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Doha hands over keys of Islamic Youth Capital to Dhaka

The Ministry of Culture and Sports, under the auspices of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, on Thursday celebrated the conclusion of events held as part of the 2019 Doha – the Capital of Islamic Youth initiative and the handover of the symbolic key to Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, for the 2020 edition.

The ceremony was held at Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre (DECC) on the sidelines of the 30th Doha International Book Fair.

HE the Minister of Culture and Sports Salah bin Ghanem al-Ali attended the event along with HE the President of Planning and Statistics Authority Dr Saleh bin Mohamed al-Nabit, Bangladesh’s Minister of Youth and Sports Zahid Ahsan Russell, Islamic Co-operation Youth Forum president Taha Ayhan and a number of officials on youth from Jordan, Palestine and Kuwait.

A number of ambassadors also attended the ceremony.

The Ministry of Culture and Sports stressed, in a speech read out by Mohamed al-Fuhaida, that Doha will remain a capital for all youth-related initiatives, expressing its appreciation of the success of all the 2019 events. The ministry noted that the Doha events concluded following strong participation from Muslim youth from all over the world throughout the year.

The ministry’s statement stressed that the event enhanced the status of Qatari youth due to the trust of the wise leadership and the role they are playing in realising Qatar National Vision 2030.

Ayhan thanked Qatar for hosting the event, praising the role played by the country in helping Muslim youth improve their skills. He also noted that they look forward to further co-operation with Qatar.

Afterwards, Ayhan announced Dhaka as the Capital of Islamic Youth for 2020.

The Bangladeshi minister expressed pleasure at attending the ceremony, while thanking Qatar and the Islamic youth forum for organising the event.

He noted the strong ties between Bangladesh and Qatar, which hosts a large number of his country’s workers, adding that there is co-operation with Qatar in a number of areas such as health, sports and culture, which has been strengthened in recent years. He also congratulated Qatar on the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which will take place in an Islamic country for the first time.

Russell said the Islamic youth forum is an important platform for co-operation between Islamic countries and that Bangladesh has a good relationship with all countries of the Islamic world. He added that a busy programme will be presented during the activities of Dhaka in co-operation with the Islamic youth forum.

During the event, HE al-Ali presented awards as part of the Doha – the Capital of Islamic Youth initiative, including the Doha Prize for Youth Innovation in its three tracks, namely the winners in the short film, visual arts and photography categories.

In recognition of its efforts in supporting and empowering Muslim youth, Qatar received the key of Doha – the Capital of Islamic Youth in March 2019 during the closing ceremony of Al Quds – the Capital of Islamic Youth 2018 that was held in Ankara.

The Doha – the Capital of Islamic Youth 2019, which was held under the motto ‘Youth is power of the nation’, included several events, most notably the launch of the Doha Prize for Youth Innovation and the presentation of a number of events, the organisation of the Doha Muslim Youth Forum, Doha Oasis for Innovation and Doha youth camp for volunteer and humanitarian work.

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