Private Sector Qatar English | July 2013

INVESTMENT Get to know how to set up a company in Qatar

MANAGEMENT Read about being a stress free entrepreneur and CSR

PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ

JULY 2013 www.privatesectorqatar.com/en

LEAD STRATEGIC PARTNER

BUSINESS GURU

We bring you Milaha’s story as one of the oldest company in Qatar

TASDEER

Learn about investment opportunities in France

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CONTENTS July 2013

24 Entrepreneur 18 FALL IN LOVE WITH ARABIC! Just after winning two awards at the Al Fikra – Qatar Business Plan Competition, Diana Al Dajani, Founder, eduTechnoz, spoke to Tamara Pupic about her interesting journey as an entrepreneur.

22 MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK Jenny Kassis got talking with Kirby Kearns, Managing Director, Resolution Production, and the Forum Chair, Entrepreneurs’ Organisation, about how rewarding it was to set up his production company in Qatar.

ICT: A SOLID FUNDAMENTAL The Qatar Success Series – Forum on Innovation for Business: The importance of ICT was held on 10th June 2013 at the Renaissance Hotel in Doha.

Private Sector Qatar brings to you detailed coverage of the event.

Technology

News

The Qatar Success Series – Forum on Innovation for Business: The importance of ICT, which was held on 10th June 2013 in Doha, served as a platform for discussion on the role that technology plays for the private sector. We bring you complete coverage of the event.

10 UPDATES A quick look at news and events in this region.

Legal 14 IT’S YOUR CHOICE Laura Warren, Partner, Projects and Construction, Clyde&Co’s Doha Office, presents some of the most interesting provisions of Qatar’s Law No (13) on the Civil and Commercial Code of Procedure of 1990.

Investment 16 STRAIGHT TO THE POINT Wayne Merrick, General Manager, Links Group Qatar, told Jenny Kassis what it takes for an expat to set up a business in Doha.

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18

24 ICT: A SOLID FUNDAMENTAL

26 GROW WITH TECHNOLOGY We present you highlights of the forum’s discussions on the importance of technology for businesses in order to help you reach your targets more easily.

34 SNAPSHOTS Take a look at the snapshots from the forum held at the Renaissance Hotel in Doha.

36 FOCUS ON INNOVATION In a conversation with Aparna Shivpuri Arya, Raghavan Manohar, Area Leader for the Middle East and Africa, 3M Gulf, revealed their ambitious plans initiated after establishing office in Doha.

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46

Management

TASDEER

38 ARE YOU A STRESS-FREE ENTREPRENEUR?

52 FROZEN TO PERFECTION

Jeanine Bailey, Co-Founder and Director, Empower People, explains to us how to rise to the challenge of being an entrepreneur.

40 SETTING A BENCHMARK FOR CSR Along with their well-known innovation in energy and R&D, Qatar Shell now presents to us its fresh approach to CSR that turns vision into into tangible results.

Qatar’s food and beverages sector holds a lot of potential for both manufacturers and exporters. TASDEER brings to you an analysis of export opportunities for frozen meat.

54 TARGET FRANCE With an aim to address and tap export markets beyond the GCC region, which are attractive for Qatari manufacturers, in this issue TASDEER focuses on France as an important market for key products of Qatari origin.

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Business advice 44 TEN STEPS TO SUCCESS Srikanth Murthi, Head of the Project Management Office, Qatar Development Bank (QDB), presents to us ten steps crucial for successful project management.

Business guru 46 OLD IS GOLD Aparna Shivpuri Arya spoke to H.E Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al Thani, Chairman and Managing Director, Milaha, to know more about this industry leader.

JULY 2013

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EDITORIAL Publisher Dominic De Sousa Group COO Nadeem Hood Managing Director Richard Judd richard.judd@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9126 EDITORIAL Senior Editor Aparna Shivpuri Arya aparna.arya@cpimediagroup.com +971 440 9133 Assistant Editor - English Tamara Pupic tamara.pupic@cpimediagroup.com +971 440 9130 Assistant Editor - Arabic Jenny Kassis jenny.kassis@cpimediagroup.com +971 440 9116 ADVERTISING Commercial Director Chris Stevenson chris.stevenson@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9138 CIRCULATION Database and Circulation Manager Rajeesh M rajeesh.nair@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9147 OPERATIONS AND DESIGN

How social are you?

And “social” in today’s parlance means your presence and interactions online. The MENA region is picking up fast. It seems as if the region is going through a social media revolution. According to statistics, Egypt leads the pack when it comes to Facebook with more than 1.6 million people joining the network since January 2012. In terms of penetration, LinkedIn outperforms Twitter across many countries – most significantly, in the UAE where the business-focused network reaches more than 12% of the population. In fact, I had the opportunity to meet someone from LinkedIn who mentioned that LinkedIn gets one new member every two seconds. You can do the math here!

So, where is Qatar in all this? Well, not far behind. For instance, more than 80% of Qataris aged between 20 - 24 access their social networking accounts at least once a day. Qatar expects an annual growth rate of 11.2% for its ICT sector. And, the other plus point of technology is that it levels the playing field for startups and entrepreneurs.

Businesses are using technology and social media to connect with their customers, become more time and cost effective. And honestly, the development in technology in recent years is a boon for startups and entrepreneurs. Social media can be used for marketing your services and products, virtual offices can be used to set up an address and have an infrastructure in place at minimal costs, and then there is software for streamlining your day-to-day operations and minimising costs.

And to talk about all this and more, we organised our Forum on Innovation for Business which showcased some very interesting presentations and discussions. Please turn to page 24 to read all the details.

Production Manager James P Tharian james.tharian@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9146

This issue also highlights the importance of CSR, the crucial steps for project management and investment opportunities in France. And the list doesn’t end here.

Head of Design Fahed Sabbagh fahed.sabbagh@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9132

So, as you, our readers, head for your vacations to escape the heat, we are already working hard on our next issue. As I write this, Tamara is busy planning her interviews in Doha for the coming weeks. So, worry not! We’ll hold fort while you take a breather and watch this space for our next event - Summit which will be held later in the year.

Photographer Jay Colina jay.colina@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9137

Ramadan Kareem to one and all, from all of us here…

DIGITAL SERVICES www.privatesectorqatar.com Digital Services Manager Tristan Troy Maagma Web Developers Abey Mascreen Erik Briones Jefferson de Joya Louie Alma online@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9100 Published by

Aparna Shivpuri Arya, Senior Editor, Private Sector Qatar Talk to us: E-mail: aparna.arya@cpimediagroup.com Twitter: @PrivateSectorQA Facebook: www.facebook.com/PrivateSectorQatar LinkedIn group: Private Sector Qatar

Head Office PO Box 13700 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 440 9100 Fax: +971 4 447 2409

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Distributed by

Dar Al Sharq Distribution © Copyright 2013 CPI All rights reserved While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

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Amal Al-Mannai

ADVISORY BOARD Gail Gosse Gail Gosse is the Dean of the School of Business at College of North Atlantic-Qatar.

