah. At the two-day assembly, delegates discussed critical issues relating

THOUSANDS EXIT DURING AMNESTY PERIOD Thousands of illegal workers took advantage of the three-month amnesty period to exit the country without legal consequences.

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housands of undocumented workers have left Qatar under an amnesty scheme set up by the government, the first such initiative in over 12 years. The three-month grace period announced by the Ministry of Interior came to an end on December 1. Around 9,000 people living illegally in Qatar are expected to have left the country, according to a senior immigration official at MOI’s search and follow-up department, which is processing the claims of those trying to leave. And, under the current “kafala” sponsorship laws, anyone wishing to change their job must get permission from their employer. Workers become “illegal” after quitting their job or fleeing their employer. Human rights groups have claimed that many abscond because they have not been paid or have suffered abuse.

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business> oil&gas DIVERGING INTERESTS

“We are discussing with both Iran and Iraq to freeze their oil output at the current levels and we are looking at various ways and means of coming to a mutual understanding. As the world’s top LNG exporter we expect the falling investment to help balance supply and demand in the natural gas market. However, in coming years surplus production would weigh on gas prices.”

HE MOHAMMED SALEH ABDULLA AL SADA Minister of Energy and Industry, Qatar

IRAN’S FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONTRACT Iran signed a deal with France’s Total last month to develop a major offshore natural gas field, its first big contract with a Western energy firm since sanctions were loosened in January.

Total will lead a consortium also including China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Iran’s Petropars to develop Phase 11 of the South Pars field under a 20-year contract worth $4.8 billion (4.3 billion euros). The project will eventually supply 50.9 million cubic meters (1.8 billion cubic feet) of natural gas per day into Iran’s national grid, and marks a breakthrough in the oil ministry’s efforts to attract Western investment and know-how to improve its outdated energy infrastructure.

NO OIL FOR EGYPT FROM SAUDI Saudi Arabian Oil Co. halted shipments of oil products to Egypt indefinitely, said Egyptian Oil Minister Tarek El Molla, forcing the Arab world’s most populous nation to buy fuels on world markets at higher cost.

T QATAR INKS DEAL WITH BRAZIL ON LNG SUPPLY

Ocean LNG, the new global LNG marketing venture 70%-owned by Qatar Petroleum (QP) and 30% by ExxonMobil, has signed a longterm LNG supply agreement (SPA) with Brazil-based CELSE.

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nder the agreement, Ocean LNG – which was established only last month for the purpose of marketing QP’s international LNG supply portfolio sourced outside of the State of Qatar – will supply 1.3 million metric tonnes per year of LNG to CELSE on an ex-ship basis. The

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shipments, which will begin in 2020, will be used at Celse’s Sergipe power project. QP CEO Saad Sherida Al Kaabi said that this is the first SPA signed by Ocean LNG and that it is also the first supplier to deliver LNG into Brazil under a long-term contract. “Brazil is an important LNG market and we are

he state producer informed the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. in early October that it would suspend supplies of refined oil products, leaving Egypt little choice but to resort to tenders for meeting local demand. It wasn’t clear at the time whether the freeze was only for October. Aramco had agreed earlier this year to provide Egypt with 700,000 metric tonnes of refined products each month for five years in an arrangement valued at about $23 billion. Egypt, which relies on imports to meet its energy needs, faces higher costs for gasoline and other oil products after the government decided to allow its currency to trade freely as a step toward stabilizing an economy weakened by a dollar shortage. El Molla, the Egyptian oil minister, confirmed the indefinite suspension of Saudi fuel supplies during a conference in Abu Dhabi, without giving reasons.

proud to contribute to meeting Brazil’s gas demand,” he said. CELSE is the joint venture of Golar Power and privately owned Ebrasil which in mid-October took the final investment decision to develop the 1.516-GW Porto de Sergipe power project near Aracaju in the northeast Brazilian state of Sergipe.

business > realty check

SURGE AHEAD

Qatar Investment Authority has bought the St Regis in San Francisco from Marriott International Inc. for $175 million, and will continue to operate under the Marriott brand.

United Development Company (UDC) has signed contracts to develop three new construction projects at its flagship development The Pearl-Qatar, at a total value of QR716 million.

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he signing event, which was held at the Oyster building, will see UDC develop Abraj Al Mutahidah Towers in Viva Bahriya in addition to infrastructure in Giardino Village and construct ten villas in this same precinct, through investments worth QR1.2 billion. These contracts are aligned with UDC’s five-year business plan aimed at revitalizing investments in new infrastructural developments at The Pearl-Qatar including modernizing and expanding the road network and enabling the residential locale to welcome the new urban plan set for the project which will feature a hospital and a school establishment in Giardino Village; all serving to enrich UDC’s real estate portfolio of viable investment products as The Pearl-Qatar continues to be a safe haven for lucrative investments.

NEW AVENUES

PHILLIPINES CALLING Representatives of Qatar-based real estate firm, Al Nitaq, will be in Manila in December to explore expansion in Asia, according to a Gulf News report. The company intends to lease different islands in the Philippines to set up agro-forestry and agro-industrial zones, energy centres, and tourist destinations.

Since making its debut at Cityscape Qatar 2016, Just Real Estate (JRE) has established a strong position in the local market with a number of offerings and services.

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asser Al Ansari, Chairman of JRE, said, "As a full-service real estate company, JRE represents the next generation of real estate management and we are one of the leading players in the real estate industry in Qatar as well as in the region. We advise and educate all our clients by providing them with relevant and up-to-date information on the Qatari property market, backed by extensive industry experience. JRE continues to offer a number of suitable residential housing options including The View Residence, located in the prestigious Qutaifiya area near the Diplomatic Club and The PearlQatar. JRE's existing property portfolio includes commercial towers, residential towers and mixed-use developments in Qatar, London and Turkey. In Qatar these properties include its flagship development project, The e18hteen, a commercial tower; Jenan Residence, featuring high-end apartment units; The View Laguna Residence, a 15-storey residential complex; La Verna Villas & Residences, consisting of villas, apartments and townhouses; and Conrad Doha. Conrad is the brand of luxury hotels and resort within the Hilton portfolios.

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business > bank notes BOND OFFERINGS CANCELLED

“Qatar Central Bank appears to have cancelled an offer of QR3 billion ($825 million) of government bonds, apparently because of tight banking system liquidity which has brought interbank money rates near multiyear highs.”

Reuters report

DOHA BANK PREPARES FOR BOND ISSUE Doha Bank has picked banks for a conventional bond issue, according to Reuters, but has declined to reveal which banks have been mandated to arrange the issue.

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he report quotes a source saying the issue would be in the region of $300400 million (QR1.09-1.45 billion) and that it was planned for the first quarter of 2017. The bank received approval earlier this year to raise funds with up to $5 billion worth of short-term instruments, including $3 billion through certificates of deposits and euro commercial paper worth $2 billion. Several other Gulf banks are planning issues as investor uncertainty eases in the wake of Donald Trump’s election as US president.

CBQ RECEIVES APPROVALS FOR NEW SHARES Shareholders of Commercial Bank Qatar approved the Board of Directors’ proposal of a QR1.5 billion rights issue in the Extraordinary Meeting held at the bank’s headquarters at West Bay.

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he rights issue will increase the share capital of the bank from QR3.26 billion to QR3.85 billion by offering 58.82 million new ordinary shares at QR25.5 per piece, which consists of a nominal value of QR10 per share and a premium of QR15.50. “The rights issue is required as the bank wants to increase its capital to support its future growth as well as to meet the capital requirements

for Basel III. In addition, the bank has been identified as a Domestic Systemically Important Bank (DSIB) under the Central Bank’s regulatory framework, and hence requires a higher capital buffer to be maintained on its capital ratios as compared to a non-DSIB bank,” said the bank’s Chairman, Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali bin Jabor Al Thani, while addressing the shareholders.

MOBILE REMITTANCE DISPATCH

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estern Union will be rolling out over 80 self-service kiosks around the country to facilitate remittances by expats around the country who’d want to send money home quickly and easily.

The kiosks, first of their kind in Qatar, will be placed in many malls, banks, hospitals, government offices, petrol stations, supermarkets, residential areas and staff accommodations before the end of November. The machines will operate 24/7 in conjunction with Alfardan Exchange, accepting Qatari riyals only and offering cash-to-cash delivery services, as well as direct to bank or send to mobile. To use the machines, customers must first register (free of charge) at any Alfardan Exchange branch.

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energy > listening post

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A MAN OF ENERGY

QATAR TODAY GOES DOWN MEMORY LANE WITH THE MAN WHO PUT QATAR ON THE MAP OF TOP ENERGY SUPPLIERS IN THE WORLD, HIS EXCELLENCY ABDULLAH BIN HAMAD AL ATTIYAH, THE FORMER OIL MINISTER.

BY SINDHU NAIR PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBERT ALTAMIRANO

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he energy that emanates from His Excellency Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, the former Oil Minister, is infectious.

After meeting him you want to abolish any law that makes retirement at 60 mandatory.

If this man can passionately engage you in a monologue about the oil and gas world’s intricacies for around two hours, I believe, his contribution to the country would still be enlightening.

HE Al Attiyah welcomed us to the inner sanctum of his present office at the Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Foundation for Energy & Sustainable Development, answered my query about his health, “Today I am alive and that is very good,” not having lost any of the spontaneity that he was known to possess while he was the oil and gas minister.

HE Al Attiyah is currently the Chairman

of Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Foundation for Energy & Sustainable Development. Formerly, the President of the Qatar Administrative Control and Transparency Authority as (ACTA) well as the President of COP18/CMP8 Doha and the Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee, Al-Attiyah has more than 30 years’ experience in the energy industry and was appointed Minister of Energy and Industry and Chairman and Managing Director of Qatar Petroleum before being entrusted with the additional responsibility of Second Deputy Prime Minister in 2003.

All the various roles and responsibilities he handled, came with challenges of their own.

“We wanted COP18 to be a success for Qatar, to show to the world that the country could organise an event on this large scale,” he says. “But it was over relatively quickly.

“OPEC was about diplomacy at each meeting,” he says. “After that, as President

of the ACTA I dealt with a long-term goal of changing regulations and mindsets.”

“As the oil minister,” he says. “My job was about getting our oil and gas industry on the right track to ensure long-term financial goals,” and that, he reflects, was the most challenging of all his roles. He goes back in time and recounts the scenario when he was handed the mandate of the oil ministry in September 1992.

“The situation of the oil market was very bad at that time. Qatar was only producing 360,000 barrels per day. LNG production was zero. Oil price was at its lowest. This was my challenge,” recollects HE Al Attiyah.

To add to his worries, the government was going through a tough time with the collapse of oil prices. The government did not have money to finance projects. “That was the time we set about to fulfill our dream of utilising our huge asset of gas reservoirs that had never been touched before. It was not as simple as it sounds. We 21 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

energy > listening post had no investment, we had no customers.

It was highly risky, oil prices were very low which meant that LNG prices were also low. Very few countries were using LNG as an energy product,” he says.

“That was the biggest challenge,” he says.

“Of how to utilise our resources and to monetise them.”

The first step that he and the government took thereafter was to find the elusive customer. “That was also not easy in a very tight market. We were also far away from the traditional LNG markets like India, China, Indonesia and Malaysia.”

HE Al Attiyah says, “We started with Japan as it was the biggest consumer of LNG. The good thing was that it was an open market and we could talk to the buyers directly without government intervention. But it was extremely difficult to convince them. They disagreed initially on factors of security of supply (as the first and second Gulf Wars were just over) and the cost involved in transportation due to the distance and so on.”

Al Attiyah remembers that many visits and persistent convincing later, Japan finally agreed to the LNG deal. “The next step was to finance such a huge LNG train.

We found the support of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to finance the energy-related projects in the region and raise loans to support the projects.”

The first customer was the most difficult after which the rest followed comparatively easily. “Most countries were concerned with the security of supplies and when they found that Japan had already taken a step forward, they were willing to take the same step. Korea, Taiwan and then India came in,” he says.

India was also an important client of LNG for Qatar and it was also a landmark deal. “It was a time of change in India. The country was moving from a textile based industry on to a more energy intensive industry. Coal was being relied on for most of their energy needs. This was the cause of high levels of pollution in the country.

Sixty five percent of the energy needs of the Indian subcontinent were being met by coal. And to add to it, India had never ever imported LNG from another country and hence it was a big step to convince them.”

India did not import any natural gas until 2004, when it began to import LNG. Because India has not been able to produce an adequate supply of domestic natural gas and was unable to create sufficient natural

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“We had no investment, we had no customers. It was highly risky, oil prices were very low which meant that LNG prices were also low. Very few countries were using LNG as an energy product.”

gas pipeline infrastructure on a national level, it increasingly relied on imported LNG to meet domestic demand. India ranked as the fourth-largest LNG importer following Japan, South Korea and China in 2013, and it accounted for nearly 6% of the global market, according to data from IHS Energy.

In 2012, LNG imports, mostly from longterm contracts with Qatar, accounted for about 29% of India’s 2.1 trillion cubic feet (tcf ) of consumption.

Here Al Attiyah reveals one marketing strategy that worked in getting the Indians

to sign on the dotted line of the gas deal contracts. “Persistence and constant follow-up will finally convince any stubborn buyer,” he says, a lesson that would well be adopted by marketing professionals world over.

“Finally in 2003, India came onto our list as one of our biggest consumers. Then the list grew longer: China, UK, Italy, Poland, France, Thailand, Philippines and Pakistan, which recently signed a long-term deal. We are now operating the biggest LNG company and also the biggest gas transportation company in the world,” he says.

The biggest achievement for HE Al Attiyah was changing the country’s economy from that of a small oil-producing country to being hailed as the largest LNG producers in the world.

And it did not end there. The gas-rich country went a step further to monetise the huge gas reserves of the country to convert them back to liquid through the GTL project, expanding on the use of fuels. But other than making use of the oil and gas, the country put to use every single by-product that came out of its refinery.”We decided to have a balance of resources; not just to rely entirely on our oil and gas production, but also to be a big player in the petrochemical industry. Today Qatar exports to almost 91 countries; it is a proud moment for us.”

“Qatar is now one of the biggest exporters of helium, another byproduct of oil; we are one of the major producers of fertilizers, from petrochemicals. We industralised the country, not just by exporting one product but by creating a basket of products that can

be exported and monetised.”

“The GTL that we use is the cleanest diesel one can ever use, with zero emissions,” says Al Attiyah touching on the fact that the country might be producing more gas than any other country but it was also one of the cleanest forms of energy.

“Our power sector is 100% running on gas.

We are one of the rare countries in which the whole power industry is gas-based. We have adopted very strict environmental rules. Our gasoline is also very clean, we add MTBE for our 95 grade gasoline a very high quality gasoline in the Euro standard, with very low emissions.”

Being in charge of the COP 18 organising committee when it was held in Doha, Al Attiyah says that he knows what the other countries are up against and Qatar is far ahead of other oil and gas producing countries.

“Our fertilizer production, our aluminium and steel production are all going up and we are proud of all these acheivements.

On how he made changes in the oil production, he says, “Oil was a developed market so the efforts on monetising it were really concerned with getting international expertise in to raise and maintain production levels. This we did successfully particularly in the development of the Al Shaheen field which has become Qatar’s largest.”

What will be the new energy mix? What

will the new ratio of oil, gas or renewables be in the oil and gas mix available in the world?

“There are several factors here. Oil reserves are high and will last for many years but so are gas reserves. Gas is a clean fuel and so is viewed as a transition generation fuel as it is cleaner than coal. However coal is cheap at the moment so many countries still use coal fired generation. Renewables

“Finally in 2003, India came onto our list as one of our biggest consumers.

Then the list grew longer: China, UK, Italy, Poland, France, Thailand, Philippines and Pakistan, which recently signed a long-term deal.”

will play an increasing role in most OECD countries as CO2 emissions standards are tightened. Most countries will diversify their energy supply according to their own national priorities,” says HE Al Attiyah.

But he still feels that among renewables, solar energy is the best option available for mankind and he is positive that Qatar will explore this option and make this work to add to the large basket of resources that the country can bank on.

What about the future? In these times of energy price instability, he still views all the developments from a very macro perspective, saying, “in the energy world, there is always a cycle. It will always take you up or down. The economy is always cyclical in nature.”

“There are some good days for buyer and there are some good days for seller and this is normal,” he says with the wisdom of someone who has seen these changes more than a couple of times.

“We should not panic. This is not the first time that this has happened in the world.

There is never stability in the economy of the world. China and India have reached their peak of development. These countries are export-oriented economies. The demand for their export goods has peaked and the countries they are exporting to are going through recession. This and the surplus of oil in the market due to shale gas discovery have made this change in the oil price,” he says.

So when will the oil price come to the old high that we saw some five years back?

“It will take some time,” says Al Attiyah.

“When the oil price was $110, I have always maintained that it was not a healthy price.

As a producer, you need a happy consumer, a healthy consumer, but with high prices for oil, your consumer will be affected and it is not an ideal situation. Any price over $80 is not a healthy price for the producer as well as the consumer. We need a price that is sustainable.”

“We always say that energy cannot die, and it will come back to its natural brilliance. But in this period, you should manage the crisis and not be part of it.

Change your pocket policy; keep some money for your bad days. Read about the past, you will understand the present and act for the future,” he says, as a word of caution to the new generation. “A post oil (and gas) era is a long time away in the future. For Qatar we should look to doing things more efficiently and also support the move towards a “knowledge economy” as set out in Qatar Vision 2030.”

23 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

development > viewpoint

NEW VISA MEASURES BOOST TOURISM

A range of new visa measures recently announced by the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has been widely welcomed by tourism industry professionals, as well as the country’s hospitality and retail operators.

24 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

B

oosting the tourism sector and facilitating ease of entry is an increasingly important priority as Qatar aims at increasing the number of tourists from 2.93 million in 2015 to 7-10 million annually by 2030, while also gearing up for the mass of visitors expected to attend the FIFA World Cup 2022. The recent visa changes dovetail with the $40-45 billion of expected investment in tourism infrastructure through to 2030, with QTA’s National Tourism Sector Strategy calling for investment in the development of the

country’s tourism products, services, hotels and resorts.

In October QTA released its third quarter tourism sector performance summary, which showed that while visitor numbers rose to 780,000 in the third quarter of the year – up 35% from 577,374 in the second quarter – the total through to September was still down on the same period last year.

The first nine months of 2015 saw 2.25 million arrivals, while the same period this year recorded a total of 2.18 million visitors, a decline of 3%.

QTA officials contrasted this with the 8% year-on-year growth seen between the

same periods of 2014 and 2015, while also highlighting that most of the contraction in 2016 occurred in the first half of the year, when numbers fell by some 6%. Factors such as an earlier start to Ramadan, which affected June arrivals, and economic headwinds in the region, stemming from low energy prices, were seen as contributing to the decline.

