Between 6th to 9th October 2013 Westminster Chairman, Sir Malcolm Ross and Sales Director, Laurence Summers, visited Qatar for high level meetings and discussions.
Hosted by the Rumaillah Group, whose Chairman is Sheikh Hamad, Sir Malcolm and Laurence met with government departments and some of Qatar’s most influential businesses such as G4S (Qatar) to discuss possible joint ventures for electronic security systems to compliment the physical services of G4S across Qatar. Other meetings were held with the Head of the Qatar Chamber to look at the security needs for Qatar Petroleum, and representatives from the Ministry of Interior to discuss Port security and CCTV across Doha City in preparation for the 2022 World Cup. Security of the new Metro system, as well as the rapid growth of buildings in the Commercial Centre of Doha are key areas for which Westminster Group have also been asked to comment on.
During the visit Lt. Col. Sir Malcolm Ross was also the invited guest speaker at the Qatar-British Business Forum (QBBF) held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Doha and attended by around 150 business leaders in Qatar.
Qatar, which is host to the 2022 World Cup, has one of the highest per capita GDP in the world with substantial reserves of both oil and gas. Due to the ruling Emir Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani’s vision of Qatar for the future, his project known as Qatar Vision 2030 includes the building a complete new City called Lusail City as well as the expansion of Doha City to include the building of new schools, universities and hospitals. There are also to be two new Sea Ports as well as new Military bases. Added to this is “The Pearl” which spans nearly four million square meters and will create over 32 kilometers of new coastline, for high wealth residential properties along with shopping malls, office blocks recreation areas and a large Marina.
The invitation to Lt Col Sir Malcolm and Laurence, was to come and see at first hand the scale of these developments and the potential for the wider range of security services that Westminster Group could bring to the region as the security threat levels will undoubtedly increase.
Commenting on the visit Sir Malcolm Ross stated:
“From my short visit to Qatar I am convinced that in view of the massive expansion programme now underway in the country, there is a clear need for sophisticated security solutions and the opportunities for Westminster are immense.
“There is a strong desire and requirement at this time for a UK centric company, with high level security experience to work alongside the Qatari’s to lay the infrastructure of widespread security solutions and to become their foremost provider. There is a clear need for a broad range of sophisticated electronic security systems as well as training requirements for the growing numbers of security personnel and police etc. and Westminster, with our expertise, reputation for delivering a broad range of services worldwide, coupled with the strength of our local partners’ means Westminster is well placed to assist with these requirements. At a meeting with the recently appointed new British Ambassador, Mr Nicholas Hopton, along with the Director of UKTI, they confirmed these findings and the full support of the British Embassy to bring strong and recognisable UK companies, such as Westminster, into Qatar to help the Qatari’s with securing the ever growing region and its people.”
See Gulf Times article here