Hamad Mohammed Al-Kuwari Hamad Mohammed AlKuwari is the Managing Director of Qatar Science & Technology Park.

Professor Nitham M. Hindi

George M. White, Ph.D.

Professor Nitham M. Hindi is the Dean of College of Business and Economics at the Qatar University.

Dr. George M. White is the Associate Teaching Professor of Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon UniversityQatar.

Abdulaziz N. Al-Khalifa

Nasser Al Muhannadi

Abdulaziz N. Al-Khalifa is the Executive Director of Strategy and Business Development at Qatar Development Bank .

Nasser Al Muhannadi is the Chief Operating Officer at Enterprise Qatar.

Raed Al-Emadi

Rashid Nasser Sraiya Al Kaabi

Raed Al-Emadi is the Chief Operating Officer at Silatech.

24

Amal Al-Mannai is the Executive Director of the Social Development Center.

Rashid Nasser Sraiya Al Kaabi is the Chairman of the Board of Energy City Qatar

For more information, please visit www.privatesectorqatar.com/en

NEWS

Foundation, said, “Forums such as the “Qatar Shell Dialogues” represent a significant contribution to building bridges between R&D and the industry, which can lead to improved knowledge transfer in support of Qatar’s National Vision 2030.” Wael Sawan, Managing Director and Chairman, Qatar Shell, said, “Shell is pleased to be able to promote thought-provoking dialogues to help inspire solutions to the critical challenges of building a knowledge economy.”

Qatar Shell is the anchor tenant at Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP). The company is investing up to USD 100 million over ten years on research and development programmes in Qatar.

Qatar Shell Dialogues Qatar Shell Research and Technology Centre hosted the inaugural session of a series of workshops known as the “Qatar Shell Dialogues”.

The inaugural event engaged prominent leaders from the industry, government and academia in a focused dialogue to generate recommendations

13%

Speaking at a press conference on 18 th June 2013, Issa bin Mohammed al Mohannadi, Chairman, QTA, said, “The

10

In his remarks, Faisal Al-Suwaidi, President of Research and Development, Qatar

60%

increase in the number of regional tourists to Qatar in 2012 Qatar witnessed an increase of 13% in the number of tourists from the GCC region, and 10% from around the world in 2012 compared to 2011, according to Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) Annual Report 2011/2012.

on how the energy industry can help bolster Qatar’s national research and development (R&D) capacity.

As part of a real-time electronic survey during the event, 52% of the participants confirmed that the energy industry’s most important contribution to promoting R&D is to charter a clear career path for talented Qatari R&D professionals into senior management. An overwhelming 83% of participants view the development of PhD programmes in Qatar as a prerequisite for building local R&D capacity.

Up to 58% of participants thought Qatar had laid the right foundations for building a local energy R&D hub in the country.

occupancy rates 2012

figures show that the total number of tourists from the GCC countries grew by 13% and that tourists from the rest of the world have gone up by 10% in 2012. 81 hotels in 2012 offered a total of 13,407 rooms, achieving 60% occupancy rates.

During the first quarter of 2013, hotel occupancy has increased to 68%, even though there was an increase in the number of hotels

68% occupancy rates Q1 2013

in Doha. Comparing May 2012 with May 2013, the occupancy of the hotel rooms has increased to 16%, even as the hotel number increased to 87.”

The report shows that in 2012, the total number of tourists f ro m t h e G C C c o u n t r i e s, including the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman totaled 952,856. Half of these

tourists came from Saudi Arabia.

In 2011, the number stood at 845,633.

The report also reveals that 217,540 visitors came to Qatar from other non-GCC countries in 2012 compared to 197,301 in 2011, showing that majority of visitors from non-GCC countries came for business related activities.

Job Shadow Day prior to graduation, while providing them with sufficient networking and potential employment opportunities.

INJAZ Qatar, a non-profit organisation and member of Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide, and Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Development kicked off their Job Shadow Day initiative, part of the Youth Job Readiness Programme, a learning and career development platform.

The Youth Job Readiness Programme, which included a total of 400 students in 2013, is targeted at university students in Qatar, aiming to equip them with practical experience

Aysha Al Mudahka, Executive Director, INJAZ Qatar, commented, “Stemming from our Work Readiness Pillar, this initiative aims to inspire and motivate Qatar’s youth by giving them the opportunity to be part of major companies in the country, and see what it takes to be successful in their chosen career fields.”

Saleh Al Khulaifi, General Manager, Bedaya Center, said,“Job Shadowing Programme has been one of our most successful programmes since it gives youth the chance to support their academic knowledge with practical on ground look of the world of work. Giving them more insights to make better educated decisions on their future outlook.”

SAVE THE DATE!

QATAR AIRWAYS TO HOST THE 70TH IATA AGM The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that Qatar Airways will host the 70th IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit. The event will draw the top leadership of the air transport industry to Doha from 1st to 3rd June 2014.

IATA’s member airlines accepted the invitation of Qatar Airways to host the AGM 2014 at the close of the 69th IATA AGM in Cape Town, South Africa.

Qatar Airways has been an IATA member since 1997. In 2004, it became the first airline to join the registry of the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). Akbar Al Baker, CEO, Qatar Airways, has served on the IATA Board of Governors since 2012.

This will be the fourth time that the IATA AGM will be hosted in the Middle East following AGMs in Amman, Jordan (1997), Tehran, Iran (1970) and Cairo, Egypt (1946).

SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2013

Date

Event

Location

2 - 4 September

Middle East Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainable Development Conference and Exhibition

Doha

3 - 6 September

E-Week Entertainment

Doha Exhibition Centre

10 - 13 September

Small and Medium Industries Exhibition

Doha

10 - 13 September

Tower Technology Exhibition

Doha

12 - 15 September

Made in China

Doha

16 - 17 September

ITS Road Safety Forum

St. Regis Hotel Doha

16 - 18 September

Global Refining Technology Forum

Al Sharq Village & Spa

17 - 19 September

GCC Europe SME Forum

Ritz Carlton Hotel Doha

22 - 25 September

Made in Finland

Doha Exhibition Centre

23 - 24 September

Construction Leaders Forum Qatar

Hilton Hotel Doha

7 - 9 October

Doha International Oil and Gas Exhibition

Doha Exhibition Centre

15 - 17 October

Negotiation Skills for the Oil and Gas Industry

Doha

28 - 30 October

Eco-Q

Doha Exhibition Centre

To know about the events happening in Qatar in the next six months, please visit our Website.

JULY 2013

11

REGIONAL NEWS

60%

74%

of young Qataris stated, “I feel my country can compete in the world.”

of all Arab youth stated, “Our best days are ahead of us.”

An overwhelming 88% of young Qataris said they are happy with the direction their country has been heading in when looking back over the last five years, according to the 5th Annual ASDAA ’ BursonMarsteller Arab Youth Survey.

Qatari youth are also extremely positive about how the Gulf s t a te i s c o m p e t i n g o n a n international stage with 60% agreeing with the statement, “I feel my country can compete in the world,” when compared to 54% of Arab youth overall.