However, tourism numbers could see a recovery in the months and years ahead thanks to a series of new visa measures that are set to not only increase Qatar’s attractiveness to visitors, but also enable the country to take fuller advantage of Doha’s growing status as a transit hub. At

an August press conference, the Ministry of Interior (MoI), QTA and Qatar Airways (QA) announced the launch of a fasttracked visa application system. The new system – which will be implemented in collaboration with VFS Global, a global provider of visa-processing services - is expected to be ready by the first or second quarter of 2017.

A second move introduced by QTA and QA in September will allow all QA travellers transiting in Doha, regardless of nationality, to obtain a complimentary, four-day transit visa to encourage them to stop over in Qatar. The new transit visa scheme went into effect at the beginning of November.

Travellers are able to apply directly for the transit visa through a QA office or online, and once approved, the single-entry visa is valid for a 90-day period, according to press reports. As a further incentive, QA has restructured fares so passengers can stopover in Doha without incurring any additional ticket charges.

Meanwhile, a third measure, also announced in September, allows cruise passengers to use the new transit visa as well. As part of the new operating procedure – which includes the use of enhanced technology and close collaboration between cruise operators and security officials – a passenger manifest containing the passport details of passengers and crew will be shared with immigration officials 48 hours prior to a ship’s arrival in Qatar.

This will allow the authorities to process all relevant information and clear passengers for entry before ships berth, enabling travellers to disembark within minutes and begin on-shore excursions.

This should give an important boost to the cruise tourism segment, which is expected to bring an estimated 50,000 visitors to Doha’s shores during the 2016/17 tourism season

BY OLIVER CORNOCK Managing Editor, Middle East Oxford Business Group

QTA TOURISM SECTOR PERFORMANCE SUMMARY (Q3)

visitor numbers rose

780,000

in the third quarter of the year – up

35% from

577,374

in the second quarter – the total through to September was still down on the same period last year.

25 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

COVER STORY

THE YEAR THAT WAS

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

26 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

WHEN QATAR TODAY PUBLISHED THE YEAR-END ROUND-UP LAST YEAR, WE HAD HOPED THAT 2016 WOULD BE THE YEAR WHEN WORLD LEADERS FOUND ANSWERS TO ERADICATE THE EVIL OF TERRORISM THAT INFECTED THE WORLD. THAT 2016 WOULD BE THE YEAR THAT BROUGHT PEACE AND HARMONY, THE YEAR WHEN WORLD LEADERS WOULD DEBATE ON INCLUSIVE POLICIES, BORDERFREE HUMANITARIAN ACTIVITIES AND BRING TO FULFILLMENT THE UTOPIAN DREAM OF A GLOBALISED WORLD IN THE TRUE SENSE OF THE WORD. BUT 2016 HAS PROVED TO BE EVEN MORE DETRIMENTAL. NOT ONLY HAS TERRORISM FLOURISHED, A NEW ORDER HAS BEEN USHERED IN; ONE THAT IS MORE DIVISIVE AND RESTRICTIVE. DESPOTISM SEEMS TO HAVE BECOME THE NEW NORMAL. MORE COUNTRIES HAVE STARTED ACCEPTING THE TOTALITARIAN RULE OF THEIR LEADERS IN THE NAME OF NATIONALISM. BREXIT, AND THE COMING TO POWER OF A “DELUSIONAL NARCISSIST”, AS DONALD TRUMP, THE NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE USA WAS CALLED BY REPUBLICAN SENATOR RAND PAUL, SEEM TO POINT TO A FUTURE THAT IS FAR FROM OPTIMISTIC.

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBERLET US LOOK OCTOBER BACK OVER THE YEARNOVEMBER THAT IS ON THE VERGE OF PASSING

BY IN ANTICIPATION FOR BETTER TIMES AND MODERATE LEADERS.

DECEMBER

(ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF AFP, UNLESS MENTIONED OTHERWISE)

27 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

COVER STORY

THE YEAR THAT WAS

JANUARY

A Blind

Search for Greatness

FEBRUARY

MARCH

NOV

09 The most defining incident of the year was Donald Trump's stunning victory after the most unprecedented of presidential campaigns.

Trump channeled the fury of average Americans and tapped into their anxiety about the present and fear for the future. He spoke to the pain they felt about working hard and getting left behind. And in doing so, he eviscerated every convention about politics.

The pundits thought Trump’s reality show antics, his vulgar rhetoric, speeches filled with falsehoods and insults thrown at almost every sector of American society – Latinos, African Americans, war heroes, women and Muslims – would disqualify him from the presidency.

It didn’t. In fact it can even be argued that it was a combination of all this rhetoric that made him the world’s leader.

In this picture, demonstrators gather to protest a day after President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, at a rally outside Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles, California, on November 9, 2016. Protesters burned a giant orange-haired head of Donald Trump in effigy, lit fires in the streets and blocked traffic lanes as rage over the billionaire’s election victory spilled onto the streets of US cities. From New York to Los Angeles, thousands of people in around 10 cities rallied against the president-elect a day after his stunning win, some carrying signs declaiming “Not our President” and “Love trumps hate.”

28 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

The Syrian

Struggle Continues FEB

01 SYRIA PEACE TALKS BEGIN AND END United Nations special envoy Staffan de Mistura sits facing Syria’s main opposition group during peace talks at the UN Office in Geneva. The latest attempt, mediated by the United Nations, began in February in Geneva. The talks started the day after a suicide attack in Damascus killed more than 70 people. ISIS, who claimed responsibility for the attack, was not invited to the talks. The UN decided to suspend the talks, citing that there was more work to be done by everyone involved before progress could be made. Smoke was seen rising after Russian air-strikes hit residential areas in the moderate opposition-controlled Kafr Hamrah village of Aleppo, Syria. Despite a temporary cessation-of-hostilities agreement that went into effect in Syria, Russia staged an air-strike putting an end to the cessation.

AUGUST

JULY

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

JUN

07 AN ELECTION IN THE MIDST OF A WAR Syrian President Bashar Al Assad was reelected; here he is seen waving before addressing the new parliament in Damascus. Assad made a speech broadcast on state television congratulating lawmakers on a record turnout in an April general election. Assad’s last address to parliament was in June 2012, just after general elections in May of that year.

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

RUSSIA LEAVES SYRIA

MAR

20

Russia began withdrawing its forces from Syria in a move that will leave the Syrian government to fend for itself to a much greater extent -- but with a greatly strengthened hand in negotiations over the country’s future. Russia’s surprise announcement that it would begin withdrawing its forces from the conflict came as suddenly as its devastating airstrike campaign that started in September, 2015.

RAVAGED BY WAR At least 470,000 people have died from the war in Syria, which began in 2011. Since the war started, life expectancy in Syria has gone from age 70 to 56, a decrease of 14 years.

13.5 million people in Syria need humanitarian assistance.

4.8 million Syrians are refugees, and 6.1 million are displaced within Syria; half of those affected are children.

Children affected by the Syrian conflict are at risk of becoming ill, malnourished, abused, or exploited.

Millions have been forced to quit school. Most Syrian refugees remain in the Middle East, in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt; slightly more than 10% of the refugees have fled to Europe. Peace negotiations continue despite a fraying and piecemeal ceasefire.

29 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

COVER STORY

THE YEAR THAT WAS

Politics Paying Out

MAR

02 NEW NORTH KOREAN SANCTIONS The United Nations imposed sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in response to the country’s continued pursuit of a nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programme. The UN Security Council unanimously adopted the toughest sanctions ever imposed on North Korea in response to its fourth nuclear test and rocket launch.

As a retaliation to the United States sanctions in July on North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and other top officials for human rights abuses and repression, North Korea decided to cut off the last and final communication channel with the United States. Although no official diplomatic ties exist, the two countries often communicate through United Nations missions in New York; moving forward, North Korea states that all further issues with the United States will be handled under wartime law. This includes the two American prisoners who are currently serving terms of hard labour in North Korea.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MAY

MARCH

23 ANOTHER SANCTION LIFTED...

President Obama announced that the decades-long ban on arms sales to Vietnam will be lifted. The sales ban of lethal weapons to Vietnam was a product of the Cold War, which ended in 1990. Although Vietnam is influenced by communist ideology, President Obama thinks this move of cooperation will be good for international relations. This decision was announced at a conference in Hanoi with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang.

30 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

APRIL JUL

15

MAY

JUNE

FAILED COUP Turkey experienced an attempted coup by a group of soldiers within the country’s military. Gunfire and explosions are seen throughout two majors cities of Turkey: Istanbul and Ankara, as the government, the military faction, and the people of Turkey clash in the streets.

Around 60 people are reportedly dead and 300 have so far been arrested for their participation in the coup. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that the people involved in the coup “will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey.”

OCT

31

...AND THE AFTER-EFFECTS Turkey selectively banned social media sites like WhatsApp and Skype along with Facebook and Twitter as it has done previously as an after-effect of the coup. This was lifted in a few days’ time. A participant holds a copy of Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet outside its office in Ankara during a protest against the detention of the newspaper’s editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu and a dozen journalists and executives. Turkish police detained Sabuncu – a thorn AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER JULY in the side of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – as Ankara widens a crackdown on opposition media. The detentions come after Turkish authorities fired more than 10,000 civil servants at the weekend and closed 15 pro-Kurdish and other media outlets, the latest purge since July’s failed military coup.

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

SEPT

18

PUTIN STILL POPULAR, BUT SMALL SHIFT SEEN The United Russia party won 343 seats out of 450 in the Russian Parliament, the Duma. This win for Vladimir Putin’s party secured his fourth term as president of Russia. Some experts see this as proof that change is afoot – four million fewer Russians voted for the United Russia party compared to the results of 2011. Voter turnout also fell from 60% to 40% in this election.

31 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

COVER STORY

THE YEAR THAT WAS

JANUARY

Terror Strikes

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

ISIS TARGETS BRUSSELS

MAR

22

Three coordinated suicide bombings occurred in Belgium: two at Brussels Airport in Zaventem, and one at Maalbeek metro station in central Brussels. Thirty-two civilians and three perpetrators were killed, and more than 300 people were injured. Another bomb was found during a search of the airport. Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the attacks.

JAN

30 BOKO HARAM BURNS NIGERIAN VILLAGE Boko Haram raids the village of Dalori, Nigeria, and kills at least 65 people. Dalori residents say that as many as 100 people are killed in the attack. During the raid, children are abducted and the entire village is burned. So far, 2.5 million people in four countries have fled from attacks and threats by Boko Haram.

32 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

JUNE

JAN

31

SUICIDE ATTACK IN DAMASCUS KILLS DOZENS A suicide attack in Damascus kills more than 70 people. Two suicide bombers and a car bomb hit the Sayeda Zeinab area of Damascus where Syria’s holiest Shi’ite shrine is located. The attack comes on the eve of Syria peace talks in Geneva.

Mediated by the UN, members of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s government will participate in the talks along with major opposition groups. ISIS, who claims responsibility for the attack, is not invited to the talks.

JUL

26 ISIS ATTACK ON CLERIC

JULY

Two men storm into Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray Church in Normandy, France, and take five people hostage, including the priest, two nuns, and two parishioners.

The men force Father Jacques Hamel to kneel before the altar and they cut his throat, filming the whole ordeal. The assailants leave one of the parishioners in critical condition. As they depart the church, the AUGUST SEPTEMBER attackers use the hostages as protection but are shot dead by police. According to Amaq News Agency, the news site for the Islamic State, the two men were followers of ISIS.

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

SEPT

06

WHEN THE RULERS IMBUE TERROR In a besieged neighbourhood in Aleppo, Syria, the Syrian government is suspected of dropping chlorine bombs on residential Sukkari.

One resident said told that when he arrived to help people, he was confused because of the lack of blood. “There was no trace of shrapnel or gaping wounds or anything like that, which I thought was odd. They were just coughing intensely and having trouble breathing, and there was this smell as if a swimming pool had exploded in the area.” More than 100 are hospitalized for oxygen treatments.

SEPT

25

CIVIL WAR IN SUDAN Jacob Bul, co-founder and member of the activist art organisation #AnaTaban, addresses the audience in Gudele area, Juba. The activist platform is formed by more than 40 young South Sudanese who are calling for an end to civil conflict through the arts. South Sudan’s rebel leader issued a call for renewed war with the government, declaring the collapse of an internationally-backed peace deal.

Former Vice President Riek Machar is in exile in Khartoum where he fled following fighting in the South Sudanese capital Juba in July.

33 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

COVER STORY

THE YEAR THAT WAS

The

Good Times

MAR

21

OBAMA VISITS CUBA History was made when President Barack Obama visited Cuba on a three-day visit to the island and talks with its communist leader. He was the first sitting US president to visit since the 1959 revolution, which heralded decades of hostility between the two countries. Obama said change would happen in Cuba and that Cuban President Raul Castro understood that. The two leaders met to talk about trade and held a joint news conference. Laying bare a half-century of tensions, Obama and Castro prodded each other over human rights and the long-standing JANUARY US economic embargo FEBRUARY during a joint news conference.

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

THE LADY WHO SPREAD JOY “Don’t let anyone tell you that this country isn’t great. This right now is the greatest country on earth,” the First Lady Michelle Obama said to an electrified audience at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia, making the case that, because of her character and temperament, Clinton is the role model she’d like her daughters to see in the Oval Office. Obama told the electrified audience that “we are always stronger together,” saying she wants a president “who will teach our children that everyone in this country matters.”

JUL

25 JUL

13 THE FEMALE FACTOR IN BRITAIN The new leader of the Conservative Party, Theresa May, kneels as she is greeted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II at the start of an audience in Buckingham Palace in central London where the Queen invited the former Home Secretary to become Prime Minister and form a new government.

34 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

AUG

22 POLITICAL CHANGE FOR THE BETTER This picture shows Nathan Law, one of the contenders from the political party Demosisto, campaigning in the Sai Wan Shan district of Hong Kong. More than half the population came out to vote in Hong Kong, voicing their discontent for China’s attempt to stifle democracy. The results from the election shocked China’s leadership; for the first time, the localists have gained seats, reflecting a growing belief that Hong Kong should be able to make its own decisions regardless of what the Chinese government wants.

SEPT

04

THE SAINT OF THE POOR

JULY

AUGUST

A nun lights a candle as she attends celebrations in the main square in Skopje at the conclusion of a special day of thanksgiving for the canonization of Mother Teresa.

Pope Francis proclaimed Mother SEPTEMBER OCTOBER Teresa a saint, hailing her work with the destitute of Kolkata as a beacon for mankind and testimony of God’s compassion for the poor.

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

OCT

13

SAVED OR STILL LOST? Boko Haram, an Islamic militant group in Nigeria, released 21 of the 276 girls who were kidnapped in April 2014. This is the first mass release of the girls. The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss government helped bring the deal about after a series of negotiations between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government. The return of the girls occurred around dawn in the town of Banki, near Cameroon.

35 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

COVER STORY

THE YEAR THAT WAS

Keeping

the Spirit of Sports MAR

07

ALL IN THE GAME Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova, the former world number one, announced she failed a doping test at the Australian Open, saying a change in the World Anti-Doping Agency list of banned substances led to the violation. Sharapova said she tested positive for meldonium, a substance she had been taking since 2006 but one that was added to the banned list this year.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JUN

05

THE MAN OF THE MOMENT A handout photo released by the Federation Francaise de Tennis (FFT) shows Serbia’s Novak Djokovic posing with his trophy flanked by ball girls after winning the men’s final match against Britain’s Andy Murray at the Roland Garros 2016 French Tennis Open in Paris. With this win, Djokovic holds four Grand Slam titles concurrently and makes him the first man in history to hold all four major titles at the same time since 1969.

36 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

JUL

10 FOOTBALL FEVER

AUG

05

Portugal’s winger Ricardo Quaresma and forward Cristiano Ronaldo pose with the trophy as they celebrate after beating France during the Euro 2016 final football match at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.

THE KING OF ALL GAMES

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

Olympic torch-bearer Brazilian former volleyball player Maria Isabel Barroso Salgado holds up the torch of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with the City Mayor Eduardo Paes and Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Orani Tempesta, in front of the OCTOBERstatue of Christo NOVEMBER DECEMBER the Redeemer atop Corcovado Hill in Rio de Janeiro.

OCT JUL

10 THE BRITISH EDGE Britain’s Andy Murray kisses the winner’s trophy after his men’s singles final victory over Canada’s Milos Raonic on the last day of the 2016 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London. He won his second Wimbledon title to become the first British man to win multiple Wimbledon singles titles since Fred Perry in 1935.

01

THE FIRST BIG WIN Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic holds the trophy after winning the final of the WTA Wuhan Open tennis tournament in Wuhan, in China’s central Hubei province. Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova overpowered Dominika Cibulkova 6-1, 6-1 to win the Wuhan Open on October 1, her first title of the season.

37 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

COVER STORY

THE YEAR THAT WAS

Money Matters

APR

03 INVISIBLE WEALTH A leak of about 11.5 million documents hacked from secretive Panamanian law firm called Mossack Fonseca lifted the lid on how the rich and powerful use tax havens to launder money, dodge sanctions and avoid tax. There were links to 12 current or former heads of state and government and more than 60 relatives and associates of heads of state and other politicians. The documents were obtained by the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) who analysed them over a year.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JUL

22 RUNAWAY INFLATION Years of economic malaise in Venezuela came home to roost as the country continued to dive deeper into crisis through the year with President Nicholás Maduro declaring a state of economic emergency. Several factors like runaway hyperinflation (predicted to reach 1,500% by 2017), multiple years of low and negative economic growth, a 40% drop in imports in 2016, a 40% drop in oil-export income in 2015, exacerbated by high levels of corruption and a mounting political crisis have manifested in the streets through chronic scarcities of food, basic goods, and medicines as the citizens grow increasingly anxious about meeting daily survival needs as well as the future of the country.

JUN

05 LIVING LARGE NO MORE Grappling with large budget deficits (which totalled $98 billion in 2015) and with no spectacular recovery of oil prices expected, Saudi Arabia launched its ambitious National Transformation Plan (called “appropriately bold and far-reaching” by the International Monetary Fund) under deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. The wide-reaching reforms included subsidy cuts, tax rises, sale of state assets, a government efficiency drive and efforts to spur private sector investment so as to more than triple non-oil revenue to $141.33 billion by 2020.

38 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

SEPT

14

AN AGRICULTURAL FORCE German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer clinched a $66 billion takeover of US seeds company Monsanto that marks the largest all-cash deal on record. The transaction includes a $2 billion breakup fee that Bayer will pay to Monsanto should it fail to get regulatory and anti-trust clearances. Bayer expects the deal to close by the end of 2017 and when that happens, it will create a company commanding more than a quarter of the combined world market for seeds and pesticides. What the newly formed company would be named is unclear.

JUN

I3

THE BUSINESS OF BUSINESS The big tech deal of 2016 was Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn for $26.2 billion.

LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner remained CEO as shares jumped more than 47% following the news when the markets opened. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the deal will bring together the world’s leading professional cloud with the world’s leading professional network. “Today work is split between tools workers use to get their jobs done, such as Microsoft’s Office programs, and professional networks that connect workers. The deal aims to weave those two pieces together,” he said.

