PHOTO
14 December 2016
The Minister of Economy and Commerce, H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, referring to Qatari Economic Prospects Report 2016-2018, said Qatar’s economy is expected to continue to grow steadily, supported by growth in non-oil sectors which would be the main contributor to the GDP growth in the coming years. He added growth of this sector in 2015 increased by 7.8 percent.
Speaking at the final awards ceremony of Al Fikra National Business Competition 2016 yesterday, he said the Ministry is keen to facilitate and provide all support to improve business and investment environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs.
To achieve this goals, the Ministry has launched a number of initiatives including the initiative of license for construction of business centre, home based business, initiative of organising vendors activities ,implementation of logistic areas, launch of establishing companies using smartphones and other electronic services, he said.
Qatar Development Bank (QDB) yesterday announced the list of five successful entrepreneurial ideas at the fifth edition of Al Fikra National Business Competition held at Marriott Marquis Hotel. The value of the awards amounted to more than QR8m and prizes ranged from access to finance, incubation time and advisory services to help the successful entrepreneurs translate their business ideas into reality and commence operations on ground.
"We, at QDB, aspire to inculcate a culture of creativity, entrepreneurial spirit and innovativeness across the nation through providing a supportive environment for entrepreneurs. An integral part of our development strategy for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been to provide the requisite impetus for the national economy to achieve diversity and sustainable development, as envisioned in Qatar National Vision 2030, and our national business competition is, as such, a case-in-point,” said Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa Chief Executive Officer of QDB.
"Our primary focus during our evaluation phase was the quality and innovativeness of the submissions with respect to the commercial needs of the market—the finalists were selected by the jury on criteria that includes the quality of the ideas submitted and the feasibility of their business plans. Through the support of QDB, the finalists are empowered to translate their business models into a reality. I thank all the pioneers of Al Fikra, who participated in the contest in the past editions, and congratulate the winners of the current fifth edition," added Al Khalifa.
Assistant General Manager (AGM), SME Banking, QNB, Khaled Al-Nuaimi said: “QNB Group is pleased to sponsor this competition which witnesses the presentation of many creative ideas from budding entrepreneurs. QNB Group always aims to be at the forefront of the organisations supporting the efforts of this upcoming generation of business men and women and nurturing their creative energies for the benefit of our national economy and to build a brighter future for our Qatar.”
President of GTL Ventures at Sasol, Phinda Vilakazi, said, “Entrepreneurship is in our DNA. It is for this reason that Sasol continues to support Al Fikra and the talented youth of Qatar to develop their ideas into successful businesses, so that they may make a difference in people’s lives. I would like to thank Qatar Development Bank for continuing to develop and support entrepreneurship in Qatar. In the Arabic-language, we say ‘one hand cannot clap by itself’. It is through your support and encouragement that these young people will realize their dreams.”
President and General Manager for ExxonMobil Qatar, Alistair Routledge, said “ExxonMobil Qatar is proud to support the 2017 edition of the Al Fikra National Business Competition, hosted by QDB. It is a tremendous platform for future business leaders to build on their ingenuity and develop their unique competencies.” In an effort to assist candidates in developing their ideas and transforming them into operational projects, QDB has collaborated with a group of preeminent supporters and strategic partners to organise Al Fikra this year.
The competition is sponsored by Qatar National Bank (QNB), Sasol and ExxonMobil as official sponsors. Moreover, QDB is collaborating with its two subsidiaries, Qatar Business Incubation Center and Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Development. The fifth edition of Al Fikra was launched in late August 2016 and spread across three phases. The first phase – receipt of team applications and preliminary business plans – began in the period from August 31 to September 17.
It was followed by the second phase – training and planning workshops – that spanned the months of September and October. Finally, the last stage saw the presentation of business plans and thorough assessment by the jury on criteria such as creativity, innovation, scalability and feasibility. The jury committee comprised eight evaluators from the local business community, QDB and its official competition partners.
Al Fikra was first launched in 2013, in cooperation with Enterprise Qatar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Enterprise Forum, Silatech, and Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.