International polling firm Penn Schoen Berland (PSB)

completed 3,000 face-to-face interviews with the Arab national men and women aged 18-24 in the six of the GCC countries (the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain), Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia, and in three new countries, Morocco, Algeria and Yemen. The survey was conducted between December 2012 and January 2013.

In each of the 15 countries surveyed, a clear majority are optimistic about the future with 74% of all Arab youth saying, “Our best days are ahead of us.” Young Qataris are equally

positive about their future with 75% agreeing to the statement.

Fr a n c e re m a i n s t h e m o s t admired country outside of the Middle East and North Africa for a second year running for young Qataris. Qatar youth’s opinion towards the top six countries listed (France, China, Germany, United Kingdom, U n i te d S t a te s a n d I n d i a ) declined across the board with Germany witnessing a 12% decline year-on-year in terms of favourability.

For the second consecutive year, “being paid a fair wage” is the

highest priority of Qatari youth, cited by 84% in the survey and 82% of Arab youth overall. 61% of young Qataris describing “owning their own home” as “very important”. Rising living costs remains a key concern for the Arab youth across the board with, 62% overall saying they are “very concerned” about the issue, up from 63% in 2012.

Working for the government remains the most popular choice of employment amongst the young Qatari community with 58% saying they prefer to work for the state compared to just 20% in the private sector.

GULF MSCI UPGRADES COULD PUSH SAUDI BOURSE TO OPEN UP

Oman to consider USD bond issue in 2014

The decision of equities index Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) to upgrade the UAE and Qatar to emerging market status could pressure Saudi Arabia to accelerate foreign ownership plans for its own bourse, fund managers said.

new investment flowing into both markets, according to HSBC, with stock markets in both countries rallied following the news.

Oman’s government is considering a proposal to issue USD-denominated sovereign bonds in 2014, which could lead to regular debt sales in the future, the oil exporter’s central bank stated.

Saudi Arabia’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) stated in May 2013 that it was in the process of finalising a long-delayed regulatory framework that would allow foreigners to directly own stocks in the kingdom.

“By re-establishing Oman’s presence in the international bond market, a sovereign issue could pave the way for regular deficit financing through bond issues in future, if need be,” it said in its first ever financial stability report.

MSCI, whose indexes are tracked by investors with USD seven trillion in assets, on 11th June 2013 promoted the two Gulf countries from frontier market status at the fifth time of asking, after the UAE introduced buyer cashcompensation procedure and Qatar modified its foreign ownership rules.

The upgrades could lead to more than USD 800 million of

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To achieve emerging market status in MSCI’s index bourses are normally required to permit foreign ownership in securities of about 25%. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul market currently lists about USD 405 billion shares.

The International Monetary Fund presented a bleak outlook for Oman’s public finances, predicting the budget could slip into a deficit of 3.8% of GDP as soon as 2015, with the gap widening to as much as 13.3% in 2018.The non-OPEC oil exporter’s only previous international bond was a USD 225 million Eurobond sold in March 1997, when oil prices stood at around USD 20 per barrel. Oman will need oil prices to average USD 94.1 per barrel in 2013 and USD 104.4 in 2014 to be able to balance its budget, the central bank said, citing the IMF estimates.

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LEGAL

IT’S YOUR CHOICE Arbitration is codi�ied in Qatar’s legislation within Articles 190 to 210 of the Law No (13) on the Civil and Commercial Code of Procedure of 1990 (the “Civil Procedure Code”). Laura Warren, Partner, Projects and Construction, Clyde&Co’s Doha Of�ice, presents some of the most interesting provisions of this law and explores its options for challenging an award.

T

he relevant provisions of the Civil Procedure Code deal with various aspects of an arbitration, including the formalities required for a binding arbitration agreement, the appointment and dismissal of arbitrators, the right of a party to apply for a stay of court, the timing of issuance of an arbitration award, challenge of the award and arbitrator’s costs.

• Article 190 states, “The agreement to arbitrate shall be verified in writing.”

Essentially, this means that where there is an arbitration clause in any agreement and a party to that agreement has, mistakenly or otherwise, commenced substantive proceedings in the court, the other party may seek a stay of the proceeding on the basis of the arbitration clause.

In practice, the courts will generally stay proceedings on a valid application pursuant to this provision. It should be noted however, that such an application should be made at the first hearing, otherwise the right to object to the court hearing the dispute on the basis of an agreement to arbitrate is likely to be lost.

This means that any agreement to refer issues to arbitration must be in writing. Arguments in respect of this formality often arise where the agreement or contract containing an arbitration clause has not been properly executed, where the arbitration provision is incorporated by reference or where the dispute resolution provision does not mention the word “arbitration”.

• Article 197 states,

• Article 192 deals with stays of Qatar court proceedings and states, “A condition of arbitration is that litigants waive their rights to have recourse to the court having initially the competent jurisdiction to examine the dispute.

Where the arbitrators do not issue the award within the time stipulated in the arbitration document or during the time determined above or where they fail to do so for a coercive reason, any litigant may submit the issue to the court initially competent to examine the dispute in order to add a new period or to settle the dispute or to appoint other arbitrators.”

If a dispute arises in respect of the execution of a contract that includes arbitration, and one of its parties brings an action before the competent court, the other party may raise arbitration as an objection to the non-acceptance of the court action.”

The local court has very wide powers under this provision.

Where an arbitration award has not been issued in accordance to the timing agreed by the parties, which has been set out in the arbitration agreement or pursuant to

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“The arbitrators shall arbitrate within the time set in the arbitration document unless the litigants agree on its extension. If the litigants have not imposed a term for the issuance of the arbitration award, the arbitrators shall issue an award within three months starting from the date of their appointment.

the law, the court is able to intervene to extend the period for rendering the arbitration award, settle the dispute or appoint another arbitral tribunal.

• In respect of execution of an award, Article 204 states, “The award of the arbitrators shall not be executable unless by virtue of an order issued by the judge of the court where the original copy of the award was deposited, pursuant to the demand of the interested party.

The judge shall issue the writ of execution after inspecting the award and the arbitration document and after making sure that, nothing should prevent the execution thereof. The writ of execution shall be in an appendix to the original award arbitrament. The judge ordering the execution shall have the competent jurisdiction over all the matters related to the execution of the award.”

Thus, the local courts are required to ratify any foreign or domestic arbitral award for the purpose of execution against assets.

Laura Warren is the Partner of Projects and Construction at Clyde & Co’s Doha Office.

She is also part of the dispute resolution group and responsible for the firm’s disputes practice in Qatar. She has been based in the Middle East for almost eight years, six of these in Qatar. Laura can be contacted at laura.warren@ clydeco.com.qa.

How to appeal In respect of appeals, Article 205 of the Civil Procedure Code stipulates that leave for appeal is subject to the same rules as an appeal against a court decision. As such, any appeal must be lodged at the competent Court of Appeal within 15 days from the date that the original copy of the arbitration award is deposited for ratification with the office clerk of the court, which has jurisdiction over the dispute.

