GCC Secretariat General Signs Agreement to Participate in Expo 2023 Doha
The Ministry of Municipality and the General Secretariat of the GCC Council signed on Sunday an agreement for the participation of the General Secretariat in Expo 2023 Doha, in the presence of HE Minister of Municipality Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie and HE Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) Jassim Mohammed Al Budaiwi.
The agreement was signed by HE Special Envoy of HE the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Climate Change and Sustainability and Expo 2023 Doha Commissioner-General Badr bin Omar Al Dafa and HE Director General of the Office of Economic and Development Affairs at the GCC General Secretariat and Commissioner General of the GCC Pavilion at Expo 2023 Doha Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sheikh.
In this regard, HE Minister of Municipality and Chairman of the National Committee for Expo 2023 Doha Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie valued the participation of the GCC General Secretariat in Expo 2023 Doha, pointing out the significance of the General Secretariat’s involvement and its support for the members of the Expo organized by the State of Qatar.
In his press remarks, His Excellency said that this participation constitutes an addition to Expo 2023 Doha and achieves several mutual benefits at the level of the GCC General Secretariat and its efforts in agriculture, sustainability, greening, afforestation, and others, indicating that their presence is an addition to the exhibition and support for it.
HE Minister of Municipality indicated that 70 countries confirmed their attendance at Expo 2023 Doha, hosted by the State of Qatar from Oct. 2 until March 28, 2024, stressing the readiness of the Expo’s various facilities and infrastructure, Where 80% of the infrastructure of the site has been completed, while work is still underway to complete some facilities, pavilions, and temporary installations that serve the Expo.
In turn, HE Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) Jassim Mohammed Al Budaiwi stressed that the State of Qatar’s hosting of the Expo 2023 Doha Horticulture indicates the international community’s confidence in the State of Qatar’s capability and excellence in hosting international events, especially after hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 that achieved a dazzling success that was acclaimed by the whole world, which stems from the good preparation and close follow-up of the Qatari leadership.
In his press remarks, His Excellency said that the General Secretariat, based on the decision of the esteemed Ministerial Council at its 154th session, approved the participation of the GCC Council in Expo 2023 Doha. His Excellency said that the participation aims to highlight the most important issues of joint Gulf work, joint plans, and strategies in the fields of environment and agriculture, in addition to the most important current and future joint projects between GCC states in this field, stressing that the GCC pavilion is available with all its capabilities to serve all members of the GCC states.
His Excellency explained that the GCC pavilion will offer initiatives in the fields of climate change, combating desertification, increasing vegetation cover, and food security, in addition to other initiatives aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and investing in the areas of the Expo.
For his part, HE Special Envoy of HE the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Climate Change and Sustainability and Expo 2023 Doha Commissioner-General Badr bin Omar Al Dafa said that the Expo is the second biggest event organized by the State of Qatar after the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, indicating that 70 to 74 countries are expected to participate in the Expo, while more than 3 million visitors are expected to attend.
In his press remarks, His Excellency indicated that the most important characteristic of the Expo is that it is held for the first time in a desert country, which constitutes a climate challenge, whether concerning water or desertification, as well as dealing with weather variables. His Excellency pointed out that there will be a pavilion for each of the GCC states in the Expo, in addition to a pavilion that will represent an umbrella for the six states to highlight the success achieved by those states in the fields of sustainability and food security.
Expo 2023 Doha Commissioner-General said that the State of Qatar has made several achievements, including the completion of the initiative to plant one million trees, as well as work to achieve food security, noting that all GCC states have several future plans to address the challenges of food security.
For his part, Secretary General of Expo 2023 Doha Mohamed Ali Al Khouri stressed that the participation agreement of the GCC General Secretariat would be added to the list of partnerships in Expo 2023 Doha, indicating that this partnership comes as confirmation that this exhibition discusses very important issues affecting the Gulf as a whole, as reducing desertification and finding effective ways to achieve sustainability is a necessary requirement for all GCC states.
He said that the participation of the GCC General Secretariat comes as an embodiment of the solidarity among all the GCC states and as a qualitative addition to this global Expo. He pointed out that the pavilion of the GCC General Secretariat would give an integrated image of the joint Gulf work and highlight the contributions of the GCC states to the unified global efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The pavilion would also enable the world to see the excellence of the Gulf competencies and their successes in employing technology and innovation in the modernization and development of agriculture and directing Gulf capital towards profitable investments that benefit people.
Al Khouri noted that including the GCC General Secretariat in the list of partners would make a huge difference in consolidating the status of the exhibition, especially at the regional and global levels.
Source: Qatar News Agency