Qatar celebrates National Day 2022

Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar / Courtesy of Embassy of Qatar in Korea

By HE Khalid bin Ebrahim Al Hamar

HH The Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani / Courtesy of Embassy of Qatar in Korea

In my capacity as the ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Republic of Korea, I feel greatly privileged and honored to celebrate the National Day of the State of Qatar, Dec. 18, in this wonderful city of Seoul.

Qatar National Day is a great occasion where the people of Qatar show cohesion, solidarity and unity in their love for their homeland, loyalty to their ancestors and their unforgettable sacrifices. It is the day of pride in the wise leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the leader of the process of achievements, development and a promising future.

The slogan of Qatar National Day 2022, "Our Unity, Source of Our Strength," quoted from a speech of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, is affirming the approach of cohesion, solidarity and unity of the people of Qatar to face challenges and achieve objectives.

The major achievements that the State of Qatar has made in the political, diplomatic, economic, sport, health, education fields and others, reflect the unity and solidarity between the wise leadership and the loyal people, and draw a bright picture of the future of the State of Qatar.

Bilateral relations

HE Khalid bin Ebrahim Al Hamar, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Republic of Korea / Courtesy of Embassy of Qatar in Korea

Our celebration this time comes at a time when Qatari-Korean relations are reaching one of their highest peaks. The mutual visits of the leaders of the two countries, especially the visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in January 2019, contributed to the opening of new horizons for cooperation. This visit opened the door for the two countries to diversify their cooperation to include new non-traditional areas such as technology, smart farms, solar energy, medical field, smart grids and joint investments.

In the areas of traditional cooperation, the State of Qatar is the main supplier of liquefied natural gas to the Republic of Korea, as Qatari gas represents about 30 percent of all of the imports of the Republic of Korea of this vital substance. The two countries also signed a huge deal worth nearly $20 billion in exchange for Qatar obtaining more than 100 LNG carriers.

National Day coincides with World Cup

The celebration of Qatar National Day is particularly important this year, as it coincides with Qatar hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Both events are an opportunity for the people of Qatar to show their unity and culture to the world. During this period, visitors to Qatar will learn about the bright aspects of our history and culture, and test our belief in civilized interactions with other cultures.

The tournament of the 2022 FIFA World Cup showed the world Qatar's cultural identity as well as economic, security and administrative abilities, and its tangible achievements in all fields. We are grateful for the support and praise of our success in organizing this major global event and we affirm that this unique and inspiring experience is for all of humanity.

The State of Qatar has provided many activities and events that suit the varying cultures of the people who have gathered in Doha to watch the World Cup, achieving FIFA's call for coexistence and peace.

The opening ceremony of the World Cup summarized all of these meanings, as it displayed a number of distinctive performances that reflect the culture of Qatar, and shed light on the importance of unity among peoples, with a message about the power of football in building bridges of cooperation by celebrating the common passion for the most popular game in the world.

Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar / Courtesy of Embassy of Qatar in Korea

World Cup at heart of Qatar National Vision 2030

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has acted as a major incentive to support the achievement of the Qatar National Vision 2030, which is based on four pillars: environmental development, human development, economic development and social development. It has also inspired pathways to realize this vision through governance and its policies, with the end goal of promoting sustainability across the State of Qatar.

Environmental sustainability: Sustainability, in all its forms, has been a key concern for the State of Qatar from the moment it submitted its bid to host the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) has followed optimum dust-control strategies to reduce air pollution when building stadiums, achieving a minimum four-star rating under the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) for design, construction and facility management, in addition to obtaining a gold certificate for its operations.

Clean energy use has always been kept in mind throughout the various phases of constructing the World Cup stadiums. This is demonstrated by solar lighting that has been installed in parking lots and around stadiums.

Recycling, waste management and smart control systems that prevent excessive use of resources were present in all tournament venues.

In addition, the green space in the areas surrounding stadiums is estimated to be about 500,000 square meters. All of these green areas are irrigated with recycled water, which has contributed to reducing water consumption in operating stadiums by up to 40 percent under international standards.

The public transport system, including the Doha Metro, new bus routes and tram systems, have been developed in Lusail City and Education City.

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, 25 percent of the public buses have been replaced by electric buses during the tournament.

Human development: The development of human capability has been a key objective of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Over 20,000 training hours have been implemented by the SC, which has significantly contributed to the sharing of knowledge and the renewal of experiences among work teams on the global level. Sustainability has been the core focus of the training courses undertaken by workers at various FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 projects. For example, the SC provided training courses on green building practices to over 400 specialists in the field through the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS).