However, the right of appeal, as set out in Article 205, does not apply in two cases: i)

where the award was made by arbitrators acting as “amiables compositeurs”

ii) where the right to appeal has been expressly waived An amiable compositeur can be described as an arbitrator who decides a dispute before him according to the applicable law and legal principles, though is nevertheless able to, and is authorised to, modify the effect of non-mandatory principles of law. Where an arbitrator or arbitrators have acted as amiables compositeurs, as agreed by the parties, challenge of an award through the process of appeal is not applicable.

In respect of the point ii), parties often agree to waive their rights to appeal either expressly within the arbitration agreement/provision or by virtue of the institutional rules which they have agreed will govern any arbitration proceedings between them.

Article 34(6) of the 2012 Rules of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC Rules”), for example, states,

“Every award shall be binding on the parties. By submitting the dispute to arbitration under these Rules, the parties undertake to carry out any Award without delay and shall be deemed to have waived their right to any form of recourse insofar as such waiver can validly be made.”

Where the parties have agreed to the ICC Rules or other similar institutional rules to govern their arbitration, a party’s principle recourse should be by way of application to set aside an arbitration award pursuant to Article 207 of the Civil Procedure Code.

Article 207 of the Civil Procedure Code states that any interested party may apply to have an arbitral award set aside if: (a) the award was rendered without an arbitration deed, or on the basis of an invalid deed, or if it became void by exceeding the time limit, or if the award exceeded the scope of the deed, or violated one of the rules of public policy or morals; (b) the award contradicts sections 3, 4 or 5 of Article 190 [the subject matter of the arbitration and the right to arbitrate], or paragraph 1 of Article 193 [qualification and number of arbitrators]; (c) the award was made by arbitrators not appointed according to the law, or made by some of them without being authorised to do so in the absence of the others; and/ or (d) there was a serious error in the award, or in the proceedings, which affected the award.”

Procedural flaws may fall within the scope of grounds for setting aside an award, where such flaws are so serious as to affect the award. The intention is that such errors go to the validity or existence of the award.

In accordance with Article 208 of the Civil Procedure Code, the court to which any application to set aside should be made is that which originally had jurisdiction over the dispute.Where such an application is made under Article 208, any associated enforcement proceedings may be stayed.

Article 209 of the Civil Procedure Code states that an application may be made to set aside the award wholly or in part. Please note unlike the appeal process above, no time limit is specified for the application to set aside the award. It is prudent, however, for the application to be made as soon as possible following the date that the arbitration award is deposited for ratification with the clerk of the court.

*Qatari laws (save for those issued the Qatar Financial Centre to regulate internal business) are issued in Arabic and without official translations. Therefore, for the purposes of drafting this advice we have used our own translations and interpreted the same in the context of Qatari regulation and current market practice.

JULY 2013

15

INVESTMENT

Straight to the point To operate in Qatar, every foreign company needs to cooperate with a local partner. The Links Group provides a full range of corporate and consultancy services in this regard. Wayne Merrick, General Manager, Links Group Qatar, told Jenny Kassis how his company helps expats to set up their own business in Doha and gave valuable advice for SMEs on how to achieve their goals.

Please give us a brief background about The Links Group and its services in Doha?

Established in Qatar in 2006, The Links Group is a premier company formation specialist that advises corporations and individuals on how to establish a legal commercial presence in the country. We provide an unrivalled network of corporate services to assist a company’s formation process. This includes advice on company formation, legal structures, licenses and visa documentation, serviced offices, resource management and marketing support.

Wayne Merrick is the General Manager of the Links Group Qatar. He has a background in sales, marketing, and business development in the UK and the Middle East. He joined the Links Group early in 2011 as a consultant before being appointed as the Country Manager for Qatar in October 2011. For more information please visit: www.the-linksgroup.com

The difference that we offer is that foreign companies work with a highly structured board as their local partner as opposed to an unknown individual. This unique structure provides foreign businesses with a corporate entity to act as their nominee local partner, shareholder or sponsor, thereby minimising the risks associated with appointing an unknown individual nominee.

What is the approach The Links Group is using to help foreigners looking at establishing a company in Qatar?

The Links Group provides a unique approach to onshore company formation in which the 51% of local ownership requirement is fulfilled by a corporate entity, as opposed to an individual.

This model affords the highest levels of transparency and stakeholder protection, in accordance with the Qatar

16

Commercial Companies Law, while ensuring that the foreign firm retains operational control of its business.

From your experience, what are the challenges that SMEs and startups face while setting up a business in Qatar?

The biggest challenge for any business, but particularly for SMEs and startups, is the startup costs, which are required for the establishment of a legal entity in Qatar.

Another challenge is getting expert advice to assist with feasibility, so that business can devise a business plan.

Having said that, the Qatari government does recognise the importance of SMEs to boost the economy and innovation. Thus, it is trying to improve the ecosystem for these types of businesses. For example, Enterprise Qatar’s initiatives help in providing financial support and advice to the SME market. We would encourage any startup or an SME operating in Qatar to get involved with this organisation.

In your opinion, how can setting up a business in Qatar be easier or more efficient?

In Qatar, there are myriad service providers helping to establish foreign companies, but in our experience too many of them exploit what is an evolving process to create overly dependent client relationships. This shortsightedness and lack of transparency causes confusion and is a deterrent for foreign companies wanting to set up their businesses here.

We believe that a screening process for facilitators of company incorporation services could significantly reduce the time it takes for foreign companies to enter the market. It could also contribute to the improvement of trade and investment flows for the country.

diversify its economy away from the sale of its finite natural resources and into more sustainable income models. This includes global financial investments, the creation of tourism and sporting event destination, a world-class carrier in Qatar Airways, and the creation of a global financial hub.

What would be your advice for startups and SMEs in Qatar?

There are many factors that startups and SMEs need to consider. Here are some tips that can help SME achieve their goals:

There are myriad opportunities for SMEs across a multitude of the non-oil sectors in Qatar. For instance, the retail industry has been one of the fastest growing sectors in the country. With increasing internet penetration, consumers in the country are gradually becoming increasingly media-savvy and show an

■ Keep audited reports It is best to audit your financials from the outset. Even though you may not have an immediate requirement to source external funding, such reporting discipline protects the business and will stand you in good stead should a future funding requirement arise.

■ Listen to the market Always heed what your customers say. Make sure to spot customer trends and market changes and be quick to act on them. Otherwise, your valued customers may look elsewhere.

■ Keep an eye on the market Be aware of the change. To achieve success in business, you must be able to adapt your goods and services to different climates. What worked for you last year might not this year. You have to be ready to embrace new ideas, grow your business and welcome new people.

■ Get connected Maintain and build your professional network to learn from business peers.Join business councils, attend industry events, seminars or connect with the professional groups on LinkedIn. ■ Grasp the opportunity It is important that you demonstrate a willingness to “fit in” while remaining assured and confident in order to fully grasp the opportunity. Take bold decisions, they can reap rewards! Think on a wider scale – could your business work in other Middle Eastern markets?

