"It will feel sad," said His Excellency Sheikh Hamad Bin Faisal Bin Thani al Thani, the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization. "We will not forget the busy days of preparation."

Organizers have been putting 16 to 18 hours per day to get ready for the big event. Some were working 24 hours a day. "Some people were sleeping in their offices," said Al Thani.

It wasn't easy. The small nation of Qatar was not equipped to deal with such a huge inflow of guests. "It was difficult work," said al Thani, "but we overcame the obstacles."

With only 19 hotels in the country, only nine of which are five-star hotels, the first problem was getting enough rooms for the conference participants.

The Qatar organizing committee was told to prepare 4,400 rooms but was later increased to 4,700. And so the work began. Hotels were reserved, compounds of villas and apartments secured, and extra staff brought in. "Hotels had to bring in from outside branches 25 to 30 percent extra trained staff," said Al Thani. "And we made contracts with compounds for villas and furnished apartments."

Five residential compounds were made available for the conference. Next came the time to tackle the logistics of transportation. "Buses had to transport guests back and forth from all their hotels and residences and apartments to the conference," said Al Thani, with 200 buses and 600 cars were leased for the occasion. Security now became the main issue. "We wanted every guest to feel secure here and not just at the conference but at their hotels or residences," said Al Thani, "even though we don't have a history of terrorism attacks here." Some 5,000 men were mobilized. All are trained security personnel in various government sectors. An additional 650 to 700 people volunteered to help out. A media organization team was set up to deal with the large inflow of journalists coming into the country.

Pre-empting the media demands, ten photocopy machines, ten fax machines, dozens of telephone lines, 30 computers, three television studios, two radio broadcasting rooms, and private wire lines for international press agencies were set up.

Across the hotel, at the Exhibition Center, more work was under way to construct booths for nongovernmental agencies arriving in Qatar including another press center, said the head of the Media Committee, Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al Thani. But as journalists began arriving, the committee found itself adding another eight computers "so people don't have to wait long to use one," he said. "Most people had their own laptops. Others were supposed to use the computers for only 25 minutes but did not. So we had to increase the number of computers."

Just outside the press area a huge tent was set up. "It's our hospitality tent," he explained. "We want to make journalists feel happy. They're working here for long hours and they deserve it." Hundreds of pastries and sandwiches are available for journalists-free of charge-twice a day. "So far," he said, "everything has gone well."

Sheikh Hamad couldn't agree more. "The problems we have faced have been simple," he said. "Someone came late, someone lost his phone, someone forgot his belongings in the bus, someone didn't get a pass or arrived to the country without WTO accreditation. Thank God, none of the problems were big ones." The cooperation of participants, he added, greatly helped in assuring the smooth flow of the conference. "Everyone has been wonderful," he said. Over the next several years, Qatar is slated to host several major events including the Asian Olympics in 2006.

"This (WTO conference) is not going to be the end of the story for us," said Abdullah Ahmed Bin Al Thani.