JASSIM SAIF AHMED AL SULAITI
With plans for a fully electric bus system and an impressive set of interconnected transportation options including metro, rail, and tram, the Ministry of Transport and Communication is shifting mobility into the next gear in Qatar.
BIOGRAPHY
Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti has held countless important posts in both the public and private sector. He has a bachelor's in mechanical engineering, a master's in military science, and a diploma from the UK's Institute of Directors. He has served as Minister of Transport and Communications since 2016. He is a board member of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy and a member of Qatar's ministerial group for co-ordination and follow-up on major projects of strategic importance. He is chairman of Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani) and Hamad Port Steering Committee, along with the Qatar Digital Government Steering Committee. Previously, he served as chairman of Qatar Armed Forces Engineers Qualifying Committee.
MoTC has recently published its key strategy on private sector participation (PSP) in the transport industry. What does the involvement of the private sector entail?
The PSP guidebook was developed to provide a framework for implementing PSP projects in Qatar's transport sector. MoTC seeks to implement PSP projects where suitable to achieve efficient asset delivery and operations, thereby freeing up public sector finances, growing the local private sector, and attracting foreign investors. For the transport sector, a typical PSP project would be long term in nature, require significant investment, and have a potential for risk transfer to the private sector through a performance-based specification approach. The private sector also seeks certain assurances from the government that will make them confident about the cash flows that help in making the project viable. The government is already working to provide a clear legal framework and guidance for implementing PSP projects.
How will the Doha metro transform the mobility in the city?
Mobility is essential to all of society. It allows people to connect with places and shapes how we live our lives. A focus on people is central to mobility. Understanding how citizens and businesses make decisions and interact with transport and technology provides an opportunity to place the user at the heart of an integrated transport system. People and businesses make transport decisions as part of wider choices about accessibility, lifestyle, and connectivity. People are strongly influenced by practical factors such as the built environment, location, cost, journey times, and availability of infrastructure. The metro is playing a major role in influencing a modal shift by implemented initiatives such as Metrolink feeder services and on-demand ride-sharing services such as MetroExpress that provide easy and convenient connections to the metro network. The Doha metro is integrated with the bus network at major interchange locations, thereby facilitating seamless mobility. A friendly fare structure incorporating integrated ticketing, called Sila, will add to this seamless mobility by creating one ticket to be used across all modes of public transport and taxis. A surface journey across the entire Red line route from Al Wakrah to Lusail—which on a good traffic day would take about 45-60 minutes—can now be completed in 30 minutes in the comfort of an air-conditioned, state-of-the-art metro. The metro will be instrumental in changing travel attitudes and behaviors of citizens in Qatar. It is also linked with other light rail systems under development, such as Lusail Light Rail, Education City Tram, and Msheireb Tram system, providing commuters with options and connecting them to major hubs of education, work, and recreation in the country.
Recently you have announced that 20% of public transport in Qatar will be eco-friendly by 2022. Why is it important for Qatar to increase efficiency in transport and make it more ecological?
MoTC recently developed a detailed electric bus implementation plan (EBIP) that will provide the framework for a gradual shift to a fully electric public bus system in Qatar and the utilization of electric buses on key services during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. MoTC has engaged with stakeholder organizations including the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Kahramaa, and Mowasalat. EBIP also makes official the gradual transition of public bus and government school bus services to electric buses by 2030. Electric public transport is now a global trend that is imperative to provide environmental benefits. Qatar has a strong electricity grid with enough spare capacity to provide most of the electric bus fleet requirements. We also plan to use solar energy to provide power for the fleet. The electric bus implementation will promote Qatar as a global leader in clean energy mass transit and make it the first country in the world with a fully integrated electric public transport system.
JASSIM SAIF AHMED AL SULAITI
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Interview
Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, CEO, Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority
Given its successful performance in the last few years, QFC is optimistic it will be able to capitalize on Qatar's ongoing efforts to create a world-class business environment and attract more global companies.
read articleInterview
Lolwah R M Al-Khater, Spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is focused on pushing forward Qatar's foreign policy, sharing information and perspectives that could be useful for regional security and advancing the Qatari narratives on many issues facing the world today.
read articleInterview
Richard O’Kennedy, Vice President, Research, Development, and Innovation, Qatar Foundation
The first country in the world to track its citizens' genomes, Qatar is on track to make one of modern science's biggest breakthroughs by personalizing medical treatment and precision care.
read articleInterview
Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti, Minister, Transport and Communications (MoTC)
With plans for a fully electric bus system and an impressive set of interconnected transportation options including metro, rail, and tram, the Ministry of Transport and Communication is shifting mobility into the next gear in Qatar.
read articleInterview
Sheikh Abdulla Bin Saoud Al Thani, Governor, Qatar Central Bank (QCB)
Encouraging local manufacturing, initiating self-sufficiency in dairy and farm products, expanding into new air and sea routes, offering select visa-free entry, and enacting fiscal reforms are but several of the successful reforms undertaken since 2017.
read articleInterview
Sean Kelly, Project Director, Place Vendôme
Place Vendôme is no ordinary mall: with 650 hotel rooms, a 6,000-sqm cinema with 18 screens, six slides, three toboggan runs, and an ice river opening in September 2020, it is looking to slide into Qatar's tourism infrastructure in time for the World Cup.
read articleInterview
Mehmed Zingal, General Manager, Turkish Airlines - Qatar
With its 30th year celebration of its Miles&Smiles club launch in Qatar, Turkish Airlines is acknowledging its continued diligence to provide the best customer service, with targets to increase customer happiness through innovative technologies and increasing tourism to Qatar for the future.
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Hassan Rashid Al-Derham, President, Qatar University (QU)
Ranked in the top-500 universities by the Times Higher Education, Qatar University improves students' academic success by supporting students throughout their academic lifecycle, from the pre-university stage to beyond graduation.
read articleFocus
A lesson learned
The international attention set to fall on Qatar over the coming years is significant only to the extent that it generates advances in human capital required by Qatar's blueprint, National Vision 2020, where local know-how and innovation advance the nation and promote wellbeing.
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Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health & Managing Director,, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC)
The health minister is committed to continuing the growth of Qatar's healthcare system, with plans for more than 20 new facilities specializing in pediatrics, geriatrics, and mental health.
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