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

NOV

15

RUSSIAN MINISTER OF ECONOMY ARRESTED

NOV

08

Aleksey Ulyukayev, who was Russia’s Minister of Economic Development, was detained by Federal Security Service agents on suspicion of accepting a $2 million bribe from state oil company Rosneft in exchange for positively assessing a major privatization scheme. He was put under house arrest for two months, and President Vladimir Putin dismissed him from his post due to loss of trust. Ulyukayev is the highest-ranking official to be arrested on corruption charges in modern Russian history.

THE BIG INDIAN SHAKE-UP The whole world was reeling from the shock US election results; meanwhile in India no one was talking about Donald Trump. The government had dropped a huge bombshell announcing that the largest currency notes – 500 and 1000 – would be made illegal and new notes created in their stead over the course of two months.

While initially heralded as a bold move to root out corruption, black money and terrorism financing, soon the shoddy implementation, the dubious benefits and longterm negative effects of the move turned the narrative against Narendra Modi’s government.

39 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

COVER STORY

THE YEAR THAT WAS

Cells

and Circuits FEB

01 A VIRUS WITH NO CURE The Zika outbreak began last year in Brazil and spread to other countries in the Americas, with cases being reported as far away as Singapore and Malaysia. After almost 10 months, the declaration of a global public health emergency by the World Health Organisation ended in November, even as the search for a vaccine continues. With symptoms similar to a very mild form of dengue fever, the infection can spread from a pregnant woman to the fetus, resulting in birth defects like microcephaly. While several South American governments advised women against getting pregnant, the virus cast a shadow over the Olympics in Brazil with several athletes pulling out of the event.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

FEB

06 SPY SATELLITE OR SOMETHING WORSE? North Korea’s Kwangmyongsong, or "Shining Star", rocket sent a satellite into orbit. While North Korean officials claimed it was for peaceful purposes, the US and South Korea condemned the move as a thinly veiled attempt to test North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile technology, which is banned under UN Security Council resolutions. Within days, a senior US defence official said that the satellite was “tumbling in orbit”, incapable of functioning in any useful way.

Meanwhile, two underground nuclear tests were conducted by North Korea in 2016 alone.

MAR

28

WHOSE DATA IS IT ANYWAY? The high-profile public and legal dispute between the government and Apple was officially ended after the FBI managed to unlock the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists without Apple’s help. For weeks, the FBI had said only Apple could help investigators lift the iPhone security features that stood in the way of its guessing the pass code. The end of this standoff means that no legal precedent was set for the scope of the government’s power to compel an unwilling company to cooperate in an investigation, for instance in Apple’s case by writing special new software to build a backdoor into the iPhone.

40 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

MAKING A HOME ON MARS SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk laid out his plan for making humans a “multiplanetary species” and creating a self-sustaining, million-person-strong civilization on Mars. If everything goes smoothly, it would take around “40 to 100 years” to achieve this feat following the first flight there, he said. Musk envisions loading these interplanetary spaceships with around 100 people, plus cargo, and the entire fleet, with over 1,000 spaceships, would be launched from orbit en masse. The trip would take around 80 days, but that time frame could drop to as little as 30 days in the more distant future.

SEPT

27

SEPT

02

EXPLODING ELECTRONICS In what could possibly be the biggest tech fail ever and the costliest product safety failure in the history of technology, Samsung issued a global recall of about 2.5 million Samsung Note 7 units after several reports of the devices exploding while being charged and causing fires and burns. Initially the company invited customers to trade in their defective phones for a new Note 7, but eventually production was permanently discontinued after replacement phones began exhibiting the same problems. Samsung’s profits had already been slipping in recent years and this crisis caused the company’s market value to plummet as shares fell amid a series of warnings from regulators and airlines around the world raised fears for the future of the device.

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

DUBAI TO ABU DHABI IN 12 MINUTES

OCT

13

A LIFETIME OF SCIENTIFIC COMMITMENT

While vaccum-tube transport has been a staple of sci-fi culture for a while, we have never been as close to realizing this technology before. Hyperloop One and the United Arab Emirates are on the fast track to building out the first high-speed transportation system that uses a pipeline to carry passengers and goods in levitating capsules. H1 announced it would build the first commercial hyperloop from Dubai to Abu Dhabi and the city is exploring possible routes for the same. The journey is 160 km long and normally takes about two hours by car but H1 promises it would take a mere 12 minutes in the hyperloop.

NOV

08

The Nobel Prizes this year were mired in drama with a songwriter winning the Nobel Prize in Literature for the first time; but Bob Dylan is yet to acknowledge the honour and is not expected to attend the ceremony on December 10. Meanwhile, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to David J Thouless, F Duncan M Haldane and J Michael Kosterlitz “for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter”. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to JeanPierre Sauvage, Sir J Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa “for the design and synthesis of molecular machines” and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was given to Yoshinori Ohsumi “for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy”.

41 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

COVER STORY

THE YEAR THAT WAS

Death

is But a Door

JUN

03 THE GREATEST

28 THE SILENT VICTIM

PIC CREDIT - MARK DUMONT

MAY

Arguably boxing’s most celebrated athlete and accomplished trash-talker, Muhammad Ali died at the age of 74 after being hospitalised with a respiratory illness. Ali became an Olympic gold medalist in 1960 and the world heavyweight boxing champion in 1964. Known for this lighting speed and fancy footwork, his boxing style was epitomized by his catchphrase “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”. Ali was also known for his public stance against the Vietnam War and his longtime battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Not unlike the case of Cecil the Lion last year, another animal’s death attracted JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH widespread media attention and the wrath of animal rights activists from

APRIL

MAY

around the world. Harambe, a 17-year-old Western lowland gorilla belonging to the Cincinnati Zoo, was shot and killed to protect a three-year-old boy who fell into his gorilla enclosure. There was a public outcry about the killing with calls for the boy’s parents or the zoo to be held accountable for the gorilla’s death.

THE VOICE OF ISIS Islamic State’s spokesperson and second-in-command, Abu Mohammad Al Adnani was killed in Aleppo province, according to the terror group’s own news agency, Amaq. The Pentagon had confirmed that it had carried out an air strike against a “senior IS official” but did not confirm that it was behind Al Adnani’s death. One of the longest-serving Islamic State figureheads, Al Adnani, a Syrian citizen, had a $5 million US Department of State bounty on his head – the second biggest for any IS official after the movement’s leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi. The first to declare a “caliphate”, he had been the group’s leader in Syria for more than three years, had a high public profile and played a leading role in organising plots to attack Western Europe.

AUG

30

SEPT

02

A TYRANT LEAVES A VACUUM Long-time ruler of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, died after a brain haemorrhage at age 78. He ruled the central Asian republic of Uzbekistan from 1989, first as head of the republic’s Communist party and, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, as the newly independent country’s first president. Apart from his sketchy record on human rights and press freedom, Karimov clamped down on opposition parties, establishing a long-standing authoritarian rule. With no official successor, his death left Central Asia’s most populous country in a state of turmoil and political uncertainty.

42 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

JUNE

THE DARK POET DIES Hugely influential singer and songwriter, Leonard Cohen, whose work spanned nearly 50 years, died at the age of 82, just three weeks after releasing his last album “You Want it Darker”. His work mostly explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality, and personal relationships. He is best known for the song,”Hallelujah”, which he wrote over the course of five years. The song was first released on Cohen’s studio album “Various Positions” in 1984, and he sang it during his European tour in 1985. Following a cover by Jeff Buckley, the song became immensely popular and has been performed by almost 200 artists in various languages.

OCT

NOV

13

07

THE BELOVED KING When King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand (or King Rama IX) died at the age of 88 after a long illness, he was the world’s longest-serving head of state and the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history, serving for 70 years and 126 days.

He was highly revered by the people in Thailand for his common touch and the several reforms he initiated to better the lives of the rural poor. A year-long period of mourning was subsequently announced along with a 30-day ban on any form of entertainment activities. Following his death, ultra-royalists in Thailand have criticized and harassed those who did not wear mourning black.

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

NOV

25

FAREWELL, EL COMANDANTE Despite over 600 assassination attempts, the leader of the Cuban Revolution and perpetual thorn in the side of the US who brought the Cold War right to its shores, Fidel Castro died at the grand old age of 90. Castro had held on to power longer than any other living national leader except Queen Elizabeth II. He became a towering international figure whose importance in the 20th century far exceeded what might have been expected from the head of state of a Caribbean island nation of 11 million people. His legacy is divided – some see him as a ruthless despot who trampled rights and freedoms; many others hail him as a revolutionary hero for the ages.

He hadn’t been in the public eye much over the last decade since he transferred power to his brother, Raul Castro. Cuba declared nine days of national mourning and many world leaders arrived in the country to pay their final respects to this 20th century icon.

43 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

COVER STORY

THE YEAR THAT WAS

Wings of Fire and Caverns of Lost Souls

APR

16

WHEN THE GROUND SHOOK Three strong earthquakes occurred this year, each of 7.8 magnitude, with the one in Ecuador causing maximum damage with at least 673 people killed and 27,732 injured. The other two seismic incidents of the same intensity occurred in New Zealand and Indonesia. The second deadliest earthquake hit central Italy on August 24 killing 299 people after a magnitude 6.2 quake. The country has suffered two milder tremors since then, most recently in November.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

ALL-CONSUMING A wildfire that began in Alberta, Canada, swept through the community, destroying approximately 2,400 homes and buildings and forcing the largest wildfire evacuation in Albertan history. The fire spread across approximately 1,500,000 acres before it was declared to be under control almost 35 days later. An official cause of the fire has not been determined to date, but it is suspected to be human caused, resulting in the costliest disaster in Canadian history.

MAY

01

MAY

19

ANOTHER DISAPPEARANCE IN THE AIR EgyptAir Flight 804 that was flying from Paris to Cairo crashed into the Mediterranean Sea with 66 people on board.

No survivors were found and as of August 2016, no further explanation about the cause of the crash was given.

44 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

SEPT

21

SEPT

30

WINDS OF WRATH

IT’S FAR FROM OVER While the flood of 2015 has ebbed, refugees seeking safe haven and migrants looking for better opportunities are still flowing into Europe and immigration is likely to remain an overarching theme in European politics. The UN Refugee Agency says that 347,709 people have arrived in the region by sea this year – a significant fall from the one million who crossed in 2015. So far this year, 4,690 people have died at sea in the region, compared with 3,771 last year. While Italy is seeing an increasing wave of migrants from Africa, migrant routes via Greece and the Balkans were largely closed down by tighter controls and fences and an agreement between the EU and Turkey in March. Under the terms of the deal, the EU could deport migrants who failed to claim asylum from Greece back to Turkey. In return the EU would allow equal numbers of Syrian refugees from Turkey and hold talks on visa-free travel for Turks. However, this deal is on the verge of collapse, the consequences of which can create another crisis in Europe, especially with the situation in Syria and Iraq worsening.

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

Hurricane Matthew became the first Category 5 Atlantic hurricane since 2007 and wrought widespread destruction and catastrophic loss of life during its journey across the Western Atlantic, including parts of Haiti, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Lucayan Archipelago, the southeastern United States, and the Canadian Maritimes. Over 1,600 estimated deaths have been attributed to the storm, including 546 to 1,600 in Haiti alone and damages estimated in excess of $10.5 billion.

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

NOV

20 OFF TRACK At least 146 people were killed and more than 200 injured when an express train derailed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Police officials said people were still missing as authorities tried to determine what caused 14 carriages of the train to suddenly roll off the tracks at 3 a.m. in the morning.

NOV

28 FAIRY TALE ENDS IN FIERY CRASH A chartered plane with the Brazilian first division football team Chapecoense crashed near Medellin while on its way to the finals of a regional tournament, killing 71 people. Six people – three football players, two crew members and one journalist – survived. It is not clear what brought down the aircraft, but some unconfirmed reports have suggested there was an electrical fault, while others say the plane was low on fuel. The football team, from the small city of Chapeco, was in the middle of a fairy-tale season. Some 10,000 people – including family members of the players – gathered in Chapeco’s Arena Conda stadium, still stunned by the extent of their loss.

45 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

COVER STORY

THE YEAR THAT WAS

It Makes

the World Go round

JAN

06 OVER BEFORE IT BEGAN? Following a landmark nuclear deal, long-standing sanctions, both financial and oil, were lifted by the US and European Union after inspections proved that Iran had dismantled its the weapons as agreed upon in the deal. Around $100 billion of Iran’s assets were also released after the inspections by international representatives. However, President-elect Donald Trump’s scepticism about the deal is well known and now that he has the support of a Republican-majority Senate and House of Representatives, the future of the deal has been plunged into doubt.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JUN

27 SIX YEARS LATER Israel and Turkey announced a reconciliation deal to end a six-year diplomatic standoff that started when Israeli naval commandos shot dead nine Turkish activists travelling on an aid flotilla making for the Gaza coast. A deal negotiated in Rome restored full ambassador-level relations, provided for about $20 million in compensation for the families of those killed and wounded aboard the Mavi Marmara in 2010, and cleared the way for potentially lucrative contracts for Israel to transmit natural gas to Turkey.

JUN

24 “VOTE LEAVE” Following a nationwide referendum in which 52% of votes were cast in favour of leaving the EU, Prime Minister David Cameron resigned. Theresa May became the new prime minister and announced that the government intended to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon, the formal procedure for withdrawing, by the end of March 2017. A court challenge to May’s right to trigger the Article 50 process without getting the backing of Parliament has been successful in the High Court. This means that there could be delays to starting the Article 50 process, but Downing Street is appealing to the Supreme Court with a hearing starting on December 5.

46 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

AUG

24 FINALLY! PEACE! A half a century old conflict is almost at an end with the Colombian Senate’s approval of a new peace deal with FARC rebels in November, despite objections that the deal was too lenient on the insurgents who have battled the government for decades. The accord moved to a lower house, where it is expected to be ratified easily. The Colombian government has been negotiating a peace treaty. The final agreement was announced in August but millions voted in a referendum against the deal unless it was revised. The 2016 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, “for his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end, a war that has cost the lives of at least 220,000 Colombians and displaced close to six million people.”

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

NOV

16

SLIPPERY TRUTH Oxford Dictionaries selected “post-truth” as 2016’s international word of the year, after the contentious Brexit referendum and an equally divisive US presidential election caused usage of the adjective to skyrocket. The dictionary defines “post-truth” as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than that which appeals to emotion and personal belief.”

OCT

03 COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN The US State Department announced that bilateral discussions with Russia over Syria had been suspended. US personnel who had been meeting in Geneva over several weeks with Russian counterparts to plan coordinated airstrikes against Al Qaeda and Islamic State terrorists in Syria were withdrawn. The US said that it will continue to talk to Russia in multilateral settings, and de-confliction channels would continue to operate.

47 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

COVER STORY

THE YEAR THAT WAS

Holding

a Mirror to Qatar JAN

27

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

CABINET SHAKE-UP The Emiri Diwan announced major changes in January in a number of ministry portfolios and the consolidation of several ministries in order to streamline operations. The most prominent change was the transfer of the Foreign Ministry portfolio to HE Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. The former minister HE Dr Khalid Al Attiyah is now the Minister of State for Defence Affairs, a position formerly held by Maj. Gen. Hamad bin Ali Al Attiyah. HE Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser Al Ali has been given the post of Minister of Culture and Sports (combining the ministries of Culture, Arts and Heritage, and Youth and Sports). Managing Director of Hamad Medical Corporation HE Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari has taken over as the Minister of Public Health, replacing HE Abdullah bin Khalid Al Qahtani; HE Jassim Seif Ahmed Al Sulaiti who was previously the Minister of Transport has now been asked to head a consolidated Ministry of Transport and Communications. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has been combined with the Ministry of Administrative Development, to be headed by HE Dr Issa Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi; HE Mohamed bin Abdullah Al Rumaihi has been appointed the Minister of Municipality and Environment, also a new ministry. The other ministries remain unchanged.

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

FEB

25 FEB

20 THE LADY ON BOARD The Board of Directors of Qatar Foundation appointed HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani as Chief Executive Officer, a role she will take on in addition to her current one as Vice Chairperson. She is expected to lead a unified executive team responsible for enhancing and implementing strategy and budget, driving performance, and strengthening the relationships with QF’s various partners and stakeholders.

48 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

ARCHEOLOGICAL FINDS Extraordinary geological findings have been unearthed during the construction phase of the Qatar Foundation Stadium. At the "Diamond Stadium", the proposed host venue up to the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, geotechnical samples of “Dukhan rock” dating back approximately 20 to 30 million years were unearthed. “As we dug down deeper on-site, we came across interesting and distinct colour bandings on the rock formations. It was an interesting find, and we were intrigued to find out how old these rocks really were,” said Eid Al Qahtani, Project Manager, Competition Venues at the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy.

PIC CREDIT - PIOTR DRABIK

FEB

26

MAY

16

GAME ON Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s new president, confirmed that the 2022 World Cup will be hosted by Qatar. Speaking on his first full working day, Infantino said that both of the next two World Cups will have to be “the best in history”. “Concerning Qatar and Russia, the decisions were taken in 2010 by the executive committee,” he said. “It’s now necessary to organise the best World Cup in history in Russia in 2018 and in 2022 in Qatar.” The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy welcomed Infantino’s appointment. “We wish President Infantino well in his new role and look forward to working closely with him as we continue our preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar,” the committee said.

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

STADIUM OF THE YEAR The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy was awarded the Stadium Design of the Year award for Al Rayyan Stadium at the 2016 World Stadium Congress in Doha. Abdulla Al Fehani, Al Rayyan Stadium Project Manager at the SC, received the award.

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

APR

13

A HELPING HAND OFFERED Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari, the Director-General of the Qatar Development Fund, signed an agreement last month that stipulated that QDF would contribute $50 million to the foundation which will go towards a $2.5 billion fund developed jointly by the Islamic Development Bank and the foundation. Gates spoke positively about Qatar which he said has been generous with foreign aid for a long time.

MAR

01

FUEL PRICES CENTRALISED Fuel prices were linked to the global market prices and starting from May, the price of petrol and diesel in Qatar will fluctuate monthly based on what’s going on in the global market, the Ministry of Energy and Industry has announced. The prices for each month will be announced towards the end of the previous month. The ministry said that this move “primarily intends to raise the efficiency of energy use in the country and raise consumers’ awareness regarding the necessity to economise energy consumption, especially after the undesirable economic and environmental effects of the discrepancies between prices in the local and global markets have become abundantly clear.”

49 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

COVER STORY

THE YEAR THAT WAS

JUL

07 CELEBRATING SPORT THROUGH ART Qatar Museums opened the first exhibition dedicated to boxing legend and activist Muhammad Ali since his death at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA). The temporary exhibit titled "Muhammad Ali: Tribute to a Legend", comprised 22 artefacts spanning the first 18 years of his 21year professional boxing career from 1960 to 1978. Ali visited Doha for an exhibition fight in 1971 and once more in 1991 on a tour to visit the National Museum of Qatar.