And, more importantly, are you aligned with the economic vision of the country.

Since you have been focused on Qatar for quite some time, what according to you is the next business sector to be explored and which could be a great idea for new entrepreneurs and SMES? Qatar is one of the most prosperous countries in the world and has the fastest growing economy in the GCC region. The country is engaged in a strategic push to

There are myriad opportunities for SMEs across a multitude of the non-oil sectors in Qatar. For instance, the retail industry has been one of the fastest growing sectors in the country.

inclination towards online purchasing. Group-buying websites are proliferating across the world and have also found favour among the GCC consumers.

Another important sector is the food industry. Due to water shortage and a lack of arable land in Qatar, the country needs to import the majority of its food requirements. This dependence on food imports is expected to increase rapidly due to population growth, increased per capita income and a resulting increase in per capita consumption.

In addition, Qatar has set in place a series of regulatory and legislative programmes to reform its financial sector in order to attract more participation from foreign entities, as well as to encourage growth in the SME sector to provide a self-sustaining base for the local economy. Qatar Financial Centre has also made progress in creating a niche identity as a global hub by including in its offerings specific focus on financial sectors such as the insurance and reinsurance markets.

Nevertheless, the education and healthcare sectors have been prioritised by the Qatari leadership as the priority sectors for development. Opportunities abound for businesses of all kinds, but those that will fare the best will ensure their product is localised for the Qatari market and aligned with the National Vision 2030.

JULY 2013

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ENTREPRENEUR

Fall in love

with Arabic!

In the struggle between motherhood and daily work, Diana Al Dajani, Founder, eduTechnoz, sensed a business opportunity and created unique online games, which teach children Arabic in a fun way, �irst for her own son and then for all the Arabic speaking children of the world. Just after winning two awards at the Al Fikra – Qatar Business Plan Competition, she told Tamara Pupic details of her amazing entrepreneurial journey.

A

ccording to various statistics, majority of Arabs consider that learning Arabic is hard.

In order to tackle this issue, eduTechnoz has been growing not just as an ordinary, profit-oriented startup in Doha since it embodies a sincere intention to support this part of the Arabic heritage, “The challenge that I am trying to defeat lies in the fact that children are not too keen on learning Arabic. Our mantra is to inspire children to fall in love with this language by enabling them to master every aspect of it in a fun way. Our language is the core of our cultural identity. What kind of future will we have if we let go of that?” Diana Al Dajani, Founder, eduTechnoz (www.eduTechnoz.com), explained at the beginning of our conversation.

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Diana was determined to confront the existing attitude that Arabic is a difficult language to learn. In her opinion, this belief is a consequence of outdated teaching methodologies or a lack of proper resources to be used by innovative language teachers. Thus, she decided to enhance children’s interest to learn Arabic as well as to provide adequate educational material for learning, “eduTechnoz is a solution that includes online games, to teach children Arabic, and an administrative tool, which monitors its usage by teachers in their classes. In addition, we have augmented different services including support and training programmes for teachers as well as provision of reports on children’s progress after playing the games. We are proud that the website is safe for children because we don’t allow them

with stakeholders to understand the needs of children and parents as well as teachers and Arabic language coordinators. In the second half of 2011, we created the website with only five games in order to test the market. I was very happy with the results since the conversion rate was consistent, confirming that the demand was there.

The next step was to offer 20 more games, which were all free in the beginning. We only requested registration since we wanted to see how many of the registered users would actually buy it.”

Elaborating further about the preparatory stage of her business, Diana added, “Preparing a business plan is not an easy process. My decision was to focus on what I know and what I need to do. I was fully aware that a business plan keeps changing, so I made a short term business plan. But, when the whole idea became official, for example when I had to talk to investors, I had to formalise it in order to ensure that I was on the right track. I participated in a workshop organised by the Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Guidance when they taught us how to use the Business Plan Canvas and translate its main principles into our business plans.” to upload their pictures or go to some other websites.

Also, we don’t allow advertisements on the kids’ section.”

The beginnings Embarking on a path of turning these challenges into a business opportunity started within Diana’s family, which proves her honesty to all eduTechnoz’s future customers, ”The idea of eduTechnoz came when my son was five years old. He was struggling with his Arabic homework, so I made up a game for him. We played for 20 minutes, and he mastered the skills that I wanted him to master.

But, more importantly, he asked to play the game again all by himself.”

This insight guided her to understand how to capture children’s interest, “I am a big believer of internal reinforcement, not the external. Right now, people are focused on creating various activities for children to learn Arabic. But, once that particular activity is over, the child will not seek to learn further. However, if we approach them in a fun way, we will manage to change their behaviour towards the language. So, the initiative should come from within. I believe this is the best way to get an independent reader.”

Being a working mother at that time, she had limited time to dedicate to enhancing the Arabic language skills of her son. Thus, she utilised her computer engineering background and professional experience in the online business sector, to start a thorough research on these games, ”I did all the background research alone since I was really interested in developing this business.

I benchmarked with what existed at that time for English or Chinese language to check how they were attracting children. It took me a year to learn how to design the games. We organised multiple focus groups

At this point, I wanted to know more about the support she received within the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Qatar, “I did a lot of networking in the beginning.

The Bedaya Center’s team put me through the whole process of setting up a business and helped me a lot.

For me, the hardest thing about entrepreneurship is making decisions, even though executing them is not that much easier. The advice I kept on receiving, and still do, is of extreme value to me. When the mentorship programme of the Mowgli Foundation started in Doha in November 2012, I was among the first ones to join them. Having a mentor can really make a big difference.

Furthermore, Silatech connected me with the MIT Forum’s investors for industrial pitch while QDB’s SME Toolkit programme helped me to make various decisions regarding my financial structures. I would also mention the Roudha Centre’s team who connected me with the independent schools in Doha.”

Speaking about their marketing strategy, Diana said, “We are now focusing on word of mouth, networking, and online google AdWords. In addition, we are collecting feedbacks from the three schools involved in the pilot programme. We are working together with them, step by step, in order to perfect the system.”

Diana recalled the period of financial insecurity before the website began to generate revenue, “In the beginning, I took a portion of my savings and decided to not to go above the initial budget. It was not easy. At this moment, eduTechnoz is self-financed, and I would like to consider investors’ options now.”

When asked what special value an investor could find in eduTechnoz, Diana stated, “We have proven

JULY 2013

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ENTREPRENEUR Likewise, they could use this data to compare it with other countries. Since we are able to provide them with a quantitative monitoring tool, they could develop targeted trainings and programmes for students and teachers. This admin tool, which empowers them to track the progress, is the added value that we provide.”

However, Diana has no plans to pursue her ambitious growth strategy only locally, “Our plan is to grow by 50% till 2015.There are two ways for going international, which we plan to start in 2014. These are the online referrals through other websites and through distributors, who could train teachers and set up our systems in schools.

The curriculum across the GCC region is very similar and our model could easily be adjusted.”