Trainings did not stop there, as a series of online training courses on sustainability and major sporting events were developed for nearly 900 people across 80 countries.

Generation Amazing is another initiative aimed at promoting human development as well as sustainability at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Generation Amazing seeks to establish a better future for communities around the world and create a lasting social impact by building stadiums and providing opportunities for training and development through football.

Economic development: The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 contributes in diversifying the country's economic profile. Throughout history, World Cup tournaments have been a major factor in supporting national economies.

All eight stadiums built to host the tournament were possible through partnerships with at least one local company.

The designs of the World Cup Stadiums will help convert them into public facilities after the tournament. Investing in those facilities contributes to promoting a sustainable lifestyle and providing commercial opportunities for various groups.

To encourage innovation and investment in youth projects, the Challenge 22 innovation award helps start-ups and emerging companies take their products and services to the market. It also contributes to creating a competitive market, encouraging companies to provide the best services to fans during their stay in the State of Qatar.

Social development: As the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is a tournament for everyone, it was necessary to consider all. Therefore, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 edition is unique in setting standards that serve all groups, including people with disabilities.

The World Cup stadiums are designed to provide easy access to all groups to enjoy the tournament.

During the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019 and the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup, several measures were implemented to enhance the tournament experience for people with disabilities and people with reduced mobility. These measures were tried and tested and include improvements in infrastructure, staff and volunteer training, ticketing processes and transportation systems.

The record number of people with disabilities who attended these two tournaments proved that major event organizers are capable of making improvements that facilitate access to all groups to enjoy various sporting events. In addition, safe and quiet sensory rooms have been provided at the Al Janoub and the Khalifa international stadiums.

Thanks to these sensory rooms, about 150 boys and girls with sensory processing disorder (SPD) were able to attend a football match for the first time. They also received various gifts and tools, such as noise-cancelling headphones, relaxation tools and visual table cards to help them maintain calm and focus.

Focusing on providing such atmosphere and facilities in the World Cup stadiums for those with disabilities made the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 an ideal tournament suitable for all, as it offered a set of inspiring ideas to help provide a similar atmosphere during the organization of other major tournaments.

Governance: From the moment that the State of Qatar won the bid to organize the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the country aimed to organize the tournament in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Attention to governance and other related policies was therefore taken at all stages.

Special policies have been developed to monitor performance, compliance with management instructions and auditing. As part of these policies, systems were created to monitor the effectiveness of reporting on everything related to the progress of the tournament and the implementation of its various projects.

For example, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) has taken several measures, including monitoring major local and global supply chains, to ensure that suppliers are committed to meeting the standards set by SC to achieve a sustainable World Cup edition.

To implement the government's policies, the SC prepared and published reports related to sustainability in line with the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Standards.

Aiming to make future tournaments more sustainable, the SC also worked to share all the lessons learned from this tournament with FIFA.

Qatar National Museum in Doha, Qatar / Courtesy of Embassy of Qatar in Korea

Foreign Policy: The tournament of 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar brought the people together and unified feelings, while affirming that the world can be united to face the major challenges that threaten humanity. As a trusted international partner, the State of Qatar believes in supporting collective initiatives and multilateral action. Qatar is always proactive in responding to global crises such as food security, energy security, the COVID-19 pandemic and others.

The State of Qatar is eager to support all efforts aimed at promoting cultural and civilized openness among the world's peoples. The State of Qatar pays great attention to develop its relations with countries and regional and international organizations, and actively contributes to promoting international peace and security through mediation to settle disputes by peaceful means, while supporting development and stability projects in different countries.

In this context, the mediation of the State of Qatar in Sudan, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Chad and others, has not just paved ways for building peace, stability and development in these countries, but also at the regional and international levels. The State of Qatar strongly believes that peaceful means are the best way to resolve conflicts and end wars.

Humanitarian aid is also one of the most important pillars of Qatar's foreign policy.

The human and developmental aid provided by Qatar goes beyond regional borders with neighboring Arab and Islamic countries and extends to remote and several geographic areas all over the world. The countries benefiting from Qatari assistance during the short past period amount to more than 100 countries on six continents.

When providing such aid, special focus has been directed to the least developed and low-income countries in addition to countries with natural disasters and conflicts.

The State of Qatar has been always keen on delivering aid packages to traumatized and victimized groups through bilateral and multilateral exchanges in compliance with best practices and a high level of professionalism and specialization.

HE Khalid bin Ebrahim Al Hamar is the Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Republic of Korea.