Qatar’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), the US Chamber of Commerce and the US Embassy discussed digital economy in Qatar, mechanisms for its development and the role of American digital companies in it.
Qatar’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai, representatives from the American Chamber of Commerce and the US Embassy, officials and representatives from the private sectors of both the countries participated in a virtual meeting.
During the meeting, Al Mannai reviewed the ministry’s vision for digital economy. He said that Qatar has a great interest in the development of digital economy in the country.
He also focused on the significant role that US companies have played in strengthening Qatar’s digital economy as well as the many opportunities there are to expand the digital relationship between both the countries.
The US Chamber’s ICT Regulatory and Policy Landscape of Qatar white paper was also formally launched at the event. The white paper was created by the US-Qatar Chamber for Digital Economy and the ICT Working Group, to outline Qatar’s digital economy ecosystem and provide analysis and recommendations for key areas such as cloud services, data privacy, cyber security and digital transformation.
Al Mannai praised the expansion of the partnership with the US Chamber of Commerce, which will help realize Qatar National Vision’s goal of building a knowledge-based digital economy.
He said, “The objective of this partnership is to enable joint work, knowledge transfer in information and communication technology and to benefit from worldwide experience in order to transfer our economy into an advanced and competitive digital economy.”
Al Mannai said Qatar has put in a lot of effort to speed up the transition to a digital and sustainable economy through the economic expansion of information and communication technology and by enhancing and improving high-speed internet, broadband internet access and computing.
The minister said that making use of these technologies help in development as Qatar raised its rank in international internet spread, service digitalization and communications infrastructure indexes. Moreover, technology does not only improve societies but rather increases investment returns.
Vice President of Middle East Affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce Steve Lutes said, “The US Chamber of Commerce commends Qatar on its embrace of a forward-thinking digital policy ecosystem. Digital technologies are playing a vital role in building the future economy of Qatar and accelerating its digital transformation.”
He said, “The manner in which Qatar develops and implements policies that regulate the digital sector will be an important factor in attracting and retaining investment from global companies and facilitating an enabling environment for the growth of a knowledge-based economy.”
Lutes added that the Chamber’s US-Qatar Digital Economy and ICT Working Group is delighted to release its digital policy paper and looks forward to working with the ministry on these recommendations.
The former Charge d’Affaires at US Embassy in Qatar, Ian McCary, said, “The creation of MCIT highlights the importance and priority Qatar has placed on its digital transformation, consistent with Qatar National Vision 2030. I am proud and very impressed by the close partnership MCIT enjoys with a multitude of US companies.”