Diana Al Dajani

conversion rates. We know exactly how much is coming in and out, and the risk is minimised. We need investments to ensure that R&D is continuous and our customer service expectations are met and exceeded.

I don’t want this to become our weakness. These are some of the things we need to work on in order to stay ahead of the market.”

The success According to their data, after playing the games, the Arabic language skills of children are improved by an amazing 19%. Their vision is to become the preferred platform for learning Arabic while their short term plan is to work with the Supreme Educational Council in Doha.

Diana pointed out how they managed to adapt to the local market, “Our data showed that the games had been used much more around the world than locally. So, we realised that we needed to change our approach to reach more children here. Instead of marketing to the individual user, we modified our approach and looked for ways to incorporate our solution into local schools, thereby, broadening our exposure and reach. The result of this engagement is that all of our 120 games are based on the Supreme Education Council’s standards for Arabic language. Furthermore, we are adding new applications through which teachers can check and monitor a child’s progress, identify individual weaknesses and recommend a specific game for each child.”

When asked about their position in the market, she explained, “eduTechnoz has managed to separate itself from the rest of the market based on the two verticals – the fact that the games are being designed in line with an approved curriculum and that the platform is elaborated.

Our goal is to explore further the opportunity to cooperate with the Supreme Education Council since we are confident that we can comply with their regulations.

By using our solution, they could get the current status of Arabic learning across Doha with a push of a button.

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Concluding with their expansion plans, she was confident, “Our competitive advantage is that our solution is “Made in Qatar”, but it is scalable to the GCC, MENA and the rest of the world. Our market research didn’t discriminate geographically because this is an online business and, thus, our market is global.”

Diana herself has garnered a number of industry accolades for her entrepreneurship – the second place at the Al Fikra – Qatar Business Plan Competition and the Special Award for the Best Female Entrepreneur in the Pan Arabian area by MIT, and an award from the Childhood Cultural Centre. She also expressed her satisfaction with the fact that eduTechnoz is shortlisted to be incubated by ictQatar’s Digital Incubator.

The rapid success required her to start building her team, “Through the ictQatar’s Tumahatec Internship Programme and INJAZ Qatar’s Programme for Internships, I chose 12 interns, who are now working with us. I always tell my team that we have three core values – fun, community and results.

If they don’t have fun, it means that they don’t like what they do and that we need to change their tasks. Community means that they need to help each other – eduTechnoz is a success story that all of them are part of. And, at the end, it should all be about results and productivity.”

As a proud symbol of success of the efforts by various organisations that try to enhance entrepreneurship in Qatar, Diana appreciated the support she received in Doha, “I don’t see myself as a female entrepreneur – I am an entrepreneur and it’s rarely an easy path. If you asked me about my experience as an expat entrepreneur in Qatar four years ago, I would have probably told you that there wasn’t a support system back then. However, this has positively changed and Doha has opened its doors to entrepreneurs. It will, I believe, become a global hub for entrepreneurship very soon. To anybody who wants to start a business, I would advise, “Start as soon as possible, even with a small prototype that would require only your initial understanding of the market. Always minimise your price tag of learning. Feel free to knock on the doors of the ecosystem in Doha. They are all very helpful.”

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ENTREPRENEUR

MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK Doing business in Qatar can be very demanding, especially for a foreigner, but with the right resolution, anything can happen. Jenny Kassis spoke to Kirby Kearns, Managing Director, Resolution Production, to learn about his journey as an expat who set up a unique business in Qatar.

Please give us a brief background about Resolution Productions Resolution Productions was launched in 2007. It is a media production company well-known for its creativity. For the past few years, we have done our best to become Qatar’s leading producer of TV commercials, documentaries, animation and corporate films. Our job is to create films and digital contents, which tell memorable and inspiring stories.

How did you decide to set up your business in Qatar?

For years, I worked as a photography director in hostile countries and territories, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, where I used to film wars. I first came to Doha in 2004 with an Australian TV company to produce films for the Doha Asian Games 2006.

While working in Qatar, I realised that this market lacked corporate film making. They had to bring a production team from abroad each time they wanted to produce a film or a TV commercial locally. Therefore, I thought it would be a significant step to start this kind of business in this country.

I started Resolution Productions from my bedroom in January 2006. I was the producer, editor and director for all the projects at the same time.

Moreover, to start Resolutions activities in Qatar, I had to find a local partner and an appropriate office.

In addition to that, I had to obtain a municipality license and a labour quota from the Ministry of Labour. Thus, I decided to engage a management company to sponsor my business since they can really simplify the process.

On the other hand, there were some restrictions, which complicated our operations sometimes since we had to ask for permissions to film in some areas. But, all these challenges are reasonable compared to the challenges I would have faced if I was operating in my hometown in Ireland or in any other country.

Since you have been working in the media field for years, what is your opinion about this sector in Qatar?

From my experience, Qatar is a promising country. It is flourishing, and everyone is working hard to expand the service related sectors. The private sector in Qatar is more streamlined than in other countries. Recently, we have noticed that a lot of agencies and organisations have been trying to support the media sector in Qatar.

In this term, Enterprise Qatar supports all SMEs, which try to operate in this specific field.

The big push for the company came in 2009, when we signed a contract with Qatar Gas to produce a 25 episode video. Later on that year, Resolution Productions emerged and included 22 members on board.

What is your advice for startups and SMEs looking to set up a business in the production field in Qatar?

The production segment is still fresh in Qatar.

Thus, there are a lot of opportunities for SMEs and startups willing to develop their businesses within this sector.

Knowing that the Qatari market is a bit demanding in terms of the conditions for doing business, what challenges did you face in the beginning?

Every market has its own difficulties and challenges.

However, it was hard for me in the beginning to start my own company here since I don’t speak Arabic language.

Production can be a very challenging, but an exciting industry. I believe that planning your business is the key for success. I advise all SMEs and startups to refer to various organisations, like Silatech and Enterprise Qatar, before starting their business. These organisations support this kind of businesses and can guide them through their journey.

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We are very proud of these achievements which allow us to present Qatari production among reputable international production corporates like Disney, BBC and similar.

How do you see your company within the next few years?

Qatar is our main market, and we will always look to realise new ideas in this market. In addition, we are waiting for the FIFA World Cup 2022 since we hope to produce TV commercials for this awaited event.

However, I believe that in order to grow the company and go further with our goals, we need to expand our activities in the region. The Middle East provides a lot of opportunities. Thus, we are planning to start our operations in Saudi Arabia and Oman in the near future.

Please tell us how did you join Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO) and what is your role within this organisation?

Entrepreneurs’ Organisation holds various functions within it. I met EO members previously and realised that they were so ambitious in their attempt to change the business culture in Qatar.

Kirby Kearns

We know that you won 11 awards in the past few months, which are these awards and how did you prepare for that?

The team of Resolution Productions is composed of the most experienced people in the production field. We hired the preeminent employees. That is the reason why we have been able to achieve success on an international level by winning the following 11 awards: ■ ■ ■ ■

Black Dolphin from 2012 Cannes Corporate Media Awards Two platinum and one gold medals from MarCom Awards Four platinum and two gold medals from AVA Digital Awards The Gold medal at the New York Film and Television Awards

We won most of these prizes for our film “Be Amusing”.

