Former Minister of Energy H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada (7th right) with prominent engineers from Qatar and other GCC countries during 24th Gulf Engineering Forum in Doha, yesterday.
Doha: The 24th Gulf Engineering Forum yesterday began in Doha with marathon discussion sessions and tabling research papers on key issues like reducing carbon footprint in GCC countries, digital transformation, smart services and waste recycling.
Under the auspices of Prime Minister, the three-day event entitled ‘Environmental Engineering and Sustainability’ is being organised by Ministry of Municipality, Gulf Engineering Federation and Qatar Society of Engineers at Sheraton Hotel.
The opening ceremony was attended by Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing of Saudi Arabia H E Majid bin Abdullah Al Hogail, Assistant Undersecretary for Urban Planning Affairs and at the Ministry of Municipality and Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee of the 24th Gulf Engineering Forum Eng Fahd Muhammad Al Qahtani, Secretary-General of the Gulf Engineering Union Eng Mohammad Ali Al Khuzai and Secretary General of the Federation of Arab Engineers Dr. Adel Al Hadithi.
Minister of Municipality H E Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie said that Qatar is keen through its National Vision 2030, to achieve a balance among the components of sustainable development, which includes community development, economic development and environmental sustainability, engaging all government and private institutions and community members.
To protect the environment and sustainable development, he said, a number of plans and integrated goals especially eco-friendly projects are being implementing utilizing solar power and district cooling technologies and energy saving lighting on the pattern of the stadiums of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
The Minister said that sorting and recycling rate of waste generated during the World Cup reached 100 percent, first time in the history of FIFA World Cup.
Thus, he said, Qatar has achieved a rate of zero waste or 100% sustainable treatment, after converting these wastes into reusable materials or into clean energy.
“The Ministry is working within its strategic plans to improve the standard of living and quality of life through urban development and optimal planning for modern cities, through the implementation of the comprehensive urban plan for the Qatar, and the establishment of urban centers in municipalities,” said the Minister.
He said that Qatari cities witnessed a renaissance and sustainable urban development in recent years, which qualified them all to obtain the title of a healthy city from the World Health Organization, so that Qatar became the first country to obtain all its cities to obtain this health accreditation.
The Minister said that six Qatari cities also obtained membership in the Unesco Global Network of Learning Cities, for applying best practices in the areas of sustainability, and its efforts to educate community members about the importance of sustainability.
“The Ministry of Municipality, in cooperation and partnership with various governmental and private agencies and civil society, has also completed ‘Plant Million Tree’ initiative.”
He said that Qatar will host Expo 2023 Doha, from October 2, 2023 to March 28, 2024, under the slogan “Green Desert, Better Environment”, addressing challenges faced by hot desert countries in the field of desertification and sustainability, and propose solutions to promote a prosperous green life in the desert.
Addressing the event, Eng Mohammad Ali Al Khuzai said Qatar attached great importance towards environmental issues and its sustainability in the present and the future, in order to provide a healthy and sound life and preserve the environment.
He said that the best evidence of this is its organization the World Cup, where buildings, stadiums and other facilities were built with the latest methods of sustainable environmental engineering.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatar Society of Engineers Eng Khalid Ahmed Al Nasr said that 24th Gulf Engineering Forum will host five major discussion sessions.
He said 25 papers will be tables which were shortlisted from 220 papers by the Higher Committee of the Conference.
The forum is accompanied by an engineering exhibition on environment and sustainability, in which a number of governmental and semi-governmental agencies and the private sector from Qatar and the Gulf countries are showcasing the the most prominent ideas, projects and engineering services in the field of environment and sustainability.
A number of prominent engineers from Qatar and other GCC countries including former Minister of Energy H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada have been honoured at the opening ceremony of the Forum.
The winning engineering projects of Excellence and Creative Engineering Award have been also honoured.
Qatar won the first three places for the award, which are (from first to third respectably) Smart Meters Project of Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa), National Health Laboratories Project of Public Works Authority (Ashghal) and the project of establishing and managing a new sanitary and engineering solid waste landfill of the Ministry of Municipality.
