The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) has organised a number of activities for the 11th Gulf Consumer Protection Week, which started yesterday under the slogan “One Gulf, One Consumer”.
The annual event aims to unify the Gulf Co-operation Council’s (GCC) efforts to expand the consumer protection umbrella through mutual co-operation and empowering consumers by providing essential skills and knowledge to make them aware of their rights and responsibilities.
The MEC is holding various events, activities, and awareness programmes during the week in the morning and evening at Souq Waqif. The programme includes exhibiting original and counterfeit goods and how to distinguish between them; organising consumer awareness lectures to spread sound shopping and consumption practices, while providing special means for hearing and speaking impaired individuals and familiarising them with their rights and duties as consumers.
The exhibition will also introduce “The Market Programme” to educate children on sound purchasing and shopping practices and habits as well as the negative impacts of incorrect purchasing and shopping practices and habits; offering age-appropriate information that can be useful in improving their future shopping methods.  
The ministry will also hold public competitions on the services offered by the Ministry of Economy and Commerce in the areas of economic affairs, commercial affairs and consumer protection, with the aim of raising the public’s awareness of the ministry’s roles and responsibilities.
The ministry will set up a children’s corner; hand out gifts and souvenirs and co-ordinate with the owners of globally registered trademarks to hold public lectures.
Through these events, the MEC aims to apply the resolutions of the Consumer Protection Committees at the GCC Secretariat, raising consumer awareness in the community and educating the public on the activities and programmes of the Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department.