It was made for the Qatar Museum Authority, as a part of its campaign for their Fifth Career Fair for Qatari Students, who study in the United Kingdom.

Entrepreneurship is not for everyone.

However, it is very rewarding for the right persons. Being an entrepreneur is about achieving something that makes you feel happy. You need to set goals, embrace failure and learn from your mistakes.

I thought that it could be interesting for me to join them and I did in May 2012. In October 2012, I became a member of the Board. Currently, I am the Forum Chair. I work to ensure that every member, who wishes to participate in this benefit, has access to this experience through training, placement and moderator management.

What is your advice for young entrepreneurs in Qatar?

Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. However, it is very rewarding for the right persons. Being an entrepreneur is about achieving something that makes you feel happy. You need to set goals, embrace failure and learn from your mistakes.

We know that you always say, “The harder I work, the luckier I get!” Could you please explain this more?

I am a person who believes that people make their own luck. By working hard and committing to one’s goals, one can succeed.

This quote comes from the film producer Samuel Goldwyn. Often actors, entrepreneurs, and other people long to get that one “lucky break”, forgetting about the combination of luck and hard work that most of the successes take.

Behind what looks like a sudden success, quite often come a lot of years of hard work, trial and error, and failures. But, the harder you work, the more good ideas and chances you may create for yourself.

JULY 2013

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TECHNOLOGY

ICT: A SOLID

FUNDAMENTAL Technology affects growth of entrepreneurs, SMEs and large enterprises on three crucial levels – business development, cross-border trade and investment opportunities. For that reason, The Qatar Success Series – Forum on Innovation for Business: The importance of ICT, which was held on 10th June 2013 at the Renaissance Hotel in Doha, served as a platform for discussion on the role that technology plays for the private sector. We bring you complete coverage of the event.

T

echnology offers startups and SMEs the opportunity to do business in a cost and time effective manner. With the advent of social media and virtual offices, setting up a business and marketing has been given a completely different meaning. The Forum on Innovation for Business: The importance of ICT, organised as a part of Qatar Success Series events of CPI Media Group and supported by QDB and Qatar

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Shell, explored these topics in more details in order to highlight all the important advice for SMEs and entrepreneurs.

The half day event attracted around 100 prominent attendees from Qatar’s government, business community, academia, and media, who all came to share their perspectives and collect advice and best practices from the high-profile speakers.

11.2% 27,000 40,000 EXPECTED ANNUAL GROWTH RATE OF QATAR’S ICT SECTOR

ICT SPECIALISTS EMPLOYED IN QATAR IN 2012

Aparna Arya, Senior Editor, Private Sector Qatar, welcomed the audience and highlighted how technology is playing an important role and gave a synopsis of the sessions to follow, “Technology has changed the way organisations do business. We thought that it would be interesting to talk about the developments technology has brought about. The sessions today will cover various aspects of technology which are relevant for businesses and will also highlight how startups and SMEs can use technology to save time and costs.”

On behalf of Qatar Development Bank, Nasser Rashid Al Humaidi, Executive Director of Operation and Support, gave the opening remarks, “Qatar’s ICT sector is expected to grow at an annual growth rate of 11.2%. Over the past four years, the ICT usage among businesses in Qatar has been growing substantially.

Businesses, large and small, have gradually started to incorporate technology into their operations to maximise productivity and efficiency. The ictQATAR’s National ICT Strategy 2015 sent a strong message to all stakeholders involved that a solid fundamental for significant national digital agenda cannot be established if we all don’t work in the same direction. This aim has been effectively backed up by several government initiatives, such as Qatar National Broadband Network (QNBN), which will have a huge impact on the potential and empowerment of businesses.”

PLANNED NUMBER OF ICT WORKFORCE IN QATAR BY 2015

Speaking about the ICT landscape in Qatar, Nasser, added, “In 2012, an estimated 27,000 technology specialists have been working across all businesses in Qatar while the private sector plans to increase the ICT workforce to 40,000 by 2015. Furthermore, the number of businesses in Qatar with the ICT security policies has jumped substantially from 37% in 2010 to 61% in 2012.”

Nasser concluded by saying, “In QDB, we are actively promoting the ICT projects streaming from our firm belief that ICT usage is central to the development of a knowledge-based economy.

As part of our financial services, we utilise ICT related tools to provide services that enable the private sector to instill best business practices.

Successful examples of that are our SME Toolkit and Business Plan Creator applications. At the same time, we plan to use more ICT related tools and products to improve our own productivity and efficiency.”

Following up on this, the participants were able to hear opinions of experts from ictQATAR, Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Guidance, Sage, GoMadideas, Servcorp, and Al Tamimi & Co. Throughout the event, they were encouraged to interact with experts and be part of the ongoing discussion.

JULY 2013

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TECHNOLOGY

GROW WITH TECHNOLOGY In what proved to be a day of lively discussions, our experts put a spotlight on various opportunities that technology offers to entrepreneurs, SMEs, and large corporations to ease and enhance their business performance. We present you their thoughts on the importance of technology for businesses in order to help you reach your targets more easily. marketing. Having web presence can help SMEs to reduce costs, track marketing campaign performance, and separate significant customers in order to target them with special offers. Benefits of online marketing tools, such as email, video, audio and social media, can also provide SMEs with a better understanding of the online strategies of their competitors.”

Mohamed Mohsin Al-Yahri Al-Yafei

“Importance of Technology for Businesses” Mohamed Mohsin Al-Yahri Al-Yafei, Policy Manager - ICT Industry Development, ictQATAR

M

ohamed Mohsin Al-Yahri Al-Yafei started his presentation by saying, “My presentation today will highlight the importance of technology for businesses, especially for SMEs. Technology can help businesses in many ways. It can improve their efficiency, expand the targeted markets and improve their customers’ experience. By using technology, they can get competitive advantage and reduce their costs. Those benefits will lead SMEs to grow in the right direction and increase their business value.”

Mohamed highlighted three technological developments that can help SMEs to grow, increase revenues and reduce their costs: ■ Web presence ■ Cloud computing ■ E-commerce In more details, Mohamed explained, “The web presence doesn’t mean only having a website. It also means using social media, like Twitter or Facebook, or any other tool that can provide an ongoing online

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Speaking about cloud computing, he pointed out that SMEs now don’t need to invest heavily in technology, since they can use cloud services by paying only monthly fees, “SMEs can benefit from cost reduction. Cloud providers will be responsible for their data, disaster recovery, data storage management and even service maintenance.

Furthermore, it can improve their document control as all files will be stored in one central location. Using the cloud services allows SMEs to use the same technology advancements as utilised by bigger and competitor companies. So, using this kind of technology will help SMEs to operate their businesses more efficiently while transfering the responsibility for IT operations to the third party.”

