Doha – Qatar: Transportation experts arrived in Doha this week for a high-level meeting to discuss the state of safety across the transport network in the region at the Qatar Transport Safety Forum, held under the patronage of H.E. Mr. Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti, Minister of Transport and Communications, and in attendance of H.E. Mr. Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Rumehi, Minister of Municipality and Environment.The event brought together a number of experts from the region as well as the international community to share their experiences and transfer knowledge about best practice across a number of modes of transport. The conference opened with a video that showed the projects of the ministry, followed by a speech by Mr. Rashid Taleb Al Nabet, Director of the Ministry’s Road Transport Planning Department.
The speech focused on the importance the Ministry is putting on safety as Qatar prepares itself for the delivery of new modes of transport.
The gathering was also addressed by Brigadier Mohamed Al Malki, General Secretary, National Traffic Safety Committee, Ministry of Interior, who gave an in-depth assessment of Qatar’s vision for improving safety on the roads in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Minister Al-Sulaiti then inaugurated the exhibition and led the attendees on a tour where safety equipment and technology suppliers from all over the world demonstrated cutting-edge systems that will be implemented in Qatar as part of their far-reaching strategy to make the country’s transport network one of the safest in the region.
After the break, the forum hosted a number of international speakers including Susanna Zammataro the Executive Director of the International Roads Federation Programme Centre Geneva, and Jonas Hermanson, Managing Director of Sweroad, who shared how Sweden has managed to become the country with the safest roads on the planet. The rest of the day saw a number of technical theatres from local and international solution providers as well as a mix of workshops, panel discussions and presentations from organisations such as Abu Dhabi Police, Ashghal, Saudi Aramco, ASTAD Project Management and Qatar Rail. Paul Stanley Williams from Qatar Rail safety department gave an insight into their initiatives in improving work zone safety which has culminated in them receiving the Gold RoSPA award for the QR Light Rail Project.
The first day came to a close in the evening but not before the Transport Safety Awards ceremony where individuals and companies were awarded for their endeavors in improving safety in the region. Organizations such as Toyota, Continental Tires, Tekfen, Hamad Medical Corporation and Saudi Aramco were bestowed honours for their efforts and the highlight of the evening was H.E. Mr. Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti accepting an award for leadership in transport safety in light of the efforts that have been made in Qatar since the foundation of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
Today’s forum is set to continue with more high-level discussions and will focus on what Qatar is doing now with regards improving the quality of the drivers on their public transport network as well as looking at the future in the Middle East with the implementation of intelligent transport systems and the buzzword in the transport industry at the moment, autonomous vehicles. ‘We would really like to thank the Ministry of Transport and Communications for their constant support in the lead up to this event and I would personally like to thank H.E. Mr. Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti for his personal attention to this conference,’ stated Mohaned El-Mahgoub, Conference Director from IQPC Middle East. ‘Safety is something that needs to be driven from the top and with his vision and direction, I only see huge improvements in Qatar.’
