Doha, December 01 (QNA) - HE President of the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) Dr. Saleh bin Mohammed Al Nabit affirmed that the State of Qatar is on the right path towards building a diversified and sustainable economy in order to achieve the goals and aspirations of Qatar National Vision 2030.

In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the occasion of the preparations for the third National Development Strategy in cooperation with the relevant authorities, HE said that the follow-up results of the implementation of the second National Development Strategy 2018-2022 indicate that there is a progress in implementing most of the strategy's initiatives and projects, with the pace of implementation different from one sector to another, from one goal to another, and from one project to another, especially in the field of economic diversification and the encouragement of the private sector, with a focus on priority economic sectors.

HE said that the contribution of the non-oil sector to the real GDP amounted to more than 60% in the second quarter of this year, accompanied by the development of the economic and logistical infrastructure, as the implementation stages of the Hamad Port and Hamad International Airport were completed according to this plan, in addition to the development of commercial ports in the country's main cities and their services.

PSA President also stressed that the intensive use of advanced technology helps in achieving a progress in the field of energy security, by increasing production capacities and diversifying their sources, as well as achieving progress in the field of water security with an increase in production capacity on the one hand and storage capacities on the other hand, and establishing an advanced crops, livestock and fish production system.

He underlined that coordinated efforts to enhance the self-sufficiency system go hand in hand with sustainable management of the environment, including the acceleration of the implementation of initiatives to confront climate change.

HE went to say that in general, all projects that included a digital transformation component have achieved further progress, driven by the repercussions of the Covid-19 crisis and its restrictions, noting that a quantitative and qualitative development was monitored in government services provided to individuals and the business community. These accessibility services are enhanced through user-friendly apps, as the e-government services amounted to 1,200.

He also announced the start of the institutional arrangements for the State of Qatar's third National Development Strategy 2023-2027, noting that benefiting from the State's two previous experiences, an organizational structure aimed at governing the preparation process has been set up, with the highest possible level of participation and at the same time with greater flexibility, in particular the proposal of the committees and work teams representing all governmental and non-governmental bodies and sectors of the State.

HE said that confirming the lessons learned from the development, implementation and follow-up of the strategy in general is part of the preparations, in addition to the administrative and technical arrangements related to the inputs of the committees' work and the works teams to be formed. 

HE President of Planning and Statistics Authority (SPA) Dr. Saleh bin Mohammed Al Nabit announced that preliminary assessments of the implementation results for the past four years have been initiated in the light of periodic follow-up reports, studies and other analyses prepared by the Authority and the evidence produced by the statistics sector in the authority.

HE said that since each national strategy reflects the development stage in which it is located, and is also affected by regional and international developments - at the economic and geopolitical levels - the consensus on development trends is an essential part of the preparatory work, as it complements previous efforts on the one hand and responds to urgent development needs and what is the emerging circumstances dictate on the other hand.

In his interview with QNA, HE Dr. Saleh Al Nabit indicated that the authority prepared and presented the State of Qatar Voluntary National Review in July of this year, at the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development for 2021 of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), where the progress made was tracked in achieving the goals and objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), pointing out that the Authority is currently preparing a road map for many activities after submitting the review, foremost of which is the preparation of a methodology for integrating the goals and objectives of the sustainable development agenda into the sectors of the third National Development Strategy.

On Qatar's economic indicators for 2021 and the ability of the Qatari economy to cope with crises, including the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, His Excellency indicated that the measures to contain COVID-19 in 2020 cast a shadow over all economic activities, whether oil or non-oil activities, explaining that they were more severe on non-oil activities in terms of quantitative production, while oil activities were affected by value, which at the end of 2020 led to a decline in GDP by about 18 percent at current prices and 3.6 percent at constant prices.

However, he added, that with the improvement in oil and gas prices and the gradual cancellation of measures to contain COVID-19 during the first half of 2021, the GDP achieved a growth of 14.7 percent at current prices and about 1 percent at constant prices, expecting that this year would witness a growth ranging between 1 percent to 2 percent.

His Excellency pointed out that the level of performance of the main sectors of non-oil activities, according to added value, such as manufacturing, construction and services, has varied according to their link to international trade.

He also said that the activities of the manufacturing industry, of which a high percentage of its products are exported, were affected by the decline in oil and gas prices in terms of added value at current prices during 2020. However, Al Nabit pointed out that the performance level of these activities has improved in the first half of 2021, and is expected to achieve by the end of 2021 a growth rate ranges between 2 percent to 3.5 percent.