He continued by explaining that through e-commerce SMEs can expand their market online and get further benefits by attracting new customers, “It will also reduce their sales and advertising costs. By using e-commerce, any business can stay open 24h and seven days a week.”

To understand the SME landscape in Qatar, ictQATAR did a study to assess the level of ICT adoption within these three areas, and also analysed ICT related strategic thinking and operations of SMEs. Mohamed revealed the findings, “This survey covered 250 SMEs from different sectors. The percentage of ICT adoption levels among small enterprises in Qatar has been growing over the last four years, from 6% to 42%. We found that 59% of SMEs in Qatar don’t have web presence. Only 6%of the surveyed SMEs use e-commerce, 90% use online procurement and only 1% use cloud services. From the market perspective, SMEs in Qatar focus on customers and revenues. From the expansion strategy perspective, they focus on the local market and the GCC markets, like UAE and Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, SMEs in Qatar spend around 6% of their revenues on IT operations, while the international average of investments in IT is 15%.”

He concluded by saying that additional efforts should be invested in raising awareness and encouraging SMEs to utilise technology advancements. For further information, Mohamed invited the participants to read the full ictQATAR Landscape Report, which is available on their website.

TECHNOLOGY

He further presented some interesting data, and said, “Northwestern University Qatar did their own study and asked Qataris and Arabs what was the average time they spent online during a week.

The results showed that Qataris spent about a day a week online or two hours a day. That means that more clients are logging on the Internet now. For businesses, it means more visibility of their online presentations.”

Saleh further highlighted the advantages of the Internet for businesses, “Today, more people are present online, who are all actually potential customers for businesses. With increased Internet penetration, a business which operates as a one-manshow is as good as some large companies. Online presence equals like having ten people working for you. The advantage is that it levels the playing field for SMEs. You don’t need to have a big brand as long as you prove yourself through your website. It will get higher ranks as long as you provide more good data. The other thing is that you have access to the global market without having a representative in 140 countries around the world – you can sell from Doha, Ohio or Cairo and reach the same customers.”

Saleh Al Khulaifi

“Growth of the Internet and Business” Saleh Al Khulaifi, Manager, Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Guidance

I

n the following session Saleh Al Khulaifi presented the research on e-commerce in Qatar, which he conducted in 2011.

In the beginning of this presentation, Saleh provided an example of the effects of rapid technology developments, “The idea for my research bai. Back then, the website of Qatar Airways didn’t have that much credibility and looked very vague and edgy to the users. In just two years, the Internet has enabled providers to be present through our SmartPhones.

The websites are now user-friendly and specifically tailored for each individual use. This makes my life easier since my father books his own flight tickets now.”

His survey included sending out a questionnaire in order to check the usage of e-commerce in Qatar.

Saleh explained, “Around 84% of respondents confirmed that they had dealt with international providers. However, majority of them did not feel comfortable to use their credit card online. Till today, a great number of people have been using it, but they still don’t feel that it is secure. When I asked them whether they used local providers, only 20% said yes. Furthermore, most of them prefered to pay by cash or ask for delivery or meet up at a public place to make this transaction happen.”

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He encouraged entrepreneurs and SMEs to believe in the power of technology by saying, “As long as you have good content, you can use the work of freelancers to offer your services online. For medium to large companies, it means that you don’t need to pay a lot of money to get a good website.

You can visit websites like outsource.com and get decent design in a cost-effective manner.”

Saleh continued by providing excellent advice to the audience, “There are also other business models, like kickstart.com, which is a website people use to refine their designs. All you need to do is to post your initial idea, people will create it and you will get royalties on the sale. These websites help entrepreneurs get access to larger markets. Furthermore, a lot of people think that content management is difficult since it includes putting advertisements, getting google adverts, and similar. But, flatter.com is one example of a website that can become your engine for getting donations. The point of these two websites is to show that there is a huge number of new business models that are being created every day.”

In conclusion, Saleh assured that the online market in Doha is still highly untapped, “Statistic show that there are around 90 million users in the Arab world while 15 billion is the estimated number of e-commerce transactions over the past two years.

50% of our youth is unhappy with the content of Arabic websites. That is a great opportunity for all aspiring entrepreneurs and SMEs.”

expensive tools. Nowadays, it is very important to have the knowledge about how to grow your business through technology. The lack of knowledge can play a big difference in where you are today and where you will be in the next two years.”

He moved forward to talk about the areas in which companies could be cost effective by using technology: ■

■ Reggie Fernandes

“Be Cost-Effective: Use Technology” Reggie Fernandes, Regional Director – Middle East, Sage Middle East

■

R

■

eggie Fernandes started by pointing out, “By using technology a business can be cost effective and successful. We all know that there is an industrial age and an information age. We have been in this information age for the last ten years at least, but a lot of SMEs are still operating in the industrial age, whether it is mass production, mass education or mass marketing.

To move from an industrial age of doing business, SMEs need to have a mindset shift. I advise them not to underestimate themselves. Even if they have a small number of employees, they have the power that multinational companies are missing due to their burdensome procedures.”

Since SMEs are crucial drivers of growth and development, Reggie further advised them, “You can learn how your small company can grow into a huge one in a short period of time. You need to adopt the right mindset and focus on how to make money in the long term. Using technology can help you with that. One of the key elements for using technology is that your business should not be a people-led business, but a system-led business. You should try to automate everything that is possible and use manpower to enhance and grow other areas of your business.”

In Reggie’s opinion, most SMEs are scared to invest in technology thinking that they are too small and that they can’t afford it, “However, many technology tools are available in the cloud and can be downloaded for a small fee. To run your business effectively, you don’t really need to make huge investments and use

■

■

Innovative marketing – Most SMEs don’t have a marketing plan, since they don’t see a great value in marketing. Today, with the internet and other technology advancements you can do marketing in a better way and target your audience more easily. It is a simple, cost-effective tool that can help you to grow your database and share your information with the right audience.

Exceptional service level – With only one phone call, you can inform your customers promptly if, for example, the shipment is delayed. These are small tools you can use to improve your services Business efficiencies – You don’t need to have a real office since all you need is a website with quality information to attract the audience.

Cash management – The cash is always a challenge for SMEs. Make sure to plan your payment for supplies and your business revenues. Be clear in your invoices that you send to your customers since it will help you to get more connections.

Customer retention – Customer retention is the key to success for any business. With technology today, you can respond to your customers’ needs.

Employee empowerment – You can now double your turnover by combining your employee’s skills with the right technology. That will allow you to grow your business further.

Talking about the right time to use technology, Reggie said, “It is always the right time to use technology in order to make a difference, diversify your services and receive your customers’ feedback. Adopting technology at a very early stage is the best choice to make profit.

You have to be technology focused. Otherwise, you will not be able to move forward with your business.”

Concluding on how to move forward in business, Reggie explained this concept by advising business owners on three main features necessary to move forward in the information age: ■

■

■

Leveraging time: As an entrepreneur and as a leader, you need to leverage your time and be more efficient when compared with big companies.

Empowerment of employees: Do not treat your employees as commodities. Provide them with more tools to succeed.

Mindