The Shura Council State of Qatar

The meeting of the Standing Committee on Budget and Planning of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) was held in Doha today, chaired by His Excellency Engineer Ahmed bin Hatmi Al-Hatmi, Member of the Shura Council, Chairman of the Committee, and Vice President of APA.
HE Eng. Ahmed bin Hitmi Al Hitmi affirmed that the Standing Committee's meeting in Doha underscores the APA's commitment to developing its institutional performance, improving its working mechanisms, and ensuring its financial and administrative sustainability, to enable it to carry out its duties in the best way possible.
Presiding over the Standing Committee's general session, His Excellency noted the APA's significant recent accomplishments and said that the current period calls for a serious evaluation of and reflect on the APA's journey, accompanied by a clear future vision that reflects the advancement of the Asian parliamentary experience and its ability to achieve institutional development and respond to regional and international changes.
In this context, HE Eng. Al Hitmi called for having an in-depth and responsible discussion on the possibility of reviewing and amending articles related to the APA standing committees' mechanisms of drafting and passing resolutions, with the aim of enhancing draft resolution quality, ensuring their implementability, avoiding repetition, and enhancing focus on priority issues, thereby positively reflecting on the APA's reputation and the effectiveness of its outcomes.
The general session discussed a number of items on the agenda, most notably proposed amendments to the APA Charter's articles, in addition to reviewing the APA Secretary-General's report, which addresses the latest developments and key achievements related to the Standing Committee's work, as well as a draft resolution on planning the APA's budget and setting the 2026 budget.
Following extensive deliberations, the general session concluded with participants passing both the 2026 APA budget and the Shura Council's proposal to amend the articles pertaining to submitting and approving draft resolutions, a step that improves the APA's parliamentary work.
On the sidelines of the Standing Committee's meeting, the APA's bureau held a meeting to look into the standing committee's draft resolutions, in preparation for submitting them to the APA during its General Assembly meeting to be held in the Bahraini capital, Manama, next year.