Regarding the added value of building and construction and the services sub-sectors which reflect the activity of the non-current internal economy, HE President of Planning and Statistics Authority Dr. Saleh bin Mohammed Al Nabit said that that they are expected to achieve growth between 1 to 2 percent for building and construction, while services can achieve a rate from 2.5 to 3.3 percent.

His Excellency stressed that the State of Qatar has succeeded in benefiting from previous practical experiences in confronting crises and employed them in facing the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. In this context, His Excellency pointed out that the government has adopted three packages of measures represented in restrictive measures for economic and social activities to protect the population from infection with the virus, administrative measures and financial investments to support the health care sector and fiscal and monetary policies - incentives - for the recovery and stability of the economy.

Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), His Excellency also noted the measures and programs adopted by the government to address the damages caused to small and medium-sized companies due to the repercussions of Coronavirus (COVID-19), as the government established the National Guarantee Programme as part of the economic policy package to face the repercussions of COVID-19.

He added that according to Qatar Development Bank (QDB)'s statement until April 2021, more than 4000 private sector companies and establishments have benefited from this Programme, which employs more than 320,000 employees.

HE Dr. Al Nabit affirmed that what the State of Qatar has achieved in facing the repercussions of COVID-19 until this moment, was the concerted efforts of the government with society and public and private institutions that used modern technology to the completion of work remotely, which contributed to accelerating the efforts of the public and private sectors in the digitization of many service and productivity activities.

He said that in the near future, digitization efforts may lead to raising the efficiency of resource use, expanding the use of financial and banking services, and increasing the productivity of small and medium enterprises, which in turn will raise their competitiveness in international markets, as well as increase transparency in the business environment.

To achieve this, the private sector is required to work alongside the government to continue investing in information technology and data infrastructure to facilitate the use of digitization tools in education, health, commerce, production and supply chains, he added.

Regarding inflation, His Excellency explained that the Qatari economy, like other economies of the world, witnessed an inflation rate during the first ten months of 2021 with an average rate of 1.6 percent, a maximum of 4.3 percent and a minimum of negative 1.4 percent, adding that the inflation rate is expected to reach about 2 percent by the end of 2021 due to lucrative export revenues. 

HE President of Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) Dr. Saleh bin Mohammed Al Nabit said that the trade balance continues to record positive values, explaining that when oil prices increase, it achieves greater returns, as the trade balance rate for the first three quarters of 2021 was about 54 percent compared to the total end of the year 2020, and compared to the same period in 2020, as it only amounted to 110 percent.

He said that these indicators give rise to optimism that the Qatari economy is strong, cohesive and able to absorb shocks and will be more resilient with a focus on economic diversification and the promotion of knowledge economy, because these are essential pillars for sustainable growth.

With regard to the results of the recently announced Qatar 2020 census, he explained that the census project is one of the most important statistical projects implemented in any country, as it is the only statistical process that is carried out with a comprehensive survey, which is an integrated photograph of society during a specific moment in time.

He said that that the census data constitutes a main base for the statistics of population, housing and establishments, which are of interest to planners, researchers and decision-makers. Census data has a key role in drawing up plans and setting demographic, social and economic policies, he added.

He pointed out that the 2020 census is the sixth in a series of censuses conducted by the State of Qatar, adding that it relied mainly on the administrative records of the various government agencies in the country, as they were updated and the missing ones were provided through field operations. The mechanisms to update them continuously through administrative records were also developed.

On the challenges that faced census process, HE the President of PSA said that the timing of the implementation of the census coincided with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which greatly affected all aspects of life, and led to the suspension or postponement of censuses in a number of countries of the world. He stressed that the Authority succeeded in carrying out the census thanks to its flexibility and ability to work in such circumstances.

He continued by saying that the census project has not been permanently stopped or postponed for another year or even the end of the pandemic, rather it has been suspended and the necessary measures are taken to implement it as soon as possible in a manner that takes into account the precautionary and preventive measures imposed in the country due to the pandemic; (perhaps this matter was one of the biggest challenges the PSA faced in implementing the census project).

He added that they were ready to overcome the difficulties and the obstacles imposed by the pandemic, and implement the census in the internationally scheduled year, based on the recommendations of the United Nations, using all means that contributed to the safe implementation of the census for the community.

Regarding the most prominent results of the census, which reflected important economic and social leaps when compared to the 2010 census, HE explained that the results showed a remarkable development in many areas in the country, the most prominent of which was the significant increase in the rates of womens participation in the labor market and enrollment in education.

