RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(01)/INF/2
 24 April  2001
(01-2059)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fourth Session
Doha, 9 – 13 November 2001
WTO MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Information Meeting held on 4 April 2001
I.  INTRODUCTION
1. An Information Meeting on the preparations for the WTO 4th Ministerial Conference to be
held in Doha was organized on 4 April 2001 at the WTO.  Ambassador Sheikh Fahad Awaida
Al-Thani, Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations at Geneva, 17
representatives from the Organizing Committee from Qatar and representatives from the
WTO Task Force for the Fourth Ministerial Conference were present.
2. Ambassador Al-Thani opened the meeting and welcomed the participants.  He informed
the Members that the objective of the meeting was for the Qatari Organizing Committee to
provide them with information on the forthcoming WTO 4th Ministerial Conference.  The
representatives of the Organizing Committee further informed that nine Sub-Committees were
established for the event, namely: (i) Protocol, (ii) Transportation and Accommodation, (iii)
Media Affairs, (iv) Security Affairs, (v) Logistic and Meeting Supports, (vi) Co-ordinationwith the WTO, (vii) Telecommunications, and (viii) Financial Affairs.
3. A special booklet containing “Information about the 4the WTO Ministerial Conference in
Doha” was provided to the Members.  The Qatari delegates explained that, in addition, an
information “box-file” would be distributed to delegations and participants of the Conference
at the latest by the end of May, through the WTO in Geneva. The “box-file” would contain allnecessary information on the event as well as explanations on the procedures to follow to
obtain visas, reservation of hotels and application forms.
II. VENUE OF THE CONFERENCE
4. The 4
th WTO Ministerial Conference will be held at the Hotel Sheraton Doha.  The Hotel
has 370 rooms including 65 suites, various conference and meeting rooms (the largest with a
capacity of up to 3,000 seats), full service business centre, restaurants, recreation and leisure
facilities.
III. ACCOMMODATION
5. The Qatari Organizing Committee has blocked 4,400 rooms for the participants to the
Conference.  The hotels and apartments (compounds) are within easy reach of the Conference
Centre.  Accommodation application forms will be found in the “box-file”.  Priority will be
given first to Delegations of Members and Observers to the WTO, then to accreditedrepresentatives of the Press and accredited representatives of Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs).  Accompanying Press and NGO’s should apply at the same time as
their respective delegation. With regard to “block reservation”, the Qatari OrganizingWT/MIN(01)/INF/2
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Committee will study all requests and will try to allocate the rooms in a fair manner taking
into account of the room capacity of the hotels in Doha.
6. Credit card guarantee will be required to secure hotel reservations.  The Qatari
Organizing Committee will study the possibility of accepting a guarantee letter from the
Embassy or Permanent Mission instead of a credit card for hotel reservation.  Although namesof occupants will not be required at the time of reservation, no cancellations of reservations
will be accepted.  The Qatari Organizing Committee will study the suggestion of setting a
deadline for hotel reservations instead of a “first come first serve” basis.  Final decisions
regarding acceptance of a guarantee letter and the deadline for hotel reservations will be
communicated in the “box-file”.
IV. VISA REQUIREMENTS
7. It was explained that there would be three ways to apply for a visa: (i) filling the visa
application form included in the “box-file” and sending it directly to the Qatari Organizing
Committee in Qatar (ii) through the Qatar Embassy in their respective countries, and (iii)
through the Permanent Mission of Qatar in Geneva.  Once the visa is approved, the applicant
will receive a copy of it that would facilitate the purchase of the air tickets and any pre-travel
airport or airline control.  Similar visa application procedures will be applied to the WTOaccredited Press and accredited NGOs.
V.       TRANSPORTATION
(a) Ground transportation
8. Ground transportation will be serviced through a shuttle centre which will be situated
within the boundary of the security zone.  During working hours a shuttle bus service will
operate between the residence locations and the shuttle centre, and a 24-hour service will
operate between the shuttle centre and the conference centre. Each residence location will
have a corresponding bus stand at the shuttle centre.  The shuttle bus services will begin to
operate two days before the Conference and will end two days after the event.  The service
from the residence to the shuttle centre is scheduled to operate every 15 minutes duringworking hours and every hour after working hours. The shuttle service  to the  Conference
Centre will operate every 5 minutes during working hours and as appropriate after working
hours.
9.  One limousine will be assigned to each Head of Delegation.  Car rental with drivers will
be available on a 24-hour basis.  The contact point for renting cars is the Qatari OrganizingCommittee and the necessary information will equally be found in the “box-file”.  It should be
noted that a valid  international driving licence is required to drive in Doha and in all the
Qatari territory.
10. A shuttle bus service will be organized for the participants from and to the airport two
days before and two days after the Conference.  In order to organise this shuttle service,Delegations should communicate their travel details (dates, hours and flight numbers of
arrivals and departures) well in advance.
(b) Air travel
11. At present, there are 20 international airlines which have flights to Doha; the International
Airport is situated very close to the city.  Ar rangements can be made for special charters and
VIP flights, upon request. Qatar Airways will sc hedule, if necessary, one direct flight from
Geneva on 8  November 2001.  At the airport in Doha, there will be a WTO Handling Team                                                                                                   WT/MIN(01)/INF/2
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to assist the participants with the arrival and departure procedures.  Banks, for changing
money, can be found both at the arrival and departure terminals, in the city and in the hotels.
VI. TELECOMMUNICATIONS
12. The Qatar Telecom (Q-Tel) is solely responsible for the telecommunication services in
Qatar.  Q- Tel offers a full range of services, including domestic and international fixed linetelephone services, mobile communication services, data services including Internet and pay
television, as well as a variety of other services such as paging services and trunk mobile
radio services.
13. ISDN telephone services are available and Q-Tel also offers Intelligent Network platform,
providing services such as calling card services and prepaid calling cards.  In addition, specialservices such as international leased line serv ices and VSAT are also available.  With regard
to mobile phone services, digital mobile telecommunications services through its GSM
network are available.  Two types of access to the Internet service are available, namely, the
dial-up access and the leased line access.  Q-Tel is in the process of arranging the provision of
Internet roaming service and pre-paid Internet Service.  Requests for telecommunication
services should be submitted through the forms contained in the “box-file” through the Qatari
Organizing Committee
14. Fixed telephoning services, mobile telephone services (GSM), and cyber cable for the
Internet are available in both the Conference Centre and the Exhibition Centre.  The web-
casting for the Conference will be done at Qatar.  It is to be noted that the opening, closing
and plenary sessions will be open to the NGOs and to the Press, while the working sessions
will be limited to the Delegates only.
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15. After the explanations covering each area, as mentioned above, delegations had the
opportunity to request clarification or additional information to which the Qatari delegation
provided precise answers, wherever possible.  It was agreed that the Qatari OrganizingCommittee will visit Geneva again towards the end of September 2001 to provide further
explanations and information, as required, prior to the Ministerial Conference.
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