Al Mahmoud Meets Senior Advisor of Darfur Affairs Senior Advisor

Doha,April 27 (QNA) -HE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud conferred here on Wednesday with Dean Smith, the Senior Advisor on Darfur Affairs in the office of the Special Envoy of the American President to Sudan , now visiting Qatar.
Talks during the meeting dealt with efforts and mediation made by Qatar for reinstating peace and stability in Darfur , preparations underway to finalize the peace process there and efforts exerted to convene the enlarged conference for the Darfur interested people slated for Doha on May 18-23.
The meeting was attended by a number of senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Egyptian PM Arrives to Doha on Wednesday Evening

Doha , April 27 (QNA) - Egyptian Prime Minister dr. Essam abdulaziz Sharaf arrives to Doha tonight for a two-day visit to qatar , the third lef of his gulf tour which has so far included Saudi Arabia And Kuwait.
During the visit, the Egyptian Premier is to hold meetings with the Qatari officials focussing on bilateral relations in different fields, the security in the GCC, and a set of other key regional issues of common concern foremost the Palestinian issue and the latest and accelerating developments in Libya and Yemen.
The economic aspect is also expected to feature high on the Qatari-Egyptian talks since Egypt is trying to push forward the wheel of development in the coming period to compensate the great losses it sustained in the wake of the Jan.25th revolution which ousted former President Hosni Mubarak and his corrupt regime.
The Gulf States would be one of the main tributaries of the development process in the coming year through investment in the mico projects under Egypt's preparedness to encourage such investments and overcoming whatever obstalces obstructing them.
It is worthy to mention that the volume of trade between Qatar and Egypt amounted to about $ 186 million in 2008 compared to $ 122 million in 2007, while the volume of Qatari investments in Egypt totalled more than LE 1700 million through 112 companies operating in the several aspects such as real estate, tourism, telecommunications and information technology.
There has been a number of reports in Egypt that stated that some Gulf countries are lobbying against the trial of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, the matter which top officials in the Gulf countries denied. The Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces issued a statement on April 25 criticizing Egyptian Media for their inaccurate portrayal, asking them to verify their news more meticulously.
The statement said: "There are no truths to reports of outside pressure from brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or from the brotherly United Arab Emirates," adding that, "Historical relations between Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are based on Egypt's belief in its pan-Arabism and its national role of assisting in keeping the security of its brethren in the Gulf, as it is also an inseparable part of Egypt's own national security." In a pre-departure statement in Riyadh,Dr. Sharaf also said that Cairo has "historic" relations with the Arab Gulf countries, and considered interference in the GCC states' affairs "a red line to Egypt." Sharaf further said that security of the Cooperation Council for the arab states of the Gulf (GCC) member states "is part of Egypt's security."
This came in comment to question marks raised about Egyptian efforts of normalization of diplomatic relations with Iran , Sharaf ensured during his visit to Kuwait that relations with Iran can never be at the expense of the security of the GCC member states. "It will never be allowed (the normalization of relations with Iran) to threaten the security of the GCC because it is very important to us and Egyptian national security. It (GCC security) is not just a red line, but a red wall," Sharaf said.
Sharaf has been on a GCC tour where he visited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where he met with the custodian of the two holy mosques king abdullah bin abdulaziz al saud and held talks with foreign minister prince saudi al faisal on means of boosting ties of joint cooperation in numerous domains . Then he left riyadh for kuwait yestdeday on a two-day visit to the State of Kuwait where he handed emiro of kuwait sheikh sabah al ahmed al jaber al sabah a letter from the chairman of the supreme council of the egyptian armed forces pertaining to bilateral relations and means of bolstering them in various domains and the latest regional developments .
During his visit to Kuwait , dr. sharaf also held talks with his kuwaiti counterpart sheikh nasser al mohamed al jaber al sabah on cementing bilateral relations and enhancing aspects of joint cooperation in all domains as well as reviewing the latest arab developments and supporting arab and international endeavours made to materialize the peace in the middle east.
Then comes the State of Qatar, the third lef of his tour. Meetings with the qatari officials are also likely to focus on economy in Egypt. Foreign investment is one of the main income resources to Egypt and GCC in particular has always been valuable to Egypt.
Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf is considered the head of what is referred to as "the Revolution's Government" in Egyptian media. He was one of a 1000 University professors who marched on February 9 demanding an end to former president Mubarak's rule. Prior to public service as formerly minister of transport during Mubarak's regime and now Prime Minister, Sharaf worked as a university professor at the Cairo University Faculty of Engineering and is considered one of the most prominent transportation experts in the world.

