File picture of a neighbourhood store in Doha used for representation.
Doha: The State Cabinet yesterday approved a draft decision by the Minister of Economy and Commerce that amends some provisions of Decision No. 239 of 2011 on regulations for granting temporary licences to open commercial and public shops in residential areas.
Under the amendment, licences for commercial and public shops located in residential areas can be renewed provided that they are operational during implementation of the decision (No. 239 of 2011) and carry out any of the activities other than those mentioned in its Article 1. Extension of licences will be on a yearly basis with a maximum period that ends on December 31, 2019.
Prime Minister and Interior Minister HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani chaired the cabinet's regular weekly session, held at its premises at the Emiri Diwan.
The Cabinet welcomed the results of the 37th GCC Supreme Council summit held in Bahrain on December 6 and 7 with participation of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs H E Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud said that the Sakhir Declaration issued at the summit and its closing statement that included decisions and recommendations towards the joint Gulf work and the ambitions of its peoples, and stresses the common diligence for maintaining security, stability and prosperity of the region.
The Cabinet also welcomed the joined communique issued by the summit held between GCC leaders and UK Prime Minister Theresa May, which took place on the sidelines of the GCC Supreme Council summit, during which they agreed to the launch of a GCC-UK strategic partnership to promote closer ties in all fields.
Cabinet nod for proposal on Expo 2017 budget
The Cabinet approved a draft cabinet decision that amends some provisions of Decision No. 2 of 2012 on the organisation of the National Committee on Biosafety.
The Ministry of Municipality and Environment prepared the draft decision as part of integrating a number of ministries and delegating some departments, which required the restructuring of the committee that specialises in a number of jurisdictions on biosafety policies, identifying procedures that control biotechnology in order to create a safe policy for research on genetic recombination, approving the national framework of biosafety, and conducting a risk assessment of organisms and genetically modified products.
Additionally, the session approved a proposal by the Ministry of Economy and Commerce to ratify the requested budget to participate in EXPO 2017, due to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan from September 6 to 9, 2017.
The Cabinet reviewed the draft decision of the Minister of Economy and Commerce to identify certain land areas in the country as tourist areas.
It also reviewed a memo from the Minister of Public Health on the results of the 80th session of GCC Council of health ministers, held in Riyadh in October 2016.
