Qatar Chamber, in cooperation with Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and Qatar’s Coding and Tracking Office (GS1 Qatar Office), recently held a workshop on the various applications for using barcodes. 

Titled ‘Introducing the Global Standards for Numbering (GS1) and the Global Standards System (GS1 System) and the Various Applications for Using Barcodes and their Role in Developing the Business Sector for Qatari Companies’, the workshop introduced the global standards for coding and the mechanisms of their use in various barcode applications, which cover important sectors such as retail trade, healthcare, transportation and logistics services, and other sectors.

Ali Sultan Al Kuwari 

It also introduced the GS1 Qatar and the services it provides to Qatari companies, as well as the GS1, GS1 System, and the various applications of using barcodes and their role in developing the business sector of Qatari companies and introducing the global keys used in the distinctive mark project and the mechanisms for their extraction and use.

The workshop also discussed the mechanisms of registration and obtaining membership in GS1 Qatar, the rules for granting international barcodes, as well as the most important challenges facing commercial partners and proposed solutions.

QDB Export Manager Ali Sultan Al Kuwari, who is also the CEO of the Qatari Coding and Tracking Office, thanked Qatar Chamber for hosting the workshop and joining hands with QDB and GS1 Qatar to introduce the office and the services it offers to the Qatari business community. He said that the GS1 Qatar Office is a non-profit organisation that aims to safeguard the unified international standards including the barcode.

Al Kuwari said that the adoption of the unified international standards system for Qatari companies and institutions will contribute to the standardization of the global language of business, facilitating the exportation and building of a reliable global database of Qatari products and services.

Global standards system

GS1 Qatar Office was established in June 2021 as a member of GS1 to collaborate in building a developed infrastructure capable of serving national industries and responding to their future needs.

Ibrahim Assaf

Al Kuwari invited Qatari companies to purchase the Qatari barcode and use it on their products, hoping that this would bring about a qualitative leap in the economic sectors and make a difference in terms of increasing the gross domestic product (GDP) of the State of Qatar, by marketing Qatari products and services locally and globally.

The workshop was delivered by Ibrahim Assaf, a specialist in the global standards system and a certified auditor for global tracking systems.

Assaf said that GS1 Qatar was established as a non-profit entity under the supervision of QDB to grant membership to local manufacturers, retailers, producers, commercial markets, and others, to use the international standards system for coding.

It aims to introduce international standards and mechanisms for their use at various stages throughout the supply chain, provide technical advice to improve operations, hold specialised training courses, present successful experiences in other countries, and hold workshops, seminars and meetings with the public and private sectors.


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