HH The Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in a calculated move, reshuffled his cabinet for the first time since early 2016 and gave key positions to CEOs of highly successful Qatari companies.

HH The Amir appointed the chiefs of Qatar National Bank (QNB) and Qatar Petroleum (QP) to two key ministerial posts, reported Al Jazeera.

While QNB CEO Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari was appointed as minister of the newly created Commerce and Industry ministry, QP head Saad bin Sharida Al Kaabi was made Minister of State for Energy Affairs and a member of the Cabinet, reported Gulf Times.

HH The Amir also issued decrees to restructure the boards of both QP and the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the world’s ninth-largest sovereign wealth fund with about $300bn in assets.

HH The Amir also appointed Dr Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi as Minister of Justice. He will additionally also assume duties of Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs.

The other appointees are Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie as Minister of Municipality and Environment and Yousef bin Mohamed Al Othman Fakhro as Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs.

Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was named the chairman of QIA.

HH The Amir’s brother HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani was named as the chairman of QP, according to Reuters.

The new ministers took their oath before HH The Amir at the Amiri Diwan yesterday.

HH The Amir also appointed HE Dr Hassan bin Lahdan Al Muhannadi as Chief of the Court of Cassation.

The markets responded quite positively to the new development. While Qatari stocks ended firmer following the reshuffle, markets elsewhere in the region including Saudi Arabia were mostly weaker in lacklustre trade, reported Reuters.

Doha’s main index closed up 0.5% at 10,331 points, with petrochemicals, metals and fertiliser producer Industries Qatar jumping 1.4%, Qatar Islamic Bank adding 1.1%, and QNB rising 0.8%. In Saudi Arabia, the main index was down 0.4%.