The US students at Qatar Shell facility.
Qatar Shell hosted a group of graduate students from DePaul University, USA, who recently visited Qatar to learn about the nation’s entrepreneurship and business initiatives.
The 12 MBA students and one mentor heard presentations from Nick van Keulen, General Manager for Contracting and Procurement in Qatar, and Amro Ahmed, Shell Commercial Excellence & Local Content (LC) and Small & Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Manager.
The visit focused on Qatar Shell’s LC/SME Business Opportunities programme, a collaboration with Qatar Development Bank (QDB), that awards locally-owned businesses with contracts in the Qatar Shell supply chain. On the December 5, four Qatari LC/SMEs signed contracts with Qatar Shell, with a fifth expected to sign later next month.
“At Shell, we believe it makes business sense to support local SMEs. Not only does it help grow the local economy, but it helps us with supply chain challenges that we experience due to the volume of our requirements. If we need a replacement part, we can get it in two days, not two weeks,” said van Keulen. Ahmed outlined the Qatar Shell tendering and bidding process, and described Qatar Shell’s collaboration with contracted SMEs to make those businesses more efficient and raise their standards to enable them to compete internationally. He also shared advice with the aspiring entrepreneurs about how to avoid failure, based on his experiences working with local SMEs. “The one thing I can say that all the businesses that didn’t work out had in common was that they gave up when things got tough. So when you are looking to start a business, make sure you are doing something that you have a passion for and that you are interested in, and you will be more likely to succeed,” said Ahmed.
