The Chairman of the National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons, Brigadier Hassan Saleh Al Nesf (centre), with other officials during the meeting held at Mondrian Doha Hotel yesterday. Pic: Baher Amin / The Peninsula
With the participation of 50 representatives from 25 countries and a number of experts, the Sixth Annual Meeting of Representatives of Chemical Industry and National Authorities of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) began in Doha yesterday.
Held under the auspices of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, the three-day meeting is being organised by the National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons (NCPW) in collaboration with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The meeting will discuss the role of national authorities and chemical industry in OPCW States Parties in the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, as well as efforts to further improve the efficiency and effectiveness of verification under article VI of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the meeting, Chairman of the National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons, Brigadier (Air) Hassan Saleh Al Nesf, said that since its accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997, Qatar spared no effort in implementing the Convention by supporting the activities of the organisation with its voluntary contribution and its endeavour towards the universality of the Convention, which contributes to the promotion of international peace and security.
He said that Qatar organised 34 programmes in cooperation with the technical secretariat of the organisation through the Doha Regional Center, where more than 87 countries and international organisations and 702 trainees from the GCC and Arab countries and representatives of the five continents participated, in addition to training hundreds of State cadres.
Al Nesf stressed that the importance of this meeting comes from the fact that it brings together representatives of two important pillars on which implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is based.
Senior Coordinator and Planning Officer OPCW, Chizu Matsushita, lauded the Government of Qatar and Doha Regional Centre for CBRN Training for hosting this meeting.
“I wish to also highlight the continuing support and generous contributions of the Government of Qatar to the OPCW, thanks to which, OPCW has been able to organise a number of important capacity building activities,” said Matsushita.
She said that the chemical industry has increasingly been an indispensable partner in the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Today, approximately 4,800 industrial facilities are subjected to OPCW inspections.