PIC CREDIT - KIEFER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

AUG QA FLIES HIGH

JUL

11

50 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

Qatar Airways made a net profit of QR1.6 billion ($439 million) during its fiscal year ending March 31, 2016, more than four times higher than its 2014-15 profit of QR374 million ($103 million). This has largely been due to falling oil prices, Qatar Airways said. Prior to this, the airliner announced the finalizing of plans with Alisarda to take an ownership stake in Italy’s second largest airline, Meridiana.

In a statement, Qatar Airways said it will buy 49% of the carrier’s shares by early October. CEO Akbar Al Baker said, “This agreement sets the path to progress our work towards a strong resolution that benefits both the staff and passengers who travel with Meridiana.”

16

QATAR SHINES AT THE OLYMPICS Former Olympic medallist and high jumper Mutaz Barshim won his countryís first-ever Olympic silver medal in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games this summer. The 25-year-old cleared 2.36 m in Rio de Janeiro, second only to Canada's Derek Drouin who jumped a season best 2.38 m.

The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games also ended on a high note for Team Qatar which bagged two silver medals thanks to the incredible performances of Abdelrahman Abdelqader and Sara Masoud. Abdelqader took home Qatarís first ever Paralympic medal after an incredibly difficult F34 shot put final. Masoud also went down in the history books as Qatarís first ever female Paralympic medallist after winning silver in the F33 shot put event.

JUNE

OCT

23 A TRAGIC LOSS Qatar observed three days of mourning after the former Qatari Emir Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani (aged 84 years) passed away.

Sheikh Khalifa took power from his cousin in a bloodless coup in 1972 and was ousted by his son in another bloodless coup in 1995. During Sheikh Khalifa’s reign, Qatar experienced rapid economic growth, helped by its vast oil reserves. In 1981, it joined five neighbouring countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – to form the Gulf Cooperation Council, although historical disputes over territory persisted. Sheikh Khalifa became the first prime minister of Qatar and also served as finance minister and oil minister, soon after which he took the reins of the country, spearheading it onto the stage of world affairs.

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

NOV

01

AL JAZEERA TURNS 20 Founded two decades ago in Doha, Al Jazeera Network marked its 20th anniversary with HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani delivering a speech during the occasion, praising the network’s credibility and commitment to tell the truth since its inception. He spoke about the importance of Al Jazeera in reporting on the Arab world with Arab perspectives, which was lacking in other Western media outlets that were largely biased against Arab interests and aspirations.

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

DEC

14

NEW LABOUR LAW TO COME INTO FORCE

NOV

06 MEETING OF MINDS Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al Falih talks with the President of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Qatar’s Energy Minister, Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, during the opening ceremony of the Qatari-Saudi Economic Forum.

The new law regulating entry, exit and residency of expatriates in Qatar has transformed the Kafala (sponsorship) system in the country into one controlled by employment contracts. The current two-year ban on expatriates who want to come back to the country on a new work visa will no longer be applicable. Expatriate workers can change jobs with government permission, either after the expiry of their contracts or after five years of service with their employer in case of openended contracts. The new law also enables expatriate workers to apply for exit permits themselves through the approved channels of the Ministry of Interior, without having to seek the permission of the employer.

51 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

business > bottomline

BUILDING

SUCCESSFUL TEAMS

TEAM FUNCTIONALITY IS EXTRAORDINARILY VALUABLE FOR ACCOMPLISHING DAYTO-DAY TASKS AND FOR PLACING BUSINESS ON THE CORRECT PATH. HERE ARE THE EIGHT STEPS THAT BAYT.COM RECOMMENDS EMPLOYING TO BUILD BETTER TEAMS.

52 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

I

n any work environment, there is an interdependency between all the different employees. No job is fully isolated. Yet, simply building teams will not get much done. Teams are influenced by various factors, including their size, leadership, communication style, work division, and many other elements.

In order to most effectively harness the power of teams, there are a few indicators of successful teamwork that every manager should know about.

0I

Keep the size manageable The number of team members will largely depend on the company size, nature of project, and the required workforce. One of the good qualities of larger teams is their tendency to have more ideas, diverse perspectives, and overall more human

capital. However, it is important to know that smaller teams tend to be more cohesive and are easier to manage. Arranging for meetings, distributing tasks, and making decisions can also be logistically smoother.

Most teams in the MENA are in fact small, consisting of two to five members each.

By creating sub-groups based on assigned tasks or area of expertise, large teams can also benefit from the smoother and swifter dynamics otherwise reserved for small teams.

02

Divide the work fairly Dividing work and responsibilities between team members can be tricky and contentious. Nonetheless, it ought to be done in the most equitable way. Doing so helps in mitigating conflict and results in higher contribution and optimised use of

all available resources. For professionals in the MENA, more than eight in 10 of them agree that work in their teams is spread equally and fairly. Equitable work division also promotes a unanimous ownership over the outcome; everyone receives credit when the team succeeds and everyone takes responsibility when the team fails.

Adopt a balanced leadership Team leaders give direction and clarity to the team, coordinate between different members, update management, and generally ensure that the team is on the desired track. Team leaders are vital because they have the ability to influence other dynamics in the team such as work division and communication. A team leader who is able to make decisions but also negotiate, take responsibility but also delegate, speak up but also listen, work hard but also help others reach their potential, is the ideal type for every team. Nearly two-thirds (65.8%) of professionals in the MENA think of their team leaders as hardworking.

03

Promote open communication Communication is a keystone for teamwork; without it, teams will be stuck and have no momentum. The most important communication style for teams to have is that of openness, transparency, and active participation. Open communication encourages all team members to engage and share their input without being shunned or subjectively criticised. Teams in the MENA have excelled in this aspect, where two-thirds of them (66.3%) are always communicating openly and honestly.

04

Address and resolve conflict Conflict should never be a reason to obstruct work progress and should be dealt with as a quick learning experience.

Sometimes, when conflict occurs as a result of interpersonal or non-job-related matters, teams need to remember the business goals in order to move away

05

from any irrelevant topics. In this regard, teams in the MENA showed a very healthy approach, as 88.6% of them said that they resolve conflicts honestly, quickly, and effectively.

06

Use all resources efficiently Being an efficient team means having the capability to create the highest value out of the given resources and limitations. Teams are always faced with limited budgets and time. Successful teams are capable of overcoming such obstacles using creativity and optimizing what is available. With regard to time, for instance, more than half of professionals in the MENA are able to fully utilise their team meetings to increase productivity. Time, being one of the most valuable assets of today’s workplace, is certainly not to be taken for granted.

07

Stick to the deadlines In addition to how a team operates and internally handles their daily tasks, delivering the required outcome within the given resources, budget, and time frame is one of the most irrefutable indicators of team success. In the MENA, a majority of teams (93.3%) are able to meet their deadlines all or most of the time. The team must not fail to complete their projects in a timely manner and show measurable results.

08

Measure team satisfaction At the end of the day, a team that is working together successfully is more likely to have satisfied and productive members. A good way to measure healthy team dynamics is by gauging team satisfaction. Around twothirds (62.8%) of professionals in the MENA are happy with their teams at work. Not only does team satisfaction impact the team's work progress and accomplishments, but it can also have an effect on the individual’s job satisfaction and performance at work.

In fact, 90% of professionals report that teams are a very important part of their satisfaction at work

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Post a job or find jobs on www.bayt.com today and access the leading resource for job seekers and employers in the region.

53 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

green scene > tag this

A COP OF ACTION IN SOME WAYS COP22 IN MARRAKECH COULD BE CONSIDERED EQUALLY AS IMPORTANT AS THE HISTORIC MEETING THAT PRECEDED IT. THIS WAS TO BE A COP OF ACTION; CRUNCH TIME, SOME MIGHT SAY, WITH EUPHORIA AROUND THE PARIS AGREEMENT WINDING DOWN AND THE TEDIOUS REALITIES OF IMPLEMENTATION SETTING IN. QATAR TODAY BRINGS YOU HIGHLIGHTS FROM COP IN MOROCCO, ALONG WITH INSIGHTS INTO THE ROLE OF QATAR, AND THE LARGER GCC REGION, IN CLIMATE ACTION NEGOTIATIONS.

BY AYSWARYA MURTHY

54 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

F

or the average person, the first exposure to COP can be a bit overwhelming.

The energy is ceaseless.

There are dozens of events happening at the same time across the different zones, a complicated "climate-speak" to keep track of in order to follow the negotiations and an end-of-the-world urgency that one wishes could be transmitted to the world outside the COP. 2016 was the hottest year on record. The carbon in our atmosphere has crossed 400 parts per million (with 450 ppm considered the safety threshold) and our current emissions are already projected to raise global temperatures by 1.3 ºC above pre-industrial levels. Considering that, parties to the Paris Agreement committed to containing the temperature rise to 1.5 ºC, the window of opportunity to prevent catastrophic climate change is narrowing.

And the international community has certainly woken up to this urgency. It can’t be underestimated what an incredible achievement the Paris Agreement is, especially when you think about how only seven years ago in Copenhagen it seemed the world would never be able

PIC CREDIT: UNCLIMATECHANGE

to come together to address a challenge of this scale. You don’t realise, till you are there, the sheer scale of effort that is needed to fundamentally shift the way we power our development; how many different stakeholders need to be involved, multiplied by the close to 200 countries working together to harmonise their diverse economic, social and environmental interests. It provides a fascinating peek into what may as well go down in history as the grandest demonstration of internationalism.

The 22nd Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or COP22, took place in Marrakech from November 7 to 18, with the mandate to decide on the action agenda to implement the Paris Agreement which entered into force on November 4. Following the global agreement last December, the threshold of signatories (55 Parties to the Convention accounting for at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions ratifying the agreement) for it to enter into force was passed less than 12 months after being agreed and far earlier than expected. To date, 115 out of 197 Parties have ratified; 11 countries ratified it during

PIC CREDIT: UNCLIMATECHANGE

the conference. This has added pressure to quickly develop the necessary rules and procedures to support the agreement.

There is optimism surrounding the bottom-up, voluntary approach to reducing emissions that was agreed in Paris last year.

Before COP21, all countries submitted their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC), commitments from each party on what kind of climate action they will undertake between 2020 and 2030. Once a party signs and ratifies the agreement, these INDCs become NDCs and will be translated into concrete climate policy in the respective countries. If one adds up the carbon reductions registered from all NDCs globally to date, this will only keep us below a 2.7 ºC rise in global temperatures, not the Paris promise of 1.5 ºC. Bridging that gap is what the next few years are going to be about, when countries will be invited to scale up their targets.

At COP22, which was the first meeting of the CMA (the governing body of the Paris Agreement), countries gave themselves two years to agree rules and procedures for implementing the Paris Agreement.

CMA will be responsible for making key decisions and driving implementation forward. This will include technical work that will produce work plans focusing on NDCs, a transparency framework, global stocktake, technology development and transfer, adaptation and market and nonmarket approaches. So the deadline of 2018 will give those parties who haven’t yet ratified the Paris Agreement enough time to become part of a process that is robust and inclusive while also concluding in a timely manner well ahead of 2020.

Climate finance is always a hot-button topic during these negotiations. One holdover issue from Paris was whether the Adaptation Fund, established under the Kyoto Protocol which provides adaptation support to developing countries, would

Above: Executive Secretary of UNFCCC, PATRICIA ESPINOSA, and President of COP22, SALAHEDDINE MAZOUAR, chair a plenary session; below: close to 15,000 accredited participants attend COP22 in Marrakech; around 90 heads of states and ministers also visited the conference to reaffirm their commitment to fight climate change.

continue under the Paris Agreement.

Although developed countries would prefer to channel support through the newly established Green Climate Fund, developing countries pushed very hard to keep the Adaptation Fund alive because of its direct access structure, which eliminates some of the red tape required to access funding and allows accredited countries to manage their projects instead of relying on multilateral organisations.

Developing countries also enjoy a majority share of the fund’s governing board seats and there is a sense of developing country ownership unique among climate finance mechanisms.

The Paris Agreement placed adaptation (making changes in the way humans respond to changes in climate) on a more equal footing with mitigation (controlling emission of greenhouse gases) in importance and need, and strives to mobilize increased regional and national support for adaptation. Specific text referencing the Adaptation Fund was

included in the decisions accompanying the Paris Agreement, which recognised that the Adaptation Fund “may” serve the agreement. Ultimately, at COP22 the issue remained unresolved.

Hitherto, the Adaptation Fund has been monetizing carbon assets for funding adaptation through the 2% share it receives from the UN Clean Development Mechanism. But the floor has since dropped out of the carbon credit exchange, and despite the few contributions announced at COP22 that rescued it from nearbankruptcy, the future of the fund remains unclear. Pledges made by Germany (€50 million), Sweden (SEK100 million), Italy (€5 million) and the Walloon and Flanders regions of Belgium (€3.25 million and €6.25 million, respectively), have helped the fund surpass its 2016 fundraising goal of $80 million that will help finance projects already in the pipeline.

The other big money issue at the COP was the $100-billion fund; in Copenhagen in 2009 and Cancun in 2010, developed 55 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

PIC CREDIT: UNCLIMATECHANGE

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BAN KI-MOON attends his last COP as Secretary-General of the United Nations. Ban, who leaves offices in January, was commended for his role in making the Paris Agreement possible.

countries committed to jointly raising $100 billion annually from 2020 to 2025 to help developing countries cope with climate change by building low-carbon and climate-resilient economies. This pledge was reaffirmed in Paris at COP21. A few weeks before the COP at Marrakech, developed countries launched a roadmap to 2020 on reaching the agreed goal. But from the outset it is clear that it is a political rather than a technical document aimed at “building confidence and providing increased predictability and transparency about the actions developed countries are and will be taking to achieve the $100 billion goal”. The lack of clarity on this fund has also been a cause for concern at the COP. Developed countries were also criticized for not paying enough attention to pre2020 action before the Paris Agreement kicks in, during which only they would have to meet certain mitigation and finance commitments.

But there were a lot of positive developments at Marrakech as well.

In the final days of the conference, the Climate Vulnerable Forum, which is an international partnership of countries highly vulnerable to a warming planet, committed to update their NDCs before 2020, prepare long-term low-emissions development strategies, and generate 100% of their energy from renewable sources as soon as possible.

The USA, Canada, Mexico and Germany became the first countries to submit what have come to be known as mid-century strategies, outlining the kinds of actions needed to achieve much deeper emission 56 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

reductions. A new initiative called the 2050 Pathway Platform was launched, with support from a broad array of national governments, cities, states and companies, to help other countries develop their own mid-century strategies.

Implementation of climate action plans also received a boost from the launch of the NDC Partnership – a coalition of 33 developing and developed countries and international institutions working together to ensure countries receive the technical and financial support they need to speedily meet their climate and sustainable development goals.

During COP22, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a multilateral funding arm, announced a Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency backed by 11 developed country donors providing $50 million-worth of funding. Countries also pledged over $23 million to the Climate Technology Centre and Network, which supports developing countries with climate technology development and transfer.

There were also announcements that directly impacted the Middle East.

Towards the end of COP, the World Bank Group announced a new plan to ramp up support for countries in the MENA region to confront the multiple threats of climate change. Over the next four years, the World Bank aims at nearly doubling the portion financing dedicated to climate action, taking it to around $1.5 billion a year by 2020.

Speaking at a press conference at the COP 22 global climate summit in Marrakech, World Bank MENA Vice President Hafez Ghanem said the plan would focus on the

four priorities of food and water security, sustainable cities adapted to new climate conditions, the transition to low-carbon energy, and the protection of the poorest who are most exposed to the impacts of climate change.

Undoubtedly climate-sceptic Donald Trump’s election to the highest office of one of the biggest economies, coming as the COP was getting underway, felt like a major earthquake. Trump famously called climate change a “Chinese hoax” and promised to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement if he were elected. As the COP reconvened after the weekend, it seemed speculation about what this meant for global climate action was on everyone’s mind. But as the week wore on, nerves were calm partly due to one country after another declaring that their efforts towards implementing the Paris Agreement will continue irrespective of what decision the new US government would take. It would seem that the massive threat posed by Donald Trump to the climate talks served galvanised into action those present at Marrakech. Fears were further assuaged

by US Secretary of State John Kerry who, speaking at COP22, declared that “no one should doubt the overwhelming majority of the citizens of the United States who know climate change is happening and who are determined to keep our commitments that were made in Paris... I can tell you with confidence that the United States is right now, today, on our way to meeting all of the international targets that we’ve set, and because of the market decisions that are being made, I do not believe that that can or will be reversed”.

When asked to comment on this matter, a senior negotiator for Saudi Arabia said, “The United States is the backbone of the process and their withdrawal will impact everyone, no doubt. But we all know the US has taken the right decision in these matters in the past. When they pulled out of Kyoto, no doubt, there was a big impact on ambition. But they went ahead to do a lot of work on the ground, even if it was outside the process. We are sure that the US administration and institutions will maintain a level of continuity and consistency. There are so many approaches in this process. So going forward, their approach might be different – they might not focus as much on regulation but rather on technology, innovation, incentives, etc. But let’s not make our judgment now before we see what the new administration plans to do.”

PIC CREDIT: UNCLIMATECHANGE

GCC’S PLACE IN CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS

THE GCC PAVILION AT COP22 PALED IN COMPARISON TO THE DEDICATED UAE PAVILION NEXT DOOR; THERE WERE NO GLITZY SCALE MODELS OR PLUSH COUCHES. IN FACT, BY GCC STANDARDS, IT WAS QUITE SOBER. BUT IT WAS ALWAYS BUZZING WITH ENERGY, BE IT IN THE VARIOUS DELEGATION OFFICES, THE CONFERENCE ROOM OR ON THE FLOOR WHERE VARIOUS PUBLIC TALKS WERE HOSTED THROUGHOUT THE DAY. AS ONE GCC DELEGATE PUT IT, A COP IN AN ARAB COUNTRY BROUGHT WITH IT A SENSE OF PRIDE AND OWNERSHIP, NOT UNLIKE FOUR YEARS AGO WHEN THE COP WAS HOSTED IN DOHA.

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he Gulf States, particularly Saudi Arabia, tend to receive negative to no coverage at COPs, noticeably last year in Paris when they were accused for trying to scuttle the deal. In the eyes of the climate change community, these states are irrevocably tied to the root cause of our climate problems – fossil fuels. With these economies deeply linked to the export of hydrocarbons, their commitment to climate action is constantly called into question and their wealth makes it almost impossible for them to be cast in a sympathetic light. But the harsh truth is, as things stands today, the GCC is caught between a rock and a hard place, between economic catastrophe

and climate catastrophe. Vulnerable to rising seas, desertification and “unlivable” temperatures, the stakes are high for the GCC if climate action doesn’t go on track. But as sustained low oil prices over the past couple of years have shown, the region is nowhere close to being diversified enough to weather the impending global decarbonisation agenda. So where does this place the GCC at the negotiating table?

Shifting dynamics According to Dr Mohamed Abdel Raouf, Sustainability Research Program Manager at the Gulf Research Center, “GCC countries realized a few years back they will be isolated in the global climate change talks... this especially came home to KSA

just before the Paris Agreement... and as a result they are now very actively involved with the global community in its fight against climate change.” As evidence of this, he points to Saudi Arabia’s arrival at COP22 as a nation in transformation, with the main message to diversify its economy away from a heavy over-reliance on hydrocarbons.

