With this event, which took place on opening day of the First International Edition of the Qatar Motor Show, Qatar rightly assumes the role of thought-leader, the unquestioned front runner in the region for its ability to bring together the most prestigious international automotive brands.  The 1^st Middle East Automotive Summit and the First International Edition of the Qatar Motor Show, both organized by Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) in partnership with q.media Events and GL events under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim BinJabr Al Thani, Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, will be two prestigious events dedicated to the important automotive industry.

 

Over 300 delegates attended the summit to discuss the future of the industry.   His Excellency the Prime Minister addressed the audience and expressed that this event will highlight the country’s efforts to diversify the economy and innovation in different sectors, including tourism.

 

Distinguished speakers at the opening session of the summit included Mr. Ahmed Al Nuaimi, Chairman of Qatar Tourism Authority, H.E. Sheikh Alhussain bin Ali bin Ahmed Al Thani, CEO of Qatar Media Services, Mr. Ahmed Al Sayed, Managing Director and CEO of Qatar Holding, Professor Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Volkswagen Group, Mr. Ghanim bin Saad Al Saad, Chairman of Qatar Automotive Gateway and H.E. Mr. David McAllister, the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Germany.

 

In his address to the audience Dr. Winterkorn pointed out that even 125 years after being invented, that the fascination about automobiles hasn’t stopped: “Automobiles offer individual freedom and mobility, economic benefits, research and development activities and driving, leisure and motion.” He noted that the automotive industry has a global responsibility; that the cars of the future need to become more efficient and intelligent in order to face the challenges ahead and being part of the solution.

 

The technical sessions followed the opening speeches. The first session was dedicated to discussing The Future of Mobility while covering topics such as the high level technology in the industry, environmental sustainability, safety, alternative energy sources, mobility infrastructure and the interaction between transport, information technology and telecommunications. Speakers also discussed the challenges of the global automotive industry, the new developments of location based services, and how to reduce CO2 emissions through an integrated approach.          

 

The session was moderated by Professor Dr. Edward Luttwak, Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International studies and included distinguished authorities on the subject:  Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board of Management at Volkswagen, Dr. Dominique Venet, Executive Vice-President of Gaz EDF (Electricitè de France),  Mr. Jeff Mize, Executive Vice-President of NAVTEQ Corporation, Eng. Eugenio Razelli, Vice President OICA, and Eng. Ahmed M. Surour, CEO of Qatar Automotive Gateway.

In his address, Prof. Edward Luttwak immediately made it clear that the car industry has a future and, indeed, is the industrial sector that expresses the capacity for technological innovation more than any other sector. According to Dr Luttwakt policy-makers should learn that this industry has a greater future than its past, which requires better taxation, better regulation, better policies. He went on to commend the great effort Qatar has put to host this summit and the First International Edition of the Qatar Motor Show. “Qatar has exercised true leadership by focusing attention on a most important industry and field of human endeavour that others have under-estimated.”

 

 Dr. Hackenberg addressed the challenges of the global automotive industry. He emphasized the role the automotive industry plays in creating vehicles that should follow certain measures to reduce fuel consumption and create CO2 free energy.

 

When it comes to the future of the automotive industry, Dr. Venet believes that the automotive industry should aim towards the production of electronic vehicles (Ev) and head towards the cheapest charging form.

According to him the usage of Evs/PHEVs should be more promoted as a low-carbon transportation mean, and that is why the prices of such vehicles should be reduced to encourage the customer to purchase them. So, what should be offered to the users are simple, cheap and safe vehicles.

 

From a more pragmatic viewpoint, Mr. Mize spoke about location based services, and went on to explain that the figures in a study presented by him shows that the majority of drivers in this part of the world use the navigation systems, primarily to check the traffic to get away from congested areas.  Mr. Mize went on to say that technologies need to focus more on enhancing safety, efficiency and the environment, which is why many of the GPS systems today not only calculate the shortest and less congested route, but also the greener one.

 

More on reducing CO2 emissions was Eng. Razeli, who spoke about the evolution of global light vehicle sales and production . When it comes to sustainable mobility Eng. Razeli explained that delivering safe, energy-efficient products that meet customers’ needs, using the earth’s resources responsibly, minimizing environmental impacts and relying on renewable energy and responding to differing community needs for transportation are the shared goals within the automotive industry.

 

From his side Engineer Ahmed Sorour, Chief executive Officer at Qatar Automotive Gateway, addressed the changes that are happening in the global automotive industry, as according to him the primary growth in sales will no longer come from the developed world.

Modern society is mobile. Smart mobility is a goal that can be achieved thanks to planning actions in the territory and in urban centres, with the use of technologies that put the car into communication with the outside world and with the implementation of services that make it possible to obtain useful information and contents. 

This was discussed in the session of the Summit dedicated to The future of Intelligent Transportation Systems: Infrastructure, Telematics and Navigation with experts such as Eng. Jan Unander, Executive Director of Telematics Valley, Eng. Rasmus Lindholm, Head of Partnership Services at Ertico, Federico Parolotto, Senior Partner at obility in Chain, Dr. Roberto Saracco, Future Center Director at Telecom Italia, Eng. Mohammed Serroukh of ITS Arab, Mr. Peder Fast, Head of Telematics at Volvo, Eng.  Paola Carrea of Magneti Marelli, Mr. Kenneth Taormina, Global Managing Director of Engineering Services at Accenture, Mr. Cuneyt Oge, Advisory Board of Qatar Ag and Dr. David Schutt, CEO of SAE.

The second session of the summit titled “The Future of Intelligent Transportation Systems: Infrastructure, Telematics and Navigation”, went on to discuss info-mobility and the future technological developments of the whole car transportation system.

The topics were discussed during a round table where the industry experts shared their ideas and points of view on the market scenarios and current plans for ITS deployment in the Middle East, designing towns and transforming urban areas to meet new mobility demands, how smart vehicles are driving ITS Strategy for smart infrastructure in the gulf area, as well as the contribution of ITS, global trends and future applications in addition to revealing what consumers are looking for.

The Qatar Motor Show, organized by Qatar Tourism Authority in partnership with q.media events and GL Events will run until January 29, and promises to be a unique and refined experience.   The show is open to the public and entry is free.

 

For further information on the Qatar Motor Show and on the schedule of events, please visit www.qatarmotorshow.gov.qa.