Doha, Qatar - Sasol, the international integrated chemicals and energy company, has announced its gold sponsorship of the Rowad Qatar annual Entrepreneurship Award and Conference 2017 which opened yesterday under the patronage of the Emir of Qatar His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC).
Qatar Development Bank (QDB) announced the launch of the award and conference in July 2017 to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs in Qatar to compete and share their creative concepts, projects, and initiatives to enrich the business community and serve the Qatari people. Rowad Qatar 2017 is part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week, a week-long exploration of entrepreneurship recognized in countries around the World.
Believing in the power of small and medium size businesses to change communities, Sasol has paid special attention to entrepreneurship initiatives in Qatar. Over the past four years, it has supported the Al Fikra National Business Competition, which is designed as a catalyst for entrepreneurship in Qatar.
Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa, CEO of QDB said: "The Rowad Award was designed to motivate entrepreneurs to play an effective role in growing the Qatari economy while promoting a culture of entrepreneurship and the spirit of self-sufficiency. We thank Sasol for its sponsorship of the award and conference, which are part of our effort to achieve sustainable development."
Phinda Vilakazi, President of GTL Ventures at Sasol commented: ": "At Sasol, entrepreneurship is in our DNA and we believe that it will be one of the growth engines for future economic growth and diversification. Sasol’s sponsorship of this forum today is deeply connected to our support for the Qatar National Vision 2030, which calls for diversifying the economy, inviting new energy and optimism into the business community, and making Qatar a regional hub for entrepreneurship.”
The first Qatar Entrepreneurship Award covers five categories: The Best Microenterprise Award, the Best Scale-up Business Award, the Best Start-up Business Award, the Best Exporter Award and the Best Local Market Self-sufficiency Award. Winners will be announced during a grand ceremony at the Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel on 15 November 2017.
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Issued by:
Jack Saba, GM of Public Affairs, Sasol Qatar
Direct telephone +974 4407 7365; Mobile +974 5510 4880;
jack.saba@sasol.com
About Sasol:
Sasol is an international integrated chemicals and energy company that leverages technologies and the expertise of our 30,100 people working in 33 countries. We develop and commercialise technologies, and build and operate world-scale facilities to produce a range of high-value product streams, including liquid fuels, chemicals and low-carbon electricity.
Sasol is a 49% shareholder with Qatar Petroleum in ORYX GTL, the world’s first commercial-scale GTL plant, based in Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar. ORYX GTL uses Sasol proprietary gas-to–liquids (GTL) technology to convert natural gas into liquid fuel and chemical products.
About QDB:
QDB is a Qatari bank aiming to improve the economic development cycle by providing entrepreneurs and SMEs with a wide range of financial and advisory products under one roof. QDB strategy is to stimulate a vibrant, robust and diversified private sector, in order to build a knowledge-based integrated economy, not completely dependent on the hydrocarbon industry, through the development and nurturing of Qatari entrepreneurs and SMEs and assisting them to overcome the obstacles they face based on the current economic situation, as the non-oil/gas private sector continues to grow, in terms of size and share of the Qatari economy. Qatar Development Bank has been and still is working to drive these trends forward. Shifting its focus from a purely industrial financing mandate to being a fully fledged development bank resulted in the State of Qatar increasing the Bank’s capital from QR 200 million to QR 12 billion. QDB now in a unique position that allows it to play a key role in the preparations for the 2022 World Cup football tournament.