The Minister of Economy and Commerce, H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, referring to Qatari Economic Prospects Report 2016-2018, said Qatar’s economy is expected to continue to grow steadily, supported by growth in non-oil sectors which would be the main contributor to the GDP growth in the coming years. He added growth of this sector in 2015 increased by 7.8 percent.
Speaking at the final awards ceremony of Al Fikra National Business Competition 2016 yesterday, he said the Ministry is keen to facilitate and provide all support to improve business and investment environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs.
To achieve this goals, the Ministry has launched a number of initiatives including the initiative of license for construction of business centre, home based business, initiative of organising vendors activities ,implementation of logistic areas, launch of establishing companies using smartphones and other electronic services, he said.
Qatar Development Bank (QDB) yesterday announced the list of five successful entrepreneurial ideas at the fifth edition of Al Fikra National Business Competition held at Marriott Marquis Hotel. The value of the awards amounted to more than QR8m and prizes ranged from access to finance, incubation time and advisory services to help the successful entrepreneurs translate their business ideas into reality and commence operations on ground.
"We, at QDB, aspire to inculcate a culture of creativity, entrepreneurial spirit and innovativeness across the nation through providing a supportive environment for entrepreneurs. An integral part of our development strategy for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been to provide the requisite impetus for the national economy to achieve diversity and sustainable development, as envisioned in Qatar National Vision 2030, and our national business competition is, as such, a case-in-point,” said Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa Chief Executive Officer of QDB.
"Our primary focus during our evaluation phase was the quality and innovativeness of the submissions with respect to the commercial needs of the market—the finalists were selected by the jury on criteria that includes the quality of the ideas submitted and the feasibility of their business plans. Through the support of QDB, the finalists are empowered to translate their business models into a reality. I thank all the pioneers of Al Fikra, who participated in the contest in the past editions, and congratulate the winners of the current fifth edition," added Al Khalifa.
Assistant General Manager (AGM), SME Banking, QNB, Khaled Al-Nuaimi said: “QNB Group is pleased to sponsor this competition which witnesses the presentation of many creative ideas from budding entrepreneurs. QNB Group always aims to be at the forefront of the organisations supporting the efforts of this upcoming generation of business men and women and nurturing their creative energies for the benefit of our national economy and to build a brighter future for our Qatar.”
President of GTL Ventures at Sasol, Phinda Vilakazi, said, “Entrepreneurship is in our DNA. It is for this reason that Sasol continues to support Al Fikra and the talented youth of Qatar to develop their ideas into successful businesses, so that they may make a difference in people’s lives. I would like to thank Qatar Development Bank for continuing to develop and support entrepreneurship in Qatar. In the Arabic-language, we say ‘one hand cannot clap by itself’. It is through your support and encouragement that these young people will realize their dreams.”
President and General Manager for ExxonMobil Qatar, Alistair Routledge, said “ExxonMobil Qatar is proud to support the 2017 edition of the Al Fikra National Business Competition, hosted by QDB. It is a tremendous platform for future business leaders to build on their ingenuity and develop their unique competencies.” In an effort to assist candidates in developing their ideas and transforming them into operational projects, QDB has collaborated with a group of preeminent supporters and strategic partners to organise Al Fikra this year.
The competition is sponsored by Qatar National Bank (QNB), Sasol and ExxonMobil as official sponsors. Moreover, QDB is collaborating with its two subsidiaries, Qatar Business Incubation Center and Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Development. The fifth edition of Al Fikra was launched in late August 2016 and spread across three phases. The first phase – receipt of team applications and preliminary business plans – began in the period from August 31 to September 17.
It was followed by the second phase – training and planning workshops – that spanned the months of September and October. Finally, the last stage saw the presentation of business plans and thorough assessment by the jury on criteria such as creativity, innovation, scalability and feasibility. The jury committee comprised eight evaluators from the local business community, QDB and its official competition partners.
Al Fikra was first launched in 2013, in cooperation with Enterprise Qatar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Enterprise Forum, Silatech, and Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.
© The Peninsula 2016