“Besides, for the first time Saudi Arabia established its INDCs in a clear signal of its contributions and practical engagement with the issue of climate change,” he added.

Speaking to Qatar Today, a high-ranking member of the Saudi delegation expressed his satisfaction that the agenda for CMA had been established at Marrakech, calling it “an excellent way forward in implementing the Paris Agreement”, and reiterated Saudi 57 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

green scene > tag this Arabia’s commitment to climate goals.

“Now we want to see a roadmap from here to 2018 to accomplish all the mandates of Paris. We are confident that by 2018 all aspects of the Paris Agreement will be finalised. We are looking forward to that and fully support working very hard to implement all 26 mandates.”

In the Arab region, seven countries have ratified the Paris Agreement, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Dr Kishan Khoday, Team Leader in the Arab Region for Climate Change, Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), says the GCC's INDCs are relatively ambitious in reducing carbon footprints by scaling up energy efficiency and rapidly expanding solar energy as part of the national energy mix. “This is a major shift and entails a massive levels of investment; a totally new development trajectory that is being attempted at this scale for the first time in the Gulf,” he says.

The UAE government plans to reduce energy use across the country by 30% and generate 25% of its power from renewable resources and nuclear power by 2030.

Saudi Arabia has committed to reducing emissions by 130 million tonnes per year by 2030, which amounts to one-third of their current emissions. They have set up an institution – Designated National Authority – that monitors the reductions on an annual basis to see how we are measuring up to their commitments. Kuwait has set a target of increasing its renewable energy share to 15% by 2030 and Bahrain plans to increase its renewable energy share to 5% by 2020.

Qatar, meanwhile, plans to get 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.

“It is good to see these greater levels of ambition arising in the Gulf on the climate agenda and there is room for ever greater results,” says Dr Khoday. “The NDCs were only initial intentions, and the idea is to progressively ratchet up targets during implementation of the Paris Agreement.

There are points during the process (the next one being in 2018) where the commitments are meant to be reviewed and, if possible, scaled up. Definitely countries with the capacity and resources, like those in the Gulf, should invest more in taking stronger actions along this direction.”

The economic rationale and opportunities No one today can argue against the path towards renewable energy, and especially in the GCC where the benefits are multi58 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

"Definitely countries with the capacity and resources, like those in the Gulf, should invest more in taking stronger actions in ratcheting up their ambitions."

DR KISHAN KHODAY Team Leader in the Arab Region for Climate Change, Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience United Nations Development Programme

pronged – addressing emissions, meeting growing local energy demand and freeing up oil production for exports. “In the Gulf, the vision exists to diversify the energy mix; there is a clear economic rationale for going low carbon. Some estimates suggest that in a business-as-usual scenario, with local energy consumption growing at about 7% per year, the Gulf might register up to half a trillion dollars in lost energy export revenues owing to the rapid diversion of energy to meet local needs,” says Dr Khoday.

“In countries which now may be exporting two-thirds of their production and using only a third locally, this might flip by 2030, affecting their development model.”

Apart from the obvious effect on reduced greenhouse gas emissions, this shift toward the use of renewable energy will also help develop human capital and build a sustainable economy. Also, shifting to clean energy will require new technologies and scientific research, which could benefit the Gulf economies, according to Dr Raouf. In

this regard, the drop in oil prices has been a blessing in disguise, and have encouraged the shift to clean energy technologies. But further encouragement is needed from policymakers to drive innovation in the renewable energy sector, Dr Raouf says.

Despite what it seems like at first glance, global decarbonisation need not interfere with the diversification strategy. “In the Gulf, large opportunities are emerging in private finance. Irrespective of the drop in oil prices, achieving a transformation to a low-carbon economy goes well beyond a reliance on traditional energy export revenues,” says Dr Khoday. “Countries have to start looking beyond traditional sources of funding and try to generate large-scale private sector finance and build innovative public-private partnerships.

For the first time in many years, we are seeing a large scale-up in the role of private sector investment in the climate process. Countries in the Gulf can build new partnerships with the private sector to achieve their NDC goals locally and also to help companies scaleup their global activities in support of climate action.

Places like Dubai and Doha are emerging as hubs for finance and private sector activity globally, with particular benefits for partners in Asia and Africa who can serve as important partners for SouthSouth cooperation on new climate change actions.”

All thing considered, there are very few obstacles for GCC countries to shift towards renewables, especially solar power, because they have all the elements of success – relatively cheap labour, ability to secure funds to invest in renewables, pioneering

initiatives in the field of renewables such as Masdar in the UAE, joint ventures that can help transfer the necessary technology and, most importantly, the political will to do so. In fact, these same favourable circumstances might be available to us in the future.

A piece of the climate finance pie Access to climate finance has always been contentious, as matters of money generally are. While the road to equipping these funds, the responsibility of developed countries with a historic burden of emissions, has been slow and unclear, developing and underdeveloped nations clamoring to access these funds have been growing in number. In the past, when countries like Saudi Arabia stated that they were a special case in need of climate aid to compensate for the loss in revenue as the world shifts to clean energy, it was met with disdain and irritation by the international community.

“Yes indeed, no one is willing to give funds to the GCC unlike other developing or LDCs,” says Dr Raouf. “This is very clear, as none of the GCC countries who had recently joined the Global Environment Facility is active, except Kuwait. GEF insists that the GCC should contribute to this common resource despite the fact that GCC countries are classified as developing, according to the Kyoto Protocol. They reason that the GCC are a set of wealthy nations and should contribute. The best compromise, in my opinion, is to be classified as both donors and receiving countries at the same time, similar to many other countries that are part of the GEF. This might unlock climate finance from the

"GCC countries realised a few years back they will be isolated in the global climate change talks... this especially came home to KSA just before the Paris Agreement."

DR MOHAMED ABDEL RAOUF Sustainability Research Program Manager Gulf Research Center

GEF and other sources as well.”

This is certainly the case with the UNDP which classifies Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain as Net Contributor Countries. The UNDP’s particular focus in the GCC is to help establish new policies on renewable energy and energy efficiency to scale up low-carbon solutions.

“We have provided technical assistance to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain in establishing national centres of excellence which work towards creating national strategies for specific, highenergy consuming sectors like transport, buildings, industries, etc., and building partnerships between the government and private sector. In Saudi Arabia, for example, we have a $35 million programme which helped to establish the Saudi Energy Efficiency Center and mobilise government and private sector partners to reduce the energy intensity of growth in key sectors,” Dr Khoday says.

In fact, in recent years, Saudi Arabia and the rest of the GCC have tempered, or rather restructured their demands – the

stress is now not on funds but on technology transfer and capacity building. A senior Saudi negotiator told us, “At COP18 in Qatar, all GCC members agreed on a deal that will help us contribute to the efforts of the international community in combating climate change. Through this decision we wanted to make sure the global community helps us in our efforts to diversify our economies and lend us the technical capacity and support to move away from a single-source income towards a bigger pie that will be much less dependent on our fossil fuel resources.”

Apart from this, several GCC members have been active in forging global partnerships for climate action. “At COP22, UNDP launched a new programme in partnership with the UAE, through a generous grant of $11 million from local partners, to support the establishment of a new World Green Economy Organisation in Dubai. WGEO is meant to support developing countries on climate action and engage the role of UAE as a global partner for climate action,” Dr Khoday mentions. “Another important project we are doing with Qatar’s support in the region is the integration of solar power into crisis recovery. Through a generous $5 million grant from Qatar, we have launched a project in the Darfur region of Sudan to provide decentralised solar solutions to villages for the benefit of returnees of the conflict under the Darfur peace agreement.”

These kinds of initiatives help in earning goodwill among the global community and reiterating the commitment of regional governments to climate action. And they also lend weight to GCC voices on the international stage, which should be channeled towards supporting developing countries in their advocacy to achieve the target of scaled-up climate finance meant to reach $100 billion per year from 2020 onwards.

It might feel like the GCC’s aloofness from climate negotiations might actually be a good thing. When the world makes no demands of you (except maybe to not get in the way) and you have few expectations of the world, it might be tempting to take things at your own pace, be reactive rather than proactive. But never has the world come together this way before, in a massive joint effort to craft a shared destiny. It’s a privilege to be part of that, and history would judge us harshly if we are not earnest in our efforts to honour that privilege.

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QATAR AND THE CLIMATE DEBATE

PIC CREDIT - IISD

THROUGHOUT THE UNFCCC’S EXISTENCE, QATAR HAS BEEN A LOYAL SUPPORTER OF CLIMATE ACTION. FROM RATIFYING THE UNFCCC IN 1996 AND THE KYOTO PROTOCOL IN 2005, TO SIGNING THE PARIS AGREEMENT THIS YEAR, THE COUNTRY HAS ALWAYS PUT ITS WEIGHT BEHIND CLIMATE ACTION. AT THE FOREFRONT OF ALL THIS DIPLOMATIC ACTION IS QATAR’S DIRECTOR FOR CLIMATE CHANGE, ABDULHADI NASSER AL MARRI. QATAR TODAY SPEAKS TO HIM IN MOROCCO DURING COP22 ABOUT THE LOCAL PERSPECTIVES ON CLIMATE CHANGE.

ABDULHADI NASSER AL MARRI

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iving in relative luxury in Qatar, it is sometimes possible to feel removed from the consequences of climate change. But the harsh truth is that this small peninsula is as vulnerable as it gets. It suffers from a scarcity in drinkable water and local food supply with an average annual rainfall of only 82 mm. If average temperatures rise and rainfall does not increase, there would be moisture losses from Qatar’s water-stressed land. Two broad effects would arise – further desertification and increased water needs. Since the country is dependent on desalination, which is energy intensive, energy consumption would rise and, correspondingly, CO2 emissions. Increased temperatures would also exacerbate air quality problems and adversely affect human health.

Qatar is one of three countries in the

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Director Climate Change Department Ministry of Environment

Arabian Gulf (along with Kuwait and Bahrain) with extreme vulnerability to sea level rise as it is liable to inland flooding of 18.2% of its land area, at less than a 5 metre rise in sea level, along with the associated adverse impacts on the population as 96% are living in the coastal areas. Due to the shallow depths of Qatar’s marine waters, even small rises in temperature will have a profound influence. Furthermore, climate change would cause the extinction of species such as whales, dolphins and turtles in addition to causing coral bleaching.

The Ministry of Environment’s marine sensitivity atlas classifies mangroves, coral reefs and sea grass beds as sensitive ecosystems which will be adversely impacted by climate change. Migratory patterns for some sea birds and other marine species could also change.

Taking all these factors into consideration, Qatar has as high a stake

as anyone else in mitigating the negative impact of our changing climate while preserving economic and social interests.

This is why our place at the negotiating table is crucial and valuable and should not be underestimated. Abdulhadi Nasser Al Marri has been part of this process for a decade now, even before he was appointed the director of the newly-formed climate change department in the Ministry of Environment, back in 2014.

While all the Gulf States were represented in the pavilion at COP22 as a single entity, the GCC doesn’t quite negotiate as a bloc.

However, within the GCC there is an active climate change working group which is chaired by whichever country is currently holding the presidency. We meet and discuss our positions before the COP. We already published some general framework for adaptation strategies in the Gulf.

But Qatar is very active within the Arab

Group, Al Marri says. “Many of the GCC counties are part of the Like Minded Group of Developing Countries (LMDC) and the G77 and China. We don’t really work individually but we do have some distinct positions and interests, which are always accommodated through the groupings. This way, we try our best to support the ideas that are related to Qatar’s environmental, social, and economic interests,” he says.

Sitting down with us during the final hours of the last days of the summit, Al Marri talks about his expectations from COP22. “We want to lay down the rules for the implementation of the Paris Agreement, see more operationalisation. We also want to see our interests as a developing country reflected. It’s a step in the right direction to have bottom-up and nationally driven targets but we need further support from the developed world in the areas of capacity building and technology transfer,” he says. Qatar has already signed the Paris Agreement and it will be ratified in the coming weeks once the Shura Council gives its formal approval, according to Al Marri.

Qatar’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, which will no longer be “intended” but actual national climate goals once the Paris Agreement is ratified, lists a series of goals of economic diversification and adaptation, both with mitigation cobenefits. Al Marri says this was arrived at through a stakeholder consultation workshop to get all the cornered parties in the country involved and aware. There was also a degree of coordination with other GCC countries, for all of whom economic diversification forms the strategic core of all national development plans. “We worked with the UNFCCC who sponsored a workshop for developing INDCs in the Gulf, with consultants from the South Centre,” Al Marri says. However, unlike the NDCs of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, for example, Qatar’s INDC doesn’t set any specific, concrete targets around emission reduction or energy generation through renewables.

Al Marri assures us that this is the next step, expanding the summarised INDC into something more detailed and projectsoriented. “We are working on aligning it with the Qatar Vision 2030 so that they complement each other. In the short term, the National Development Strategy for 2017–2022 will also be developed with the Paris Agreement in mind. We are very serious about climate action and want to take a leading initiative in the Gulf and in the region; our national vision clearly places

HH THE EMIR SHEIKH TAMIM BIN HAMAD AL THANI was in Morocco, his second consecutive appearance at a COP, which is seen as a clear indication of Qatar’s commitment to climate action at the highest levels.

environment among the four pillars. Qatar is one of the very few countries in the region with a dedicated department for climate change. But at the same time we don’t want to rush into anything without having everyone on board or without studying the social and economic consequences of response measures. Our single-commodity economy is especially vulnerable to such policies. So we are serious and want to move forward with other parties in the convention, but we are also realistic.”

“Next year, we’ll see more news around our climate action plans after our next stakeholder consultation in the first quarter of 2017,” Al Marri says. “After this we will go ahead with the development of our NDC, with the support of our UNFCCC colleagues.” He stresses that the Ministry of Environment is not alone in this process, and the make-up of the Qatari delegation at the COP is proof of that. “We are here not only as the Ministry of Municipality and Environment but as a group representing different partners from the private sector, academic and semigovernmental organisations. For example, we have representatives here from Qatar University, the meterological department, KAHRAMAA, Qatar Petroleum, Civil Aviation Authority, etc. When we are back to Doha, these same parties will also be part of our strategy. And this is indicative of how we intend to proceed on climate action – in a fully transparent manner and with the support of our partners,” he says.

Climate finance is almost always a contentious subject during COPs and Al

Marri knows this, having been a board member of the Adaptation Fund for three years. With the CDM markets on their last legs, the fund has not been healthy, he says, while underlining how important it is for the fund to continue beyond Kyoto. “It’s important to keep alive the Adaptation Fund’s direct access approach. However what we are seeing now are delays with a lot of projects in the pipelines and no clarity on how they will be financed. If the process is slow, it will take longer for developing countries to implement adaptation measures,” he says.

As a developing country, Qatar could benefit from the funds, especially considering adaptation is a priority for Qatar, Al Marri says. But Qatar is working concurrently with the likes of UNDP and UNEP to focus on capacity building and technology support outside of the UNFCCC. “These two aspects are sometimes not given as much importance as the financial side,” he says. “For Qatar, these are very important because despite all the work we are doing in mitigation and adaptation, technology limits our ambition.

On the environmental side, we are focusing a lot on pollution control technology at the end of the pipe and enhancing existing performance of units. We still need to have R&D support to push the technology on the emission control side, especially suited to our harsh and arid climate. These innovations are coming up but they need to be commercialised as soon as possible. This doesn’t include just physical technology but also applied tech like blue carbon.”

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development > tag this

OPENING UP THE SKIES After all 28 European Union Transport Ministers authorised the European Commission to start negotiations for EU-level aviation agreements with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Turkey, Qatar and the UAE, there are still many unknowns ahead. However, a future deal between the EU and the Gulf carriers may finally put an end to a long-lasting dispute over open skies and the level of liberalisation of the European market.

By Sasa Zuzmahowsky

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W

hile the EUA S E A N negotiations are believed to go quite smoothly, the EU-Gulf talks will be anything but easy. The discussions between the EU and – among others – Qatar are intended to provide a stable aero-political framework for the future of civil aviation between the two parties. Jaap de Wit, Professor Emeritus of transport economics at the University of Amsterdam and former director of the Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis (KiM), told us that the agreements may differ in their outcome as there is no “one size fits all” solution. The first round of discussions between Europe and Qatar has shown a serious interest on both sides to create such a new framework. At the same time, both sides want to be perfectly clear about what they will agree on.

John Balfour, an EU aviation law expert and consultant at Clyde & Co, said it is difficult to predict whether the talks will be successful because this depends on a number of unknowns. He told Qatar Today that “given that the Commission’s basic position is in favour of a liberal arrangement and that this also appears to be the basic position of Qatar and UAE, there must be reasonable prospects of a successful outcome.” But in order to strike a deal, both sides need to understand each other’s views, and compromises have to be made. De Wit believes that an important part of this mutual understanding is the way different business models of the various carriers and ambitions relate to the degree of market opening.

For the EU-level air transport agreement with Qatar and the UAE, the EC is mandated to negotiate a full liberalisation of thirdand fourth-freedom rights for passenger and all-cargo services (the right to fly from one’s own country to another and the right to fly from another country to one’s own), according to Aviation Daily. If the Commission succeeds, this will already be a big achievement, de Wit stated. This is also very close to Qatar’s expectations, which besides third and fourth traffic freedoms, also called for eventual fifth-freedom liberalisation (the right to fly between two foreign countries on a flight originating or ending in one’s own country).

De Wit points out that fifth-freedom liberalisation is a different and difficult

“Given that the Commission’s basic position is in favour of a liberal arrangement and that this also appears to be the basic position of Qatar and UAE, there must be reasonable prospects of a successful outcome.”

JOHN BALFOUR Consultant, EU Aviation Law Clyde & Co

matter, as it touches the heart of the business model of the European network carriers in particular. Nevertheless, Balfour believes it is realistic to expect the parties to close the deal, although under certain conditions. “Obviously, if the fifth freedom were given by the EU, the EU would be likely to expect reciprocal rights from the Gulf side.”

However, calling for unlimited third and fourth-freedom rights is controversial for most European airlines – but not necessarily airports, especially those in secondary markets that do not see strong non-stop connectivity from their national airlines. As a matter of fact, we have seen major disagreements among European stakeholders regarding the liberalisation.

The rapid growth of Gulf aviation has been seen as a major threat to some European and US carriers, which are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with their Arab counterparts. John Strickland, Director at JLS Consulting, noted that two major airline groups, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa, have frequently expressed their belief that there is not “a level playing field” in competition with the Gulf carriers, and consequently they should be restricted in

their access to the EU markets. This is very different to the views of IAG, the parent company of British Airways, and of the UK Government as well, which both support liberal market access and competition with Gulf carriers. However, “Brexit is likely to complicate these negotiations and lead to a potentially less liberal approach by the remaining EU States”, Strickland told our magazine.

