Qatar National Development Strategy 2011-2016 - Towards Qatar National Vision 2030.

This National Development Strategy for the State of Qatar 2011 2016 has been prepared to set a path towards achieving the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030. It deepens the commitment to increasing the well-being of all Qatari citizens. Programs and projects identified in this document are from 14 sector strategies, namely (i) Culture Sector Strategy; (ii) Economic Diversification and Private Sector Development; (iii) Economic Infrastructure; (iv) Economic Management; (v) Education and Training Sector Strategy ; (vi) Environmental Sector Strategy ; (vii) Family Cohesion and Women's Empowerment Sector Strategy; (viii) National Health Strategy: (ix) Institutional Development and Modernization Report; (x) Labor Market Sector Strategy; (xi) Natural Resource Management; (xii) Public Safety and Security Sector Strategy; (xiii) Social Protection Sector Strategy; and (xiv) Sports Sector Strategy.
At the economic level, the Strategy aims at promoting three interconnected trends by (1) expanding the production base to achieve a sustainable prosperity that aims to provide more opportunities for future generations; (2) ensuring economic stability and enhancing efficiency; and (3) diversifying the economy and encouraging a culture of research and innovation in cooperation with the private sector. In terms of expanding the production base, many projects aim to improving infrastructure and developing industries. Regarding education and training strategy, it emphasizes (1) access to quality, equitable and inclusive education for all; (2) enrollment in higher education for boys and girls; (3) improved quality of higher education; and (4) promotion of technical education, vocational training, scientific research and innovation. The issue of climate change receives great attention, as well as improving air quality, reducing gas combustion and increasing environmental awareness. The family cohesion and women s empowerment sector strategy focuses on the importance of a solid-structured family and attaches great importance to building women's capacities and empowering them to participate in all areas. In terms of human development, the national health strategy aims to ensure health and well-being for all and promotes interventions aiming to (1) increase hospital services and an integrated continuous healthcare system applied in accordance with international standards; and (2) a preventive healthcare and training of a skilled national labor force. The Strategy also promotes an efficient and productive labor force through the implementation of measures to (1) develop human capital; (2) increase labor market efficiency; and (3) adopt a wage protection system for private sector workers. As for the natural resources management, the document promotes (1) water use efficiency; (2) rationalization for the preservation and delivery of clean water for all; (3) expanded wastewater treatment networks to increase the use of recycled wastewater; (4) access to modern energy services at affordable and sustainable costs. Attention is also given to oceans, seas and marine resources, conservation and enhancement of fish stocks, protection of terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity, waste reduction and recycling. Considerable attention is given to the security and public safety sector with several programs to build an effective and integrated criminal information management system and to develop a secure system for traffic safety, occupational safety and disaster management. The social protection sector strategy seeks to build a system that preserves rights, provides a fair retirement system and cares for all categories and, above all, is based on gender equality, defending issues related to women and improving their level of economic and social empowerment.
To make agriculture and fisheries more productive and sustainabel, Qatar will move towards a series of interventions to (i) change water consumption patterns in agriculture through a radical and prolonged reorientation of farming, involving a range of factors including government subsidies; (ii) change irrigation methods that involve flooding fields to be replaced with drip irrigation systems and adopt different crop mixes and farming methods that are water efficient; (iii) extend the treated sewage effluent distribution system to increase the use of recycled water and recharge aquifers; (iv) improve the distribution system for desalinated water; (v) ensure that all water consumption is metered; (vi) enact a comprehensive National Water Act establishing an integrated system of quality requirements, discharge controls and incentives for conservation; and (vii) regulate water discharge with standards for industrial, domestic and agricultural users. As for fisheries, the Strategy proposes to (i) increase fish stock levels, apply effective regulation and create a domestic aquaculture capability; (ii) explore effective limits on both the fishing fleet and the catch, including restrictions on the size and age of fish that can be caught; (iii) develop supportive fishing technologies such as net meshes that allow young fish to swim free to reverse some of the effects of over-fishing.
In order to enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems during the period of the National Development Strategy 2011 2016, the government will (i) stimulate services for small and medium-size enterprises, catalyzing the delivery of services by the private sector to small and medium-size enterprises through vouchers and targeted grants, directing energies towards knowledge-intensive businesses, and focusing particularly on developing entrepreneurial skills among young Qatari men and women; (ii) reform government procurement regulations to reduce burdens on small business; and (iii) mainstream disadvantaged and vulnerable groups into society and the workforce, ensuring inclusive growth and development.
As a small coastal country, Qatar is vulnerable to predicted rising sea levels. For this reason the government is committed to address the climate change issues and increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters with provisions to (i) support the national goal of lowering carbon dioxide emissions, thereby reducing the country s contribution to global climate change, that would have the connected effect of increasing national income through the sale overseas of the gas saved at home; and (ii) develop a national policy to manage air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and the broader challenges of climate change.