DOHA: Minister of Economy and Commerce H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani has stressed the need for supporting the growth and development of a vibrant private sector for a sustainable development.
Opening the third Entrepreneurship in Economic Development Forum yesterday, the Minister said: “It is very important to educate entrepreneurship to the new generations and to support and encourage entrepreneurs as well as the emerging companies. The forum and since its inception in 2014 played an important role in shedding the light on all those priorities including educating entrepreneurship and creating a competitive environment for it to succeed as well as the relation between entrepreneurship and knowledge-based economy specially through social media.”
Sheikh Ahmed added: “The organisation of this forum for the third consecutive year is an evidence of its success and it comes at a time where the world is facing a fall in oil prices. That is why and now more than ever the Gulf countries need to diversify their economic platform and boost the private sector’s role to become the main engine for economic development.”
Held under the patronage of Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, the third edition of the event opened yesterday.
The two-day event, organised by Qatar University and Qatar Development Bank (QDB), was highlighted by thought-provoking exchanges of knowledge and insights from some of the foremost experts on the subject.
Present were Dr Hassan Rashid Al Derham, President of Qatar University; Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, CEO of QDB; Michiel Kool, Managing Director and Chairman of Qatar Shell Companies; and Hamad Al Kuwari, Managing Director of Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP).
Dr Hassan said: “The increase of economic competition at all levels has made entrepreneurship and all associated developments one of the most important fundamentals of success and progress. And in order to achieve the economic diversification, it is essential to give special importance to entrepreneurship in the community, and to support and embrace related initiatives to achieve success and to promote its development. It is also essential to encourage a whole generation of entrepreneurs to skip the stage of oil based economy. And this task lies on the educational system starting from schools to universities through technical institutes and institutions of training and education.”
Al Khalifa said: “QDB continuously seeks to support the SME sector to help achieve Qatar’s National Vision 2030 and to achieve the goal of economic diversification, especially since the success of SMEs is a cornerstone in building a strong, prosperous and competitive private sector. In this context QDB is committed to put efforts in providing adequate support and assistance to all Qatari SMEs and entrepreneurs.”
Al Kuwari praised the importance of the Forum which is happening during a time where the importance of the private sector and entrepreneurship in the Gulf and Arab economies is increasing.
The Peninsula