But despite losing a valuable ally, Gulf carriers still have some strong cards in their hand. Saj Ahmad, Aviation Analyst, Consultant & Media Commentator at StrategicAero Research, thinks that although mutual compromise will prevail “the EU is acutely aware that any pushback onto Qatar or the UAE could result in billions of dollars' worth of Airbus orders being put in jeopardy. And Airbus is already suffering a complete financial disaster on the A380, a production disaster on the A350 and an engine production calamity through Pratt & Whitney on its A320neo’s.”

Fears and doubts There are also doubts whether the talks are genuinely motivated, or just initiated to draw out the discussion and buy some 63 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

development > tag this

THE VIEW FROM THE TOP

VIOLETA BULC, EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR MOBILITY AND TRANSPORT, SPEAKS EXCLUSIVELY TO QATAR TODAY.

AFTER THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION HAS GIVEN A MANDATE TO TRY TO NEGOTIATE AN OPEN SKIES AGREEMENT WITH QATAR AND UAE AS WELL AS OTHER COUNTRIES/BLOCS INCLUDING TURKEY AND ASEAN, DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE SUCCESSFUL AND WHAT IS REALISTIC TO EXPECT FROM THESE NEGOTIATIONS? The Gulf countries are among the most dynamic and fastest-growing aviation markets in the world, which is why the European Union would like to further enhance its aviation ties with them. With the new agreements we proposed, our ambition is to upgrade our existing relationship to a true aviation partnership. This will include enhanced market access to all 28 EU Member States, based on a modern regulatory framework as well as close cooperation in all aviation areas: safety, air traffic management, security, etc. According to our estimates, the economic benefits of agreements with the GCC countries would amount to up to €8.4 billion over the first eight years of implementation, and the creation of up to 8,300 new jobs.

THE GULF AIRLINES CALLED FOR THIRD AND FOURTH FREEDOM AND EVENTUAL FIFTH FREEDOM LIBERALIZATION. DO YOU THINK THIS IS REALISTIC? Negotiations with Qatar have just started, and we know they will take time. It is too early for me to say what the details of a future agreement may look like. This should be left for the negotiators to agree and I am confident that they will. More generally, the EU-Qatar air transport agreement should put in place a framework that will deliver concrete benefits for both sides. Of course increased market access is a key part of such an agreement, but we also want to deepen our ties in many other areas, such as safety, security, air traffic management, etc. The EU has been very successful in liberalising its own internal market. Today the EU’s aviation market is fully liberalised.

THE GULF AIRLINES (NON-EU) AIRLINES ARE SCEPTICAL ABOUT HOW THE EU WILL DEFINE “FAIR COMPETITION”. THEY ARE ESPECIALLY AFRAID OF WHETHER ITS DEFINITION BE LEFT ABSTRACT ENOUGH THAT “FAIR COMPETITION” COULD POTENTIALLY BE USED AGAINST AIRLINES IN A WAY THEY HAVE NOT ENVISAGED. COULD YOU OFFER US SOME HINT ABOUT HOW YOU WOULD APPROACH THIS MATTER? As you know, there is no common understanding at international level – ICAO or WTO – of what “fair competition” is. I am nevertheless convinced that to be beneficial for all sides, the liberalisation and the elimination of barriers to market access can only go hand in hand with common rules based

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on reciprocity. That would be my definition of “fair competition”. What the concept entails precisely depends on the specificities of each agreement. It will be for our negotiators to refine the concept.

THERE ARE ALSO DOUBTS ABOUT WHETHER THE TALKS ARE GENUINELY MOTIVATED, OR MERELY DESIGNED TO DRAW OUT THE DISCUSSION. IN THE CASE OF THE LATTER SCENARIO, SOME SAY THAT THIS WILL ONLY BRING BENEFITS TO THOSE AIRLINES SEEKING TO PROTECT “THEIR” MARKETS, BECAUSE WHILE THE EU TALKS ARE UNDER WAY EU MEMBER STATES CANNOT NEGOTIATE INDIVIDUAL AIR SERVICE AGREEMENTS. Let me be very clear. EU-level aviation agreements are not aimed at reducing or freezing expansion.

Quite the contrary in fact: the experience shows that concluding EU-level agreements leads to a significant rise in traffic. For example, since the signature of the EU Air Transport agreement with the Western Balkan States, the number of passengers has almost tripled. In the case of Morocco, it has doubled. At the end of the day, more traffic means more growth and more jobs.

Let’s look at the facts. The Commission got the unanimous support of the 28 EU Member States to start negotiations with Qatar, the Qatari authorities confirmed their interest, we already had a positive first round of talks and a second is already scheduled for early 2017. This is very encouraging and my objective is to keep this momentum going.

CALLING FOR UNLIMITED THIRD AND FOURTH FREEDOM RIGHTS IS CONTROVERSIAL FOR MOST EUROPEAN AIRLINES – BUT NOT NECESSARILY AIRPORTS, ESPECIALLY THOSE IN SECONDARY MARKETS THAT DO NOT SEE STRONG NON-STOP CONNECTIVITY FROM THEIR NATIONAL AIRLINE. AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE HAVE SEEN MAJOR DISAGREEMENTS AMONG EUROPEAN STAKEHOLDERS IN THE RECENT PAST REGARDING THE LIBERALIZATION VIEWS.HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO REACH A COMPROMISE AMONG THEM ON THIS MATTER OR, AS SOME FEAR, WILL THE VOICE OF FRANCE AND GERMANY WILL BE HEARD MOST, ESPECIALLY AFTER BREXIT? The EU Member States unanimously gave us a mandate to start negotiations with Qatar, the UAE but also with ASEAN and Turkey. We are therefore negotiating on behalf of all 28 of them, not of the largest member states only. As I already mentioned, the Commission’s objective is to reach a win-win agreement, one that would increase market access, leading to substantial economic benefits across the entire aviation value-network: airlines, airports, manufacturers and obviously passengers.

more time. In the case of the latter scenario, some say this will only bring benefits to those airlines seeking to protect “their” markets, because while the EU talks are under way, EU member states cannot negotiate individual air service agreements. This effectively puts a freeze on air service agreement expansion until the talks conclude. Ahmad notes that there is a lot of credence to this stalling tactic as a means of preventing further GCC airline expansion. “The reality is that the EU is simply too blinkered and not an honest broker because it focusses too much on protecting EU airlines, many of which are utterly incompetent, rather than do what’s right for passengers and give them more airline choices,” he says.

As for de Wit, the European Commission’s mandate given by the member states should not be taken lightly. “The European Commission and the member states are genuinely looking to conclude an agreement with Qatar.

The fact that both parties have a process ahead of them before they can conclude an agreement does not change the intention of either party. Furthermore, the mandate has been given for a limited number of years precisely to prevent a tedious process stretching for year after year and progress will be evaluated as well. It is therefore in the interest of both Qatar and the EU to make progress and not to drag on consultations,” he explained.

At the very least the EU is contemplating the liberalization of air services, although Strickland suggests “there is no doubt that with the UK now outside the negotiation, the voices wishing to maintain the status quo will be stronger.”

Defining “fair competition” A major apple of discord will likely remain the issue of “fair competition” and its definition within the future agreement, or more precisely, how this term will be defined by the EU. Gulf carriers fear that the term might be left abstract and that it could potentially be used against airlines in a way they have not envisaged. This was evident in the US-Gulf spat, when Gulf airlines not only refuted the subsidy allegations but also pointed out advantages and effective subsidies those US airlines receive. Similarly, Gulf carriers fear that for Air France and Lufthansa groups any fair competition definition would be shaped in a way to restrict the growth of Gulf airlines or make them inefficient.

As for Ahmad, like the US’ big three

“The reality is that the EU is simply too blinkered and not an honest broker because it focuses too much on protecting EU airlines, many of which are utterly incompetent, rather than do what’s right for passengers and give them more airline choices.”

SAJ AHMAD Aviation Analyst, Consultant & Media Commentator StrategicAero

airlines that have said slanderous and baseless things about GCC airlines, so too do EU airlines. Questioning their motive is on the spot because, like in the case of US airlines, it all boils down to EU carriers not wanting deregulation. So according to Strickland “the Gulf carriers have reason to be concerned, having already had to respond to the US carrier complaints.

That said, the detailed rebuttals which they prepared in that case will equally provide much evidence to defend the legitimacy of their business models and to highlight the wider economic benefits which their services bring, in the upcoming negotiations.”

Ahmad goes a step further, accusing the EU of being “not an honest assessor.

It will not have a mandate influenced by sound bites from CEOs that have done little to nothing to alter their business models to become more competitive, nor do they want to.” But according to him, GCC carriers have more than enough weaponry in their armoury to expose EU airlines’ interpretation of “fairness” when put into practice. This could be in the form of punitive GCC airport services, as well as reneging on any existing codeshare pacts.

If this is true, it would probably lead to a complete crash in the negotiations. This

is why Balfour expects that any provisions agreed are likely to be fairly abstract, not least because it is difficult to think of more specific provisions that could be formulated, and that this could work both to the disadvantage but also to the advantage of Gulf airlines, as it might be equally difficult for the EU side to make a convincing case based on vague language.

However, de Wit points out that the proposed text gives very specific definitions of the various aspects of fair competition and it is wise and understandable that the Qatar side is asking for further explanation of these definitions and accompanying texts. So, introducing provisions on fair competition will certainly remain the greatest hurdle and, depending on the details of what the Commission hopes to achieve, the Gulf side could find it difficult to agree on these.

“If I had to, I would predict that an agreement would be arrived at with liberal provisions on access and some fairly general protective wording about fair competition,” said Balfour. Finally, if an agreement is reached and the Gulf airlines decide that it is not working well from their point of view, they would always be able to terminate it in accordance with its termination provisions

“Brexit is likely to complicate these negotiations and lead to a potentially less liberal approach by the remaining EU States.”

JOHN STRICKLAND Director JLS Consulting

65 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

affairs > tag this

DECIPHERING TRUMP

The election of Donald Trump in the US is largely viewed as a coming flood that will change the face of the world. Qatar Today talks to political analysts and academics in order to separate rhetoric from realism and understand what this unprecedented and surprising turn of events will mean for the region.

AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

By Izdihar Ibrahim

Members of the Iraqi forces in Arbid, on the southern outskirts of Mosul, watch Donald Trump giving a speech after he won the US President election.

66 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

W

e can predict the features of the American policy that the Republican president-elect Donald Trump may follow towards the Middle East from the narrow circle of ministers and consultants whom he intends to appoint in his forthcoming administration, especially considering that most of the circulating names have engaged somehow with more than one of the Middle Eastern issues. It is expected that Trump’s policy would tend to avoid direct involvement with the problems of other nations and curtail foreign aid to avoid squandering American money, unless that is in the best interests and dictated by pressing needs of the United States. Even so, that will be confined to the narrowest level. Qatar Today meets with some experts to ask them about their expectations for the future American policy towards the Middle East under the administration of Donald Trump.

Trump's position towards the issues of the Middle East takes us back to the previous period of conservative policies of president administration of George W Bush Jr. when there was no coherent American policy and a continuous prejudice on the part of that administration in favour of Israel. The expected team which will work with the president will be more consistent with Israel’s right-wing parties. Besides, Trump considers the allies of the United States a burden, and thinks that they should handle their own affairs, confirming that he is going to review the relations of America with its allies and introduce a tangible change in its relations with other countries.

The Trump phenomenon is part of a bigger panorama represented in the rise of an extreme nationalistic current in the West with its apprehension about minorities and immigrants. This movement has found in the social phobias and security failures fertile soil to grow and attract more sympathizers and supporters. Trump in America, Le Pen in France and similar leaders in Europe are part of a growing political, social and intellectual elite that were able to convince the people in Europe

and America that they are the most capable of leading, upgrading and protecting their societies through stronger, more successful deterrents than previously seen against what they call “raging Islam”. The icons and leaders of the right-wing nationalism succeeded through their emotional rhetoric in changing the general opinion in the countries of Europe and America. Brexit, or the British withdrawal from the European Union, is only one of the manifestations of the success of the British conservative tide which is scared of the impact of immigrants on its identity and culture. Trump's success in reaching the top office is another clear sign of this spiraling right-wing tide which might rule Europe tomorrow as a reaction to the failure of its present systems to meet the challenges.

Mitchell said that “we cannot ignore the hostile statements of Trump made against Muslims and his obvious hostile position against immigrants. Thus we have to judge his future policy from this prospective”.

He added that “the difference may be that the position of the president of the United States requires more reasonable policies and a different rhetoric than that used in election campaigns. Perhaps what we saw in the victory speech is the best proof of that. While giving that speech the coming president of the United States appeared more reasonable, realistic and calmer, emphasising that the United States shall continue to uphold the concept of freedom, participation, capitalism and openness to the world”.

“Trump’s policy towards peace in Palestine will be a continuation of the policy of Bush Jr. based on abiding by the two-state solution and the continuation of negotiations without real pressure put on Israel to reach that goal.”

RAID FOUZI HAMOOD Director and Researcher Third World Institute for Research and Studies, Jordan

Joshua Mitchell, Head of the Government Department and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Qatar, views the relations of the United States with the Middle East pessimistically due to the rhetoric of Trump during his election campaign.

During the talk "America Decides – US presidential elections and their impact on US policy towards the Middle East", organised by Brookings Doha Center,

Trump and the Gulf States Trump thinks that America should reduce the massive support it extends to Saudi Arabia. He said, “Saudi Arabia should pay part of its wealth in return for the valuable alliance it has with the United States... The Saudis make billions of dollars on a daily basis. If it were not for the United States, Saudi Arabia would not have existed.” Most probably American-Saudi relations will not be at the forefront of Trump’s priorities, especially in light of their contradicting 67 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

affairs > tag this positions towards Syria. However, their shared animosity towards Iran may put the two parties on the same side, particularly due to the bitter hostility between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Dr Khalid Al Hroub, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Northwestern University in Qatar, confirmed in the same Brooking talk that the position of president-elect Donald Trump towards the Arab states of the Gulf is not clear, assuming that political realism will prevail in the policy of the American administration towards these countries in due course. He explained that the Trump's position during his election campaign was clear: he will not allow Iran to cause any trouble. This tone pleases the states in the Gulf. However, at the same time we find Trump attacking some countries in the region which reflects the uncertainty of his future policy towards these countries until now.

Position towards the peace process Donald Trump made many promises during his election campaign in favour of Israel.

Among these promises is the guarantee to maintain the military superiority of Tel Aviv during his tenure in office. He considers

relationship between Washington and Tel Aviv is eternal.”

In this regard Professor Hamood says, “The most probable name for the position of Secretary of State is the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Republican Newt Gingrich who is more extreme than the religious conservatives and secular Zionists in his positions toward the Palestinians. He once denied the existence of the Palestinian people, let alone gave his unreserved support for the military actions taken by Israel against the Palestinians. The role of hardliners expected to be in Trump’s inner circle of decision-makers will be strengthened if Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who is very well-known for his blind support for the Israeli right wing, is chosen as Secretary of Defense. He is also famous for organising solidarity visits to Israel when the Palestinian resistance used to carry out

the new American aid package to Israel amounting to $38 billion for 10 years not enough, especially in light of the challenges facing Israel including the Iranian nuclear programme and the Islamic State. He also said, “If I am elected president of the United States, I will end the days when the Israelis were treated like second-class citizens”. He also said, “it is very important to stop incitement against Jews.” On another occasion, he said, “Palestinians must come to the negotiating table, and the

its martyrdom operations in the heart of Israeli cities. At the same time Trump’s sonin-law, Jared Kushner, a Jewish man who acted as a contact point between Trump and all the Jewish organizations and Israel, will play an important role in the new administration, especially in relation to the Palestinian issue. This means that Trump’s policy towards the peace process will be a continuation of that of George W Bush, based on abiding by the two-state solution and the continuation of negotiations

Arabia, both of whom are financed and supported by Iran, ostensibly to fight against ISIS. “On the other hand, we cannot overlook the position of the new American president towards Iran and its nuclear project. He has declared his strong opposition to the nuclear accord signed with Iran, and considers Iran an occupation force. This indicates that Trump is seeking to find a balance between America’s relations with the Gulf States, and its conditions for that, which does not indicate an eminent or total change in the historical relations between America and these countries,” he said.

“We cannot ignore the hostile statements Trump made against Muslims and his obvious hostile position against immigrants. Thus we have to judge his future policy from this perspective.”

DR JOSHUA MITCHELL Head of the Government Department and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University in Qatar

Raid Fouzi Hamood, Director and Researcher at the Third World Institute for Research and Studies in Jordan, considers that the controversial victory of Trump raises the apprehension of the states in the Gulf, notably Saudi Arabia, about a changing American policy towards them, especially with regard to security and defence aspects at a time of heightened threats from Iran’s proxies in the region, starting with Al Houthis in the south and Al Hashd Al Shaabi of Iraq in the northeast of Saudi

68 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

without real pressure put on Israel to reach that goal. It also means that there is no systematic policy to bring the two sides to the negotiating table or force Israel to stop its settlement policy, with possible more support for Israel against the rising power of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The West Bank is not going to be at the forefront of America’s attention, which means that we are on the threshold of returning once more to extremism in the region, with the priority given to the Iranian portfolio.”

Dr Al Hroub detects a similarity in Trump’s and Clinton’s handling of the Palestinian cause, which is a core issue notwithstanding the wars and conflicts in the Middle East. “If no solution is found for this conflict between the Palestinians and Israel, fertile soil for many difficulties will be created. And when we look at Trump’s approach which involves a lot of support for Israel we feel more disappointed,” he said.

guard who wants to restore the powerful America, and doesn’t want his country to bear the responsibility of maintaining all regimes including the Syrian”.

Dr Al Hroub, on the other hand, thinks that American-Russian relations will dictate American policy towards many other issues, and that this is the beginning of the real test, foremost in the Syrian crisis, of Trump's position towards the Russian influence regionally and internationally and the American withdrawal from many regions of the world.

Dr Al Hroub said, “There is a short honeymoon between Trump and Putin, the Russian president. We have to follow up to see how things are going to evolve.

Trump is not going to consider democracy as a condition for a political settlement in Syria. He may accept that Al Assad and the Russians remain in Syria.”

the accord on his first day in office, but it is not expected that he can take such a decision. CIA director John Brennan warned the president-elect of the risk of discarding the accord, confirming that this would be “disastrous”. Brennan said in an interview, “First of all, for any administration to abrogate an agreement concluded by the previous administration would be an unprecedented thing to do,” adding that “such a step would motivate other countries to follow the footsteps of Iran and seek to have nuclear programs”.

He continued, “I think it would be very stupid of the next American administration to abrogate the Iranian nuclear accord”.

In the same context, Dr Al Hroub thinks that the future of AmericanIranian relations depends on this accord. Otherwise, and based on Trump’s statements to tear it up, greater

“There is a short honeymoon between Trump and Putin, the Russian president. We have to follow up to see how things are going to evolve. Trump is not going to consider democracy as a condition for a political settlement in Syria.

He may accept that Al Assad and the Russians remain in Syria.”

