Our President is working above and beyond compliance daily

Dear Editor,
Our President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, on Tuesday discussed several key areas of collaboration and cooperation with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, during a telephone conversation.
Editor, one must know that Qatar is considered the richest country on the planet, with a per capita GDP of $130,475, according to the International Monetary Fund. That’s some way ahead of Luxembourg, with GDP of $116,808; and Qatar has the world’s third-largest natural-gas reserves, despite being geographically a small country.
According to a press release from the Office of the President, Qatar’s Emir used the opportunity to express congratulations to President Ali on his inauguration, and expressed his willingness to assist Guyana. The areas identified for collaboration include support for the agriculture sector through investments in the Halaal industry; expansion of the housing programme; strengthening of diplomatic ties between the two countries; and support in other critical sectors, including energy, oil and gas, services and infrastructure. The two leaders also discussed the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, and critical areas of support for Guyana. To this end, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani committed to providing Guyana with much-needed equipment, including portable military hospitals and ventilators, which would significantly bolster Guyana’s capability in fighting the pandemic.
President Ali and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani committed to mobilising technical teams from both countries immediately following their discussions. The teams, which would include the Foreign Ministers of both countries as well as the Energy Minister from Qatar and Guyana’s Natural Resources Minister and Agriculture Minister, would proceed to design programmes and projects to access resources from the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD).
Qatar Fund for Development is a public development institution committed, on behalf of the State of Qatar, to implement external aid projects under Law No. 19 of 2002 and its amendments. It has provided aid to several countries around the world to achieve the international cooperation goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030. The main goal of the Qatar Fund for Development is to achieve inclusive and sustainable development by addressing priority issues of education, health, and economic empowerment.
Qatar must have considered Guyana a brotherly and friendly nation. The State of Qatar has taken the necessary measures to control its domestic situation and protect itself from the Corona epidemic and its repercussions on various sectors. It has not forgotten its role and its humanitarian duty towards brotherly and friendly countries, and has harnessed all efforts to provide aid and support to those in need, affirming its solidarity and standing by them during this crisis.
Since onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the State of Qatar has provided urgent medical aid to nearly 78 countries in order to help them confront this crisis, thus reducing the consequences of this epidemic while expanding the circle of those combating the virus around the world.
Various authorities in the state have extended their full support, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, as the state of Qatar continues to provide aid to needy and affected countries.
The State of Qatar’s foreign aid to combat the coronavirus pandemic amounted to nearly US$50 million, and 32 countries across the five continents benefited. In addition to many field hospitals donated by Qatar’s Ministry of Defense, the State also provided 150 million financial support to the Gaza Strip, a part of which will go to assist the health sector cope with the effects of the Corona crisis.
International organisations and humanitarian and civil society associations also got their share of this aid, as Qatar allocated US$20 million to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) based on its belief in the urgency of confirming international support and political commitment to ensure speeding up research and clinical testing leading to vaccine and cure medication, and eradicating this virus for all the people around the world.
The State also announced the allocation of US$10 million for the World Health Organization (WHO), to support rapid access to provide equipment for the test, treatment and provision of the adequate vaccine for COVID-19, to save lives and make it available to all the world’s citizens, leaving no one behind. Despite the challenging circumstances, Qatar Airways has played a pivotal and prominent role in delivery of the aid, and was able to transport more than a million stranded persons around the world, and manage to take them home safely during this pandemic.
Qatar Airways, if my memory serves me well, received international praise from governments around the world for their sense of humanitarian duty and obligation. With international air travel being restored in Guyana after several months of lockdown due to the global pandemic, the move by Government to reopen the country’s two international airports paves the ways for Qatar Airways’ arrival to Guyana with needed COVID-19 relief items
The evidence is clear that our President is working above and beyond compliance daily, and has upheld the oath that he “will work every day in the best interest of the people of Guyana.”
According to the Office of the President, the two Heads of State committed to visiting each other to further discuss the partnership between Guyana and the State of Qatar.

Sincerely,
David Adams