HE Qatar's Minister of State for Int. Cooepration Meets Japanese FM

Tokyo, April 27 (QNA) - HE Qatar's Minister of State for International Cooepration Dr. Khalid Bin Mohamed Al Attiyah conferred here on Wednesday with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto.
At the outset of the meeting, HE Dr. Khalid Bin Mohamed Al Attiyah conveyed heartfelt condolences of the Emir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani to the government and the government of Japan for the victims of the Tsunami earthquake and high floods which hit Japan recently . The meeting also dealt with bilateral relations and means of bolstering them.
Meanwhile HE Qatar's Minister of State for International Cooepration conferred with the Japanese Vice Minister Of Economy , Trade And Industry Tadahiro Matsushita on effective means of pushing forward and developing bilateral relations .
The two meetings were attended by Qatar's ambassador to Japan HE yusuf mohamed bilal and the delegation accompanying HE the Qatari Minister of State for International Cooepration.
It is worthy to mention that the Japanese ministers of foreign affairs and economy , trade and industry led their country's side to the Japan-Qatar Fiendship Association (JQFA) which met here earlier today.(QNA)

GORD to Establish Qatar as Middle East Capital of Green Building

Doha, April 27 (QNA) - The Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD) is the new name of the Barwa and Qatari Diar Research Institute, which was Established in 2009 and developed Qatar Sustainability Assessment System (QSAS) and the representatives of the new Gulf Organisation for Research & Development lined their vision to establish Qatar as the Gulf s Capital of Green at a press conference hosted at the organisation s new Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) headquarters.
This change in the name and identity came to meet the positive developments that Qatar is witnessing in applying and adopting QSAS locally and abroad.
Gulf Organisation for Research & Development Founder and Chairman Dr. Youssef Al-Horr told a press conference held at its new headquarters at Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) at the Education City; "Today s launch of the Gulf Organisation for Research & Development as an non-profit independent organization brings us closer to achieving our vision of seeing QSAS become the regional standard for sustainable development rating systems."
In line with the vision of His Highness the Emir and Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Heir Apparent of the State of Qatar to make the country a regional role model on sustainable development and climate change issues, the GULF ORGANISATION FOR RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT strives to enhance the country s environmental credentials whilst remaining committed to Qatar s long-term economic and social growth.
"The GULF ORGANISATION FOR RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT aims to ensure a healthy, rich and diverse environment for present and future generations in support of the environmental pillar of Qatar National Vision 2030, promises Dr. Al-Horr.
"Our vision is for Qatar to be the leader in sustainable development, design and construction. The Gulf Organisation For Research & Development will be one of the driving forces behind this transformation, achieving recognition by the construction industry and real estate sector as an invaluable contributor to the delivery of sustainable development."
Al-Horr also stated that the coming period, especially after adopting the new Qatar Green building code which coincides with QSAS, will witness the need for an independent entity which asset the governmental and non-governmental projects in a transparent method away from any outside effects.
Considered "the best of the best" sustainable rating system in the world, before QSAS was deprived from over 40 national and international rating methods. QSAS focuses on the region s social, economic, environmental and cultural conditions which are different from other parts of the world where issues such as power consumption, scarcity of water and cultural identity are neglected.
QSAS then was highly welcomed from various corporations working in this field which helped in adopting it quickly locally.in addition, the huge success of the first conference and exhibition held last month and attended by hundreds of professionals from Qatar and the world to participate in the workshops and seminars, as well as thousands of visitors who visited the exhibition, gave a clear indication that the Qatari market is so promising in this field and has all capabilities to develop rapidly.