DR KHALID AL HROUB Professor of Middle Eastern Studies Northwestern University in Qatar

Relations with Russia and their effect on the Syrian crisis Hamood says, “It is not expected that Trump would insist on deposing the Syrian president. With the signs of growing rapprochement between the American policy institution and Russia, the Russian position is expected to be enhanced during the tenure of Trump who described President Putin, who helped him expose Clinton’s e-mail scandal, as a friend. Trump represents the old

The Iran question Trump opposes very strongly the nuclear accord signed by Western powers and Iran last year, and which led to the removal of international sanctions on the Islamic Republic in return for restrictions on its nuclear programme.

Trump considers this accord the worst of its kind as it put Iran, which he considers the first sponsor of extremist Islam, on the road to building a nuclear weapon.

Trump pledged that he would tear up

chaos than what is already there will be created. He added that it is still too early to guess what will happen in this respect. Because Iran is often seen in conjunction with Russia, it is not definite that Trump will follow the same political guidelines of Obama or change them altogether as understood from his recurrent statements. If he honours all the promises he made in his election campaign we will see a total restructuring of future international relations 69 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

business > marketwatch

POWER CHALLENGES OF THE FUTURE

Qatar Today chats with Mazen Zein, General Manager Qatar & Bahrain at Schneider Electric, about regional power trends and how the advent of renewable energy will require innovation that will take us out of our comfort zone.

F

rench multinational, Schneider Electric, recently opened a global business unit in Dubai to complement its three other headquarters in Paris, Boston and Hong Kong. With expertise in electrical distribution, process automation and the software that sits on top of these two to create further efficiencies, smartness and integration, Schneider Electric today finds itself present in every sector where power and automation is needed – oil & gas, utilities, water and waste water, mining, large and critical buildings like hospitals, airports, and so on. In Qatar, the company has a large presence with over 200 employees (more than half of whom

70 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

are engineers) working directly or through their local partners to provide equipment and solutions to clients like Qatar Petroleum, KAHRAMAA, Ashghal, Qatar Rail, Qatar Foundation, QDVC and Qatar Port, says Mazen Zein, General Manager Qatar & Bahrain.

He says 5% Schneider Electric’s global turnover goes towards R&D spending.

“While our global hubs create innovations, the big local hubs implement these locally.

Through our Dubai unit we are moving towards supporting the emerging markets of the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia. With this shift we hope for further focus on solutions and innovation specific to this area, for example meeting the

challenges of operating equipment in hot, dusty and humid conditions,” he says.

Connectivity is key And with the country’s increasing focus on smart cities, Zein expects schneider will continue to be an important behindthe-scenes player in helping Qatar realise its ambitions. “What value can Schneider Electric provide in the creation of smart cities? It’s all about making infrastructure more efficient. This can be done by providing IoT products and connected equipment in the first layer and, in the next layer, building systems that can integrate all these processes for monitoring and control from a central location. We also provide software

suites that sit on top of this to capture and analyse data to help create efficiencies and also further services. This can be achieved in districts, by connecting all the building management systems to control HVAC, lighting, energy spend, power, etc., from one control centre. Or similar results can be obtained by automating the utilities grid with a smart grid that is managed out of one software centre, like our Advanced Distribution Management System.”

The large-scale adoption of the smart city phenomenon hinges on the ongoing efforts in the industry to standardise the equipment. “The integration software that will read all these products has to be standard agnostic as well, like Schneider Electric’s Wonderware. The value we preach in the market is openness, to competitor software, to all protocols and standards that exist. We do not want to lock the customer in because we see efficiency, smartness and better services in being more open.” Obviously, the downside of this openness and luxury is the risk of security threats. “However, cybersecurity is now one of the core components of focus for governments and corporations,” says Zein. “It’s a key focus for us as well. For each equipment that we develop and connect, we try to find solutions that would protect it and keep the end user safe. We develop and use our partners’ cybersecurity solutions in different sectors. We definitely have our eyes open and try to open those of our customers as well.”

In this region, that has proved to be a relatively simple thing to do. “The end users here in the GCC are very open to the latest and smartest solutions, and in fact, they demand to have the best. We know at the connectivity level, we have the telecom infrastructure in place with extremely high levels of mobile penetration. All this is helping the adoption of the smart concept.

In my opinion Qatar is fertile ground for smart solutions and IoT and I would rank it among the top players globally,” Zein says. In the country, there are some sectors that are more enthusiastic than the rest in embracing these technologies.

“We are seeing increasing efforts in the oil and gas industry towards data collection, integration and connectivity of the big processes. Now we are seeing more and more of these types of systems in utility and real estate development as well.”

Hungry for more With the growth of Qatar’s economy and population, there is an ever-increasing

Hosted by KAHRAMAA, GCC Power 2016 was a forum for all stakeholders in the power sector to develop business relations and examine the issues and challenges facing the sector in the region. In addition, delegates learnt more about developments and strategies in the global power landscape to better meet the region’s rapidly expanding energy needs through a series of panel discussions and technical sessions.

demand for power and KAHRAMAA, which owns the generation capacity and the grid, is working hard towards keeping the supply steady. “We have been KAHRAMAA’s partners for a long time in providing them with customised equipment and automation systems to manage the grid, as they ramp up their efforts to make it smarter.” One of the challenges that KAHRAMAA is preparing for is expected increase in power generated from renewable sources. “Renewable energy is intermittent because it depends on many factors like time and weather. Since it is not stable, the grid should be able to manage this type of additional unpredictable load.

It’s necessary to diversify from fossil fuels but at the same time having to integrate renewables into the grid is a challenge.

KAHRAMAA has its eyes open to this fact and we at Schneider Electric have a lot of experience in integrating and managing renewable energy, including developing products to carry this electricity before it goes into the grid, like solar invertors. As KAHRAMAA works towards increasing its solar energy production, we hope to continue to be productive partners in this endeavour.”

The conversations and action driven by climate change will continue to influence new investments and retrofitting on the capacity that we have now, Zein says. “Not only are we obliged to make processes more efficient but also to make more space for renewables in the energy portfolio. This is no less true of countries like Qatar where energy is cheap.” He has no doubt that in the coming years everyone will be pushed out of their comfort zone and forced to innovate. “From utilities to the private

sector who sell mainstream solutions towards fossil fuel-based generation, to different players in the energy and power ecosystem, this is a big shift that has to be embraced. It won’t come cheap but it has to be done. This is our legacy for the generations to come,” he says.

For companies like Schneider Electric, this will pose interesting challenges in integrating energy from different sources and maintaining a grid that isn’t centralised. “Today energy is being shipped in one direction only, from power plant to user. Soon, different centres will be feeding the grid from different directions. And you’ll have consumers generating energy in their roofs, becoming both producers and consumers. We’ll need new types of systems in the grid to integrate microgeneration. We won’t be able to transmit and distribute through the main elements we are using now,” he says.

Qatar case Zein says he is proud of the fact that a major part of their business in Qatar is done through local partners. “These are small and medium businesses working with us, assembling or distributing our products in the market. This is one of the reasons why we are able to maintain a market leader position in the different solutions that we provide. It’s thanks to these local players who we are developing, training on the product and industrial level, having them up and running in implementing our solution. This is an aspect I am very proud of because we are contributing to the local economy and SME ecosystem through capacity building and these efforts are rewarded with a leadership position in the market.”

71 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

development > tech talk

SMARTPHONE MARKET MATURES

Chinese manufacturers are driving growth in the smartphone market as sector leaders Samsung and Apple sputter.

T SNAP IMAGE Snapchat unveiled camera-equipped sunglasses that thrust the messaging app maker into the cutthroat hardware business, a risky move that reflects its strength in video, but follows a shaky record by Internet giants. Snapchat revealed Spectacles, a $130 pair of stylish sunglasses outfitted with a camera that with a tap of a button near the hinge can record up to 10 seconds of video at a time. The one-size-fitsall glasses, which come in black, teal or coral and will be available this fall in limited quantities, are designed to connect to a smartphone so Snapchat users easily can share videos through the app.

he survey by Gartner Inc. showed that in the third quarter, three Chinese vendors – Huawei, Oppo and BBK Communication Equipment – together accounted for 21% of the smartphones sold worldwide, and were the only vendors in the top five to increase sales.

“Sales of smartphones in China grew by 12.4%, and the vendors who most successfully exploited the sales opportunities there were Oppo and BBK,” said Gartner analyst Anshul Gupta.

Gartner’s survey confirmed other reports showing Samsung and Apple at the top of the global market but with slipping sales.

The research firm said Samsung’s market share dropped to 19.2% amid the fiasco over its Galaxy Note7 smartphones, which were recalled and then halted after overheating batteries led to fires. Apple’s share dropped to 11.5% as the iPhone maker failed to get much benefit from Samsung’s woes, Gartner said. Gartner said overall smartphone sales in the quarter rose by 5.4% to 373 million units.

THE MIDDLE EAST AMAZON E-COMMERCE ON THE RISE SIZE OF QATAR’S E-COMMERCE MARKET IN 2014

QR8.44

BILLION

BUSINESS-TO-CONSUMER (B2C) SHARE OF THE E-COMMERCE MARKET

A group of investors, led by UAE businessman Mohamed Alabbar and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, launched the largest platform for e-commerce in the Arab world – Noon.com.

I

n a press conference held in Dubai last month announcing the platform, the Dubaibased billionaire stated that the platform will start its work in Saudi Arabia and the UAE simultaneously in January, and will start by offering 20 million products. The Saudi Wealth Fund will invest in a stake of 50%, while the other half will be owned by Alabbar and other regional investors. Sources expected that the new e-shopping platform will enjoy high technical and logistical potential, and will open branches in several Arab countries.

The company will also accompany the latest developments in e-commerce, including payment and delivery and a consumer rights operations sector.

72 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

44%

(QR3.71 BILLION)

BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS (B2B) SHARE OF THE E-COMMERCE MARKET

56%

(QR4.73 BILLION)

WORLDWIDE, THE B2B MARKET SEGMENT MAKES UP

2%

OF E-COMMERCE, ACCORDING TO A NEW REPORT BY THE MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT & COMMUNICATIONS.

A NEW STAR EMERGES Medical researcher Sadeem Qdaisat was named the Arab world’s top innovator in the thrilling finale of Stars of Science held in Doha.

S

adeem’s winning innovation, ‘GenomiQ’, which aims at eliminating human error and significantly cutting down on the time needed to test genetic samples through an automated process, earned him a winning score of 36.8% in a combined jury and public vote, and a prize of $300,000 in seed funding. "This means we’re ready to help cancer patients, to ease their pain and to provide them with better results,” said the 28-year-old PhD candidate from Jordan. “I’m dedicating this win to all the lives that have been lost to cancer, and I promise to continue to fight for everyone still in treatment and with diagnoses.”

MORE FB PRESENCE IN THE UK

FACEBOOK WILL EXPAND ITS PRESENCE IN THE UK BY 50% WHEN IT OPENS ITS NEW LONDON HEADQUARTERS IN 2017, THE US TECHNOLOGY GIANT HAS ANNOUNCED. IT WILL HIRE 500 ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES, INCLUDING ENGINEERS, MARKETERS, PROJECT MANAGERS AND SALES STAFF.

QATARI YOUTH THE REGION’S MOST “CYBER-SMART” Qatar ranks first in the Middle East in introducing youth to the Internet and cybersecurity, according to a new survey commissioned by Raytheon Company and the US National Cyber Security Alliance.

“Q

atar’s investment in education and the STEM subjects have long been focus areas for its leadership, who have placed great emphasis on this area as a catalyst to build the nation’s knowledge economy,” said Yezen Munir, president of Raytheon International Inc. in Qatar. “The results of our survey reflect the nation’s efforts, which will help bridge the gap of the cyber talent shortage that we’re seeing in the region and around the world. Raytheon also is exploring ways to further expand cyber awareness and training opportunities for youth and young adults in Qatar.”

THE SURVEY FACTS

98%

OF YOUNG ADULTS IN QATAR WERE INTRODUCED TO COMPUTERS IN SCHOOL BY AGE 12, COMPARED TO THE 82% AVERAGE FOUND IN THE MIDDLE EAST REGION AND WORLDWIDE

76%

OF QATARI STUDENTS WERE TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS ABOUT STAYING SAFE ON THE INTERNET, COMPARED TO THE 55% GLOBAL AVERAGE

78%

OF QATARI YOUTH ARE MORE LIKELY NOW THAN A YEAR AGO TO CONSIDER A CAREER TO MAKE THE INTERNET SAFER. QATAR RANKS HIGHER THAN THE 58% AVERAGE IN THE REGION AND 37% GLOBAL AVERAGE

51%

OF QATARI YOUTH REPORTED THEIR SCHOOLS OFFERED CLASSES THAT PREPARED THEM TO PURSUE A CAREER IN CYBERSECURITY, COMPARED TO THE 54% REGIONAL AVERAGE AND 37% GLOBAL AVERAGE

57%

OF YOUNG ADULTS IN QATAR LISTED THEIR PARENTS AS THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF SAFE AND SECURE INTERNET HABITS, HIGHER THAN THE 41% AVERAGE WORLDWIDE

59%

OF QATARI YOUNG ADULTS SAID PARENTS ARE THE MOST INFLUENTIAL FIGURE FOR YOUTH LOOKING FOR CAREER ADVICE, COMPARED TO 40% GLOBALLY 73 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

business > marketwatch

EXPLORING TASTE BUDS Qatar-based Abu Issa Holding, expanded its operations in Dubai with the opening today of its first restaurant in the Emirate, Divan Patisserie at Dubai Mall.

T

he new restaurant at Dubai Mall is only the second Divan Patisserie in the Middle East, following an opening in Doha, Qatar, in 2015.

Nabil Abu Issa, Vice Chairman, Abu Issa Holding, sees great opportunity for growth in Dubai. "Our long history in this region is unparalleled, and we manage an incredible portfolio of brands and businesses representing hundreds of industries and companies across three continents. Divan Patisserie is only the first of many retail and restaurant concepts we plan for the UAE," he said. Other brands within the Abu Issa Holding portfolio include high-end fashion brands Brooks Brothers, Elie Saab, MCM, Cole Haan and Aigner. In addition to international brands, the company manages its own lifestyle house brands focusing on jewellery, home furnishings, electronics and fashion.

74 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

LUXURY EXEMPLIFIED Qatar International Boat Show 2016 reveals new exhibitors and sponsors ahead of its show.

S

ilver Fast, the fastest long-range cruising yacht, will moor in Qatar for the first time at this year's Qatar International Boat Show 2016, making it the biggest yacht to dock at Mourjan Marinas and the largest-ever at the event itself. The announcement was made at a press conference alongside the latest announcement of this year's prestigious sponsors and exhibitors

Katara Hospitality, Ali Bin Ali Luxury and Behnemar. "As we move into the fourth edition of this yearĂ­s show, we are privileged to announce Silver Fast will be presented by our esteemed exhibitor Behnemar. As one of the most anticipated events on the maritime industry calendar, we strive to showcase the world's premier offerings and services," said Nader Samaan, Director of Qatar International Boat Show 2016.

EXPANDING FLEET

Air Arabia, the Middle East and North Africa's first and largest low-cost carrier, announced that it has confirmed options for five additional Airbus A320 aircraft.

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he five new Airbus A320 aircraft will be put into service starting second quarter 2017 backlog and have a book value of $485 million. These new aircraft will join Air Arabia's expanding fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft currently serving over 120 routes from five operational hubs. Adel Abdulla Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer of Air Arabia said, "Today, we operate one of the youngest fleets in the world and this approach will continue to drive our fleet growth strategy for the future. Our customers can expect the same cabin comfort and spacious seat configuration with the new five aircraft joining the fleet."

SMART AND CHIC LG Electronics newest smartphone V20 that sets a new baseline for multimedia capabilities in smartphones is now available across all Jumbo Electronics showrooms and leading hypermarkets.

CLASS REDEFINED Swiss luxury watchmaker and aviation chronograph specialist, Breitling has officially launched its Navitimer GMT Aurora Blue chronograph in Qatar during a special event at the Breitling Boutique in Doha.

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aunched in collaboration with Breitling's local retail partner, Blue Salon at a special launch event, the aviation-inspired chronograph is a limited edition series of 1,000 pieces, featuring an exclusive blue dial with a discreet sunburst decor. A Manufacture Breitling Caliber B04 beating inside the large steel case of the model powers the high-performance chronograph combined with an extremely functional dual timezone system. Contrasting with the blue dial, the red-tipped hand displays

the wearer's home time in 24-hour mode, thus serving to distinguish day from night. A transparent sapphire crystal caseback enables users to admire the movement certified, by the COSC (Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute).

Aed Adwan, Breitling Middle East, said: "It made perfect sense, in a region synonymous with some of the worldís leading airlines and renowned as a global aviation hub, for us to collaborate with our partners Blue Salon to mark its arrival with this special event."

The V20 is designed for users who want to create professional-looking content and differentiates itself from competing devices with its professionalgrade visual and audio features. When it comes to video recording, this smartphone's Steady Record 2.0 neutralizes shaky images using both electronics image stabilization (EIS) built into a Qualcomm Snapdragonô 820 processor in addition to digital image stabilization (DIS) in post-processing.

The V20 captures audio using 24-bit/48 kHz Linear Pulse Code Modulation (LPCM), the same format used in professional video equipment.

The V20 not only records Hi-Fi audio but also supports optimal playback with Hi-Fi Quad DAC to minimize distortion and noise by up to 50%, a first for a smartphone. In designing the V20's audio features, LG collaborated once again with renowned European audio brand B&O PLAY, the company within Bang & Olufsen that develops innovative portable audio products. "Today's users arenít just consuming and sharing content, theyíre savvy enough to create it as well," said Mr Sajed Jassim Mohammed Sulaiman, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Video Home & Electronic Centre.

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business > marketwatch

BRIDGING GAPS IN BUSINESS CNA-Q’s Corporate Services Department offers training solutions to Qatar’s businesses.

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ollege of the North Atlantic Qatar believes that learning is a lifelong adventure, to be pursued at any age. Beyond the 30 academic programmes tailored towards preparing Qatari youth for the workforce, the College’s Corporate Services Department offers professional development and training solutions for business, industry, and government in the State of Qatar. The department uses the college’s world-class facilities, applied learning techniques and expert instructors to design enhanced leadership offerings for Qatar’s businesses.

One of the more popular offerings is a leadership development training programme called TAWASUL. The key client for the TAWASUL Programme is Qatar Petroleum (QP). The primary audience for the programme, which is offered on-site at CNA-Q’s state-of-the-art campus, is Qatari QP senior employees, including managers and department heads. TAWASUL focuses on three areas: confidence, persuasion and presence.

This year’s TAWASUL programme Presenting to Influence and Persuade , is being delivered in three five-day modules.

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This is the fourth year that Corporate Services has successfully delivered the TAWASUL Programme for QP and its developing leaders. A high percentage of QP employees who complete the programme have received promotions.

Another programme, called Adaptive Leadership, was also delivered to 20 Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) senior Qatari Managers entirely in Arabic. Drawing on Harvard University best practices in executive training and leadership development, this 10-day training programme, held over two weeks in October and November, was followed by two days of programme evaluations. It coached senior PHCC Qatari executives to become more effective leaders, offering them tools needed to seek out innovative ways of providing exceptional healthcare through strategic planning and implementation.

