Muscat to host second Asian Arabic Debating Championship

Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman will host the second Asian Arabic Debating Championship which will take place early in 2023, QatarDebate announced on Sunday. The competition will feature free thought, open discussions, and constructive debate with around 50 teams participating from around the world.

The Oman Debate Center and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth as a logistics sponsor, had submitted a proposal to host this championship. Nasser al Hinai, the CEO of the Oman Debate Centre, said “the first edition of the competition was in Malaysia and the second is going to be in Oman in 2023”, adding that “we have won because of the competency Oman Debate Centre and the ministry have shown in the past years”.

The Centre and the ministry are expected to play a pivotal role in this championship by providing administrative, logistic, and technical support. The ministry will be responsible for providing the administrative, logistic, and technical support, while Oman Debate Centre will be responsible for nominating the local debating teams and arbitrators.

This championship is expected to witness more participation of debating teams from the higher education institutions and debate arbitrators of Oman. Al Hinai said “the championship is an opportunity for Omani youth to exchange organisational experiences with international youth”

He also confirmed “the championship will be held in Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre at the end of January and the beginning of February, next year.

Besides, the event will also boost tourism prospects as international participants from around 20 Asian countries will be taken around the Sultanate of Oman’s key tourism sites by the organisers.

QatarDebate, a member of Qatar Foundation and the National Debating Organisation for Qatar, is a civic engagement initiative which aims to develop and support the standard of open discussion and debate among students and youth in Qatar and the broader Arab world.

QatarDebate was established in 2008 under the direction of Moza bint Nasser, chairperson of Qatar Foundation, with support from the team behind the Doha Debates.

QatarDebate’s aim is to “shape the global citizens of today and the intellectual leaders of tomorrow in Qatar and the region” through the introduction of a variety of English and Arabic debate programmes.