By Mohammad Shoeb

DOHA: Over 90 leading exhibitors from around the world are expected to participate in the forthcoming ‘Qatar International Exhibition and Conference for Sustainable Development’ which is scheduled to be held from March 14-16 2017 at Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre.

The launch of the first edition of the event was announced on the occasion of ‘World Earth Day’ (April 24) at a press conference organised by ‘Qatar National Program for Sustainable Development’ (Estedama) in collaboration with Qatar Chamber (QC) at its headquarters yesterday.

Estedama is a national awareness programme initiated by the Ministry of Environment and supported by official entities in Qatar on sustainable development. It aims to contribute in developing a sustainable and healthy community by raising awareness about sustainable development topics and empower people to act in their society through meeting the needs of the present without compromising the future generations needs in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030).

Work on the programme started in the beginning of the year 2013 and to be a real legacy for Qatar and one of the mega projects that has been launched after the successful host of COP18.

“We have been working with a number of public and private entities over the last three and a half years since COP18 till today to achieve the goal of sustainable development” Qassim Radaideh CEO at Estedama told The Peninsula on the sidelines of the event.

Qassim added: “The expo to be held over an area of about 10000sqm is expected to attract over 30000 visitors. We are organizing the event with only one goal in mind -- to achieve the objective of sustainable development in line with QNV2030.”

He noted that the signing of the Paris agreement just a couple of days ago was a major milestone for Qatar especially with regard to the level of achievements the country has made in this direction.

Also present at the press meet were Sheikha Noor Jassim Al Thani Chairperson Estedama and Saleh Hamad Al Sharqi Director General at QC and other guests and business leaders.

“We at Qatar Chamber are fully prepared to extend all our possible support to the organisers participants and other stakeholders of the event. We will also be happy to support the exhibitors and companies who express their interests in establishing and expanding their operations in Qatar” Al Sharqi told this newspaper.

The exhibitors including those from several advanced countries such as Japan Germany France the UK and the US will display their latest sustainable technologies and solutions that match Qatar’s needs. In addition local and regional participants from the UAE Saudi Arabia Jordan and other countries in the Middle East will also be exhibiting their latest projects and sustainable solutions happening in Qatar and the region.

Parallel to the exhibition industry experts from Qatar and around the world will also discuss and exchange ideas on current challenges and solutions required to achieve the goals.The Peninsula