“This has been one of the most informative, engaging and interactive courses that I have attended. The learning environment is conducive to collaborating with other participants and the instructor has proven himself an expert in leadership and development practices and a master facilitator,” said Dr Mohamed El Kilani,

Head of Non-Clinical Training at PHCC. “Overall, my experience at the College of the North Atlantic - Qatar has been a very transformative one.”

In addition to these leadership programmes, the Corporate Services Department is in close collaboration with CNA-Q’s academic School of Health Sciences to meet the needs of 3,000 allied health professionals by offering 109 accredited Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities. Healthcare practitioners in Qatar require 80 CPD credits every two years as a condition of licensing. Most CPD activity offerings are “sold out” shortly after they are publicized.

CNA-Q’s School of Health Sciences has been accredited by the Ministry of Public Health’s Qatar Council for Health Practitioners (QCHP) as a preferred provider of CPD activities in support of medical licensing in the State since 2013. Last year, the School volunteered to be part of QCHP’s pilot of a new and improved accreditation process. A detailed self-study was submitted for review in August 2015, followed by a site visit from the QHCP accreditation team the following October, with accreditation being granted in early 2016

business > auto news

FERRARI FEVER The GTC4Lusso and 488GTB, signature offerings from the stables of Ferrari, each come with their own set of unbeatable specs, combining luxury and performance to deliver a top-class driving experience.

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aranello’s latest interpretation of the fourseater concept – Ferrari GTC4Lusso – combines extraordinary performance in all driving conditions with sporty elegance and luxurious comfort for both driver and passengers alike. Intense research and development has boosted the 6,262 cc V12’s maximum power output to 690 cv, making the GTC4Lusso the most powerful car in its segment. Both its 2.6 kg/cv weight-topower-ratio and its 13.5:1 compression ratio set new records. The GTC4Lusso also benefits from an improvement in specific emissions, producing just 0.51g CO2/km/ cv compared to the FF’s 0.55g. On the flanks there is now a three-louvre air vent that recalls that of the 330 GTC. Ducts behind the louvres lead to both the engine compartment and the front wheel arch, thus reducing internal pressure which not only cuts drag but also boosts downforce. The GTC4Lusso marks another major advance, by introducing new control and integration logics with the evolved 4RM-S system which includes rear-wheel steering. At the heart of

the system is the innovative use of the PTU, a Ferrari patent that delivers four-wheel drive but still, uniquely, maintains 53% of the car’s weight at the rear whilst weighing 50% less than conventional 4WD systems.

The Magnaride SCM-E damper control is also an integrated part of the 4RM-S to ensure the GTC4Lusso delivers not just superb grip and traction but also comfort on road surfaces of all types. Another first for the GTC4Lusso is the new Dual Cockpit architecture designed to enhance the shared driving experience for both driver and passenger. The climate control system’s maximum performance levels were another area of focus and it now delivers the desired temperature 25% faster. Low-E glass incorporates a technology that boosts incar comfort whilst reducing heat exchange between exterior and interior.

Top of its class The new Ferrari 488GTB not only delivers unparalleled performance, it also makes that extreme power exploitable and controllable to an unprecedented level even by less expert drivers. Its all-new 3,902 cc V8 turbo is at the top of its class in

terms of power output, torque and response times. It delivers 670 cv at 8,000 rpm and a response time to the accelerator of just 0.8 seconds (at 2,000 rpm in third gear), making it the new benchmark for this kind of architecture, thanks in part to innovative work carried out on the turbine to reduce friction and inertia. Aside from integrating with the car’s F1-Trac and E-Diff, the SSC2 now also controls the active dampers, which renders the car’s dynamic behaviour during complex manoeuvres even flatter and more stable. This 3,902 cc power unit is the Prancing Horse’s most high-performance engine ever with zero turbo lag and a unique, seductive soundtrack. Consequently, the Ferrari 488GTB sprints from 0-100 km/h in 3 seconds flat and from 0-200 km/h in just 8.3. Also available for the Ferrari 488 GTB is the telemetry system, developed from that employed on the LaFerrari, and a high-end audio system with 12 speakers and a 1,280 Watt amp with Quantum Logic technology for a pure, powerful sound. A new colour, Rosso Corsa Metallizzato, was developed to underscore this model’s supremely sporty character as well as its unique elegance and exclusivity 77 > QATAR TODAY > DECEMBER 2016

business > auto news

UNRIVALLED POWER

Ferrari reaffirms its ability to unleash a spectrum of emotions with the launch of the 488 Passione Rossa.

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nspired by the passion and adrenaline of the 488 range, Ferrari showcases the agility, responsiveness and breathless exhilaration of the 488GTB and 488 Spider. The Ferrari 488 is the latest chapter in Maranello’s ongoing history of open-top V8 sports cars and has the most powerful mid-rearengined V8 car to date. It combines elegance with innovative technological advancement that renders it fast, agile and dynamic with an emotional response underlining the iconic status of the Prancing Horse stable.

NISSAN DEBUTS NEW HYBRID SERIES

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issan Motor Co. Ltd’s new drive system marks a significant milestone in the electrification strategy under Nissan Intelligent Mobility with e-POWER which is now available to consumers. E-POWER borrows from the EV technology perfected in the Nissan LEAF with more than 250,000 units sold. Unlike the LEAF, it also adds a small gasoline engine to charge the high-output battery when necessary, eliminating the need for an external charger. This system features full electric-motor drive and delivers massive torque almost instantly, which enhances drive response and results in smooth acceleration. The e-POWER system allows you to enjoy all the benefits of an EV without having to worry about charging the battery.

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REDEFINING DRIVING DYNAMICS The new 2017 GMC Acadia gains refined power and efficiency.

Available in three distinct trim levels including SLE, SLT and Denali, the new 2017 Acadia offers customers a midsize crossover positioned between the compact GMC Terrain and full-size Yukon. Depending on the model, it is available with five-, six- or seven-passenger seating, while offering greater manoeuvrability and enhanced driving dynamics over the outgoing model. The Acadia delivers a more refined experience. It is lighter and equipped with a powerful and more efficient V6 engine, coupled with a new, available, 3.6L V-6 engine certified at 310 horsepower, delivering fuel efficiency of 11.2 L/100km on the combined cycle for the FWD models and 11.7 L/100km for AWD. The new V6 features direct injection, variable valve timing as well as Active Fuel Management (Cylinder Deactivation) that is paired with a six-speed automatic transmission and a drive mode selector. “Built on a new, lighter body structure, the 2017 Acadia is completely redesigned to appeal to the Medium SUV market. It inspires confidence, has a finely crafted interior and segment-leading performance and safety specifications,” says Mohammed Helmy, Group General Manager, Mannai Auto.

YEAR-END PROMOTIONS FROM MASERATI

Maserati Qatar launches exciting offers on its range of luxury models.

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lfardan Sports Motors, the official dealer of Maserati Qatar, has announced a choice of exclusive offers on its high-performance models. Customers are entitled to a complimentary Master Maserati Driving Course in Italy next year upon purchasing the brand-new Maserati Ghibli or Quattroporte. This promotion comes with value-added benefits including Business

Class return air tickets, five-year warranty and five-year service. As an alternative, customers also receive the option of taking home cashback benefits worth QR60,000.

“We are delighted to introduce this oneof-a-kind offer to our customers, which brings us closer to our goal of providing a first-hand experience of Italian heritage and craftsmanship that the brand is

RENAULT BAGS ARABWHEELS AWARD

The new Renault Koleos wins Best Compact SUV of the Year 2016.

Organised by ArabWheels Magazine, the ArabWheels Awards is an annual award intended to recognize and acknowledge the latest and greatest of the automotive world. Sofiane Merrad, Sales Director at Renault Middle East, was pleased to take to the stage and collect the trophy. Speaking at the event, he said, “We are honoured to receive such recognition from a prominent motoring media along with customers from the region. The new Renault Koleos is the perfect flagship of Renault’s new brand identity. The SUV has already made promising debuts within the whole GCC”. Speaking about Renault’s award, Editor in Chief, Issam Eid, said, “I personally loved the all-new Koleos since its first drive back in Paris this summer. Renault has overcome many obstacles to make the best, most significant 4x4 on the market. The Koleos does everything well and most things remarkably; it’s a great all-round vehicle at an authentic, valuefor-money price. Koleos beats off firm opposition from its current rivals and picks up the 'Compact SUV' ArabWheels Award!"

revered for. The Master Maserati Driving Course serves as a unique opportunity for our clients to master the fundamentals of sports driving at the hands of Maserati experts, right in the heart of Italy,” commented Charly Dagher, General Manager, Maserati Qatar-Alfardan Sports Motors. The offer is currently valid until December 30 for the 2016 models of the Maserati Ghibli and Quattroporte ranges.

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affairs > QT take

THE ART IN BEAUTY

Beauty isn’t just skin-deep at Qatar’s first Korean dermatology clinic. It’s as deep as the celestial explosion pasted above snow-capped mountains at night in Kang Chan Mo’s "Sky filled with lights showing endless love", or a calming acrylic-on-canvas contemplation of the volcanic Korean island of Jeju, in Kim Sung Oh’s "JejuOreum".

By Roger Smith

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pon entering what appears to be a well-heeled villa in Onaiza, Doha, contemporary Korean art follows you everywhere like an art gallery gone too far. Large and small paintings and LED TVs beaming slow-moving art line the walls of the lobby, the walkways, the stairways, the waiting rooms, the treatment rooms, all in a bid to infuse spatial beauty and aesthetics into an experience that promises to enhance your outer beauty and aesthetics.

His hands resting gently upon his lap, Dr Seok Beom Park, the President of Leaders Skin Group & Clinic, quietly regards Korean media artist Lee Lee Nam’s video art dancing seamlessly across six vertically hung TV screens in the men’s waiting room – a little girl dragging a captive moon through her neighbourhood at night – testing the limits of both imagination and

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physical dimension.

“I thought introducing our clients to Korean art, which you can find all through the clinic, is a good way to initiate treatment,” says Dr.Seok Park, introducing the clinic which opened earlier this month and offers a range of beauty and medical treatments along with a bunch of aesthetic specialties. “Some of these treatments can be stressful for the clients or might make them nervous. I reckon when they see and absorb these wonderful works of art around them, they would feel a lot calmer, relaxed, and enjoy the whole experience.”

Park’s measured ploy to use art as a hook to pull in his prospective, high-flying clientele surely defies the norm. While the treatments operate on the surface - skin brightening, skin hydration, skin rejuvenation, hair removal, hormone therapy, body massages, body contouring

procedures, anti-ageing solutions, and so on – the art trip delves deep within, putting a fresh spin on the cut-and-dry clinic cliche.

On display are works of 11 Korean artists – Lee Lee Nam, Kwon Ki Ja, Kim Jae II, Kang In Ok, Kang Chan Mo, Park Myung Sun, Yu Kyung Hwa, Ryu Young Shin, Kim Sung Oh, Kim Man Hee, and Maeng Ki Ho – and most seem to explore interesting ideas. Kim Jae II’s acrylic on fibreglass resin series titled Vestige, adheres to his style of creating three-dimension sculptural expressions and two-dimension pictorial expressions in one screen, visualising the universe and its worlds. By the stairway, there’s Lee Nam’s retelling of a Western classic – Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring painting but with digital tears misting up the TV frame.

Returning to Kang Chan Mo’s aweinspiring "Sky filled with lights showing

“I thought introducing our clients to Korean art, which you can find all through the clinic, is a good way to initiate treatment,” DR. SEOK PARK President Leaders Skin Group & Clinic

ALL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY LEADERS SKIN GROUP AND CLINIC.

endless love", adorning the clinic’s upper story hallway, the piece is an extension of the artist’s “belief in the being and a deep idea of purity”. Mo’s reverence for nature and the divine silence that often accompanies it emerges in a burst of natural colour and pigment on Korean paper as a constellation of stars and shapes lay freezeframed above the snowy Himalayan range on an especially blue night.

The art pieces are courtesy of Asan Gallery, which, since its initial opening in 2006, has exhibited across the world, including the USA, Europe, East-Asia and the Middle East. Some works though are privately owned by Park. “We rolled out this concept of putting together an art gallery inside our skin-care clinics even in Korea, but none of them boasts of the scale, the quality, or numbers of this collection,” says Park.

The vast untapped potential of the Doha market is what brought Park to Qatar. “As a Korean dermatology clinic, we would have faced some competition in UAE. Qatar, however, is booming and is more welcoming of such a concept,” explains Park. “I know that many Qataris spend a lot of money travelling abroad just to avail expensive aesthetic treatments and surgeries. I even learnt that in quite some instances, they found the outcome to be unsatisfactory and were upset over it. I don’t like to see Qataris stepping out for such treatments when they can spend

less here in Doha and get the best results with us.”

Having specialised in chronic and relapsing skin conditions, Park has conducted quite some research in resistant skin diseases and aesthetic surgeries. It’s that same strain of passion that he extends to his love for art. “To find top-quality art work in the clinic environs is something few would expect,” he says. “I’d love to see how people react to this experience.”

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city life > doha diary JUST GO WITH THE FLOW Careem, the region's leading app-based car booking service, has expanded its services across Doha with the launch of 'GO'.

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areem GO, the most affordable option where prices start as low as QR10 per trip makes use of smaller car models, such as the Honda City, Nissan Sunny and Kia Cerato, and offers users the choice to pay by either cash or card. "Our aim is to make people's lives simpler and offer greater mobility for residents across Doha. GO allows us to provide an option that is equally convenient and reliable as the Careem service familiar to users, yet more affordable. This is especially suited to short rides across town," said Ibrahim Manna, GM, Careem Qatar.

LUXURY EXTENDED W Hotels Worldwide, now part of Marriott International, announced that it will open W Algarve in 2018 on Portugal's stunning sun-kissed Algarve coast.

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his debut will mark the third W Escape in Europe, located on 250,000 square meters of beachfront on the central Algarve coastline. W Algarve is an escape for extraordinary experiences which is set to ignite the local scene with its electrifying style, innovative design, and full calendar of exclusive W Happenings, showcasing what's new / next in fashion, music and design. The hotel will offer 134 stylish guest rooms and suites, including two Extreme WOW Suites, the W brand's reinterpretation of the Presidential Suite.

For those looking for a permanent home on Portugal's golden coast, Nozul Algarve

S.A., the owner of the W Algarve, will offer 81 W-branded Residences for purchase, featuring one, two and three-bedroom units with spectacular ocean views. Mr Ali Jaidah, Chairman of Nozul Algarve S.A. said: "The perfect place for those who enjoy the sun and the sea, Portugal is a blessed destination with a wonderful coastline that is bathed in sunshine all year round.

W Algarve will become the new destination within the Algarve and will also bring exciting new employment opportunities to the local area. We believe in the future of Portugal and decided to invest in our second W Hotel after W Doha."

READING IS A MUST As part of the National Reading Campaign, HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation, visited the 'Characters' Village'.

FOR THE LOVE OF FILM-MAKING The fourth Ajyal Youth Film Festival screened 70 thought-provoking films from 33 countries celebrating the theme of positive social change this December.

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he film festival presented by the Doha Film Institute marked its opening with the gala screening of The Eagle Huntress (Mongolia, UK, USA/2016), a spectacularly shot, inspiring Mongolian adventure that underlines the strong bond betwen a father and daughter.

Fatma Al Remaihi, Festival director and CEO of DFI, said, "We are delighted to open the fourth edition of our festival with a film that not only celebrates the values of familial bonding but also highlights the power of a the human mind to beat all

odds. The Eagle Huntress is a profound tale of that is also marked by amazing cinematic techniques that will give fresh insights for our emerging filmmakers and leave a lasting impression on our Ajyal jurors." More than 500 jurors from the ages of 8 to 21 who make up the Ajyal Competition jury watched and analysed a dynamic programme of films under three competitive sections – Mohaq, Hilal and Bader – followed by discussions and events including panels, workshops and Q&A sessions with film-makers.

The innovative event took place at Education City's Ceremonial Court and Green Spine recently, which aimed at inspiring a new generation of readers by nurturing a love of books from an early age. The event was designed around the National Reading Campaign's six exciting children's fictional characters: Little Red Riding Hood, Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, Joha, Little Lulu, and Sinbad, with activities around each mascot encouraging a 'learning through play' approach. Her Excellency Sheikha Hind visited the event's various "edutainment" areas and engaged with children from the community.

"The need to create new and original tools to help children learn is becoming increasingly important in todayís constantlyevolving world," said Her Excellency. "This initiative epitomises that belief, as it aims at encouraging curiosity, unlocking imagination, and foster a passion for knowledge in young minds."

CULTURE GALORE Qatar Museums presented the 'Cultures, From Different Angles' exhibit, a photography exhibition showcasing the best works from Qatari and Chinese photographers, in Building 19 in Katara Cultural Village from November 7 to November 30.

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A day in the life of...

Evridiki Iliaki Founder and CEO, Elite Consulting LLC Head, How Women Work

Qatar Today follows the daily routines of professionals around the country from all walks of life.

By Sindhu Nair

Ask certified business and life coach, Evridiki Iliaki, which is the most daunting task involved in bringing together women from all facets of life in Qatar to work on issues that concern them and she thinks hard and replies, “Nothing. Actually, because I love every facet of this networking process and love to bring women together, and to listen and be inspired by them.”

And if for a moment you thought that all this is part of her PR nerve, think again. Here is one woman who with her smiling and friendly nature has managed to remain committed to her dream of wellness and finding balance in her life while imparting this deep philosophy to all the members. She has taken on the baton of How Women Work from Caroline Zeitler, the founder of this group formed in 2009, to support, encourage and find work for women in Qatar.

Iliaki, a Greek expatriate and now an entrepreneur in Qatar, starts her day by spending a few minutes introspecting about the things she is thankful for – her health and family – before she spends time on her “super food” or breakfast. She also indulges in aerobics and then ends this intense form of exercise with her breathing techniques and stretching poses.

Before she sits at her desk to tackle the day ahead, she plays some relaxing music and makes a cup of Indian herbal tea. She then prioritises her work commitments and puts it all down in her diary. She picks on the five most important things that have to be finished in that particular day and she tackles those chores in the order of importance. Iliaki feels blessed to be to working for HWW and on most days, even the stressful days, she enjoys what she does. Her background is non-profit and she sees her work as her true career purpose and as service to others. She even advised us to focus first on our health before pursuing our deadlines to get the magazines to print.

As she has been a mentor and counselor for 15 years, she has clients around the world and is invited to give seminars.

She has met so many super-successful people who have experienced a burn-out, so she decided this year that HWW should raise awareness about success and wellness of women.

She says, “These two things should co-exist.”

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Illaki sometimes practices martial arts, takes Bollywood dance lessons, walks by the sea, meets friends or watches documentaries. She tries to either stay away from social media or to limit its use. Just before she goes to bed she again spends time feeling grateful for what she has, and this last thought before she shuts her eyes makes her sleep with a smile on her face. Life seems so much less uncomplicated and simple, looking at it from Illaki’s balanced version of it.