Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Belgian Parliament Meets Qatari Ambassador

HE Member of the Chamber of Representatives of Belgium and Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Belgian Parliament Els Van Hoof, who is also a member of the Christian Democratic Party, met Wednesday at the parliament's headquarters in Brussels with HE Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Kingdom of Belgium Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Al Khulaifi and head of its missions to the European Union and NATO.

The meeting dealt with the upcoming Shura Council elections in October, which are a continuation of the legislative developments that will help increase popular participation.

HE the ambassador discussed the State of Qatar's efforts in protecting human rights, particularly at the national level and the comprehensive reforms carried out by the state to protect the right of expat workers. The Kafala system has been canceled and replaced with a contract-based system. Restrictions related to changing jobs have been removed, in addition to setting a minimum wage by law.

HE the Ambassador also stressed that Qatar's preparation for hosting the World Cup 2022 are going smoothly, noting that the building of stadiums and other infrastructure projects is moving ahead of schedule. A total of four stadiums out of the eight have already been inaugurated, with another three set to do so before year end. The Lusail stadium will be inaugurated in early 2022.

At the conclusion of the meeting, HE the ambassador invited HE Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Belgian Parliament to visit the State of Qatar to get to know the implemented measures and reforms in that regard.