He added that the results showed that more than half of Qataris working in the public sector are Qatari women; in terms of education, the percentage of females (in the age group 15-24 years) who are enrolled in education increased significantly, reaching (96.3 percent) of total females at the age of education, while their percentage in the 2010 census was (65.3 percent), meaning that their percentage increased between the last two censuses by 31 percentage points.

He also pointed to an important development revealed by the Qatar Census 2020 related to the decrease in illiteracy rates in the country for individuals in the age group (10 years and over) to 0.8 percent, while it was about 3.6 percent in the 2010 census. 

In a related context, HE President of Planning and Statistics Authority Dr. Saleh Mohammed Al Nabit said that the census also showed an increase in the number of business establishments by 130.6 percent between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, bringing the number to approximately 71.2 thousand. It also showed a rise in the number of buildings in the country with an increase of (49.7 percent) between the two censuses.

Regarding the role of the recent ministerial reshuffle in implementing the plans and strategies of Qatar National Vision 2030, Dr. Saleh bin Mohammed Al Nabit explained that government structures are constantly adapting to the requirements of development, as they part of the development process itself. He said that achieving Qatar National Vision 2030 requires developing institutional and organizational capabilities and providing public services with efficiency and transparency. Therefore, the expansion in the size of the government apparatus - during this stage - through the separation of some sectors and the redistribution of ministerial portfolios will have a positive impact on the implementation of the Vision in terms of facilitating the management of sectors and achieving more focus, HE said.

In his interview with QNA, HE the President of the Planning and Statistics Authority added that since the national development strategy adopted the sectoral approach in preparation and analysis, it is expected that its sectors will adapted to correspond to government sectors. In all cases, it is expected that workers in the government sector will be redistributed, absorb more Qataris looking for work, and increase labor productivity, which in themselves are results that development strategies seek to achieve.

Regarding the most prominent projects and plans of the Authority in the statistics sector, he stressed that the Planning and Statistics Authority has made great strides in modernizing official statistics in the State of Qatar, through the implementation of projects that depend on the production of data that contribute to the prosperity of all sectors in the country. A major qualitative leap has been made in the official statistics system, in cooperation with national and international partners, in cooperation with the United Nations system and the International Statistics Institute.

He said that the Authority follows up on the preparation and implementation of statistical projects that meet the needs of partners (government agencies, the private sector, civil society organizations, researchers, international organizations, the public....) when it comes to data and indicators, and it provide decision makers with reliable data to set plans and formulate development policies.

He stated that the Planning and Statistics Authority is currently following up the process of completing the electronic linking of administrative records data with ministries and governmental and semi-governmental agencies, as a main source of reliable statistical data.

His Excellency explained that these efforts contribute to building a central registry in accordance with a methodology that works to control the quality of data from its sources and put in place the necessary mechanisms and procedures to ensure its compliance with international standards using Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

HE Dr. Al Nabit indicated in a related context that the Authority has priority projects to meet the challenges in the field of providing statistical data that are not available from administrative records and annual surveys to calculate some indicators that we need to provide and update periodically as indicators of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

He stated that these projects are carried out in cooperation with the concerned agencies to provide and update data through specialized surveys to extract these indicators, noting that one of those surveys that the Authority prioritize and is currently being implemented is the "multiple indicator cluster survey", in partnership with UNICEF.

His Excellency stated that the national framework for the quality of statistical data has been adopted, which is a unified standard for all statistical agencies, and that will contribute to building a high-quality national statistical system that will play a major role in overcoming these challenges.

In the context of making data and statistics available to the beneficiaries, he pointed out that the Planning and Statistics Authority has recently launched several platforms that serve statistical work, such as the (Rased) platform, which contributes to collecting the required data electronically from some source agencies, and the establishment of the foreign trade system as an integrated interactive system that allows users to query foreign trade data from databases and display the results in different formats such as tables, graphs, Excel and PDF files, in addition to creating a platform for a guide to definitions, concepts and statistical terms that benefit researchers, interested parties and decision-makers.

HE Dr. Saleh Mohammed Salem Al Nabit stressed that the Authority, in order to enhance its human resources in the field of planning and statistics, is keen to attract Qatari cadres specialized in these fields, and cooperates with higher education and training institutions in this regard. He said that the Qatari competencies in the Authority have demonstrated ability and efficiency in work and skill in carrying out tasks, which reflects the advanced level of educational and training programs in the country. (QNA)