Paying an official visit on 11 and 12 December 2012, Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü met the State of Qatar’s Minister of Industry, H.E. Dr. Mohamed bin Saleh al Sada, Chief of Staff, H.E. Major General Hamad bin Ali al Attiyah, and the State Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Dr. Khalid bin Mohammad al Attiyah. The Director-General also inaugurated the regional Doha CWC Centre of Excellence with Major General al Attiyah and opened a regional OPCW seminar for States Parties in the Asia region on chemical safety and security management.
In his meetings Director-General Üzümcü briefed the officials on the status of implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), including the destruction of global stockpiles and the OPCW’s continuing efforts to achieve universality of the CWC, with a focus on Asia. He discussed current challenges facing the Organisation in preventing the misuse of toxic chemicals, and previewed some of the main issues to be addressed in the forthcoming 3rd Review Conference to be held from 8 to 19 April 2013 in The Hague. The Director-General commended Qatar for its firm commitment to the Convention and consistent support to the OPCW’s work.
In his opening address [PDF – 26 KB] to the seminar, Director-General Üzümcü noted that Qatar is assuming a leading role in promoting the implementation of Articles X and XI of the Convention, which had prompted the country to host a regional CWC centre that could be extended to cover other weapons of mass destruction. The Director-General further noted that chemical safety and security management is assuming greater importance in the work of the OPCW, which he attributed to the shifting geographical footprint of the chemical industry as well as contemporary threat perceptions.
The Director-General said the Asia region, which until recently accounted for only 15 percent of global chemicals production, now contributes nearly 50 percent and is expected to rise to 66 percent by the year 2030. In the context of the CWC, he added that the concerns of States Parties today relate to the possibility of misuse of toxic chemicals or attacks on facilities that produce or store such chemicals, as well as during transportation of chemicals.
Representatives of 26 States Parties* participated in the seminar.
* Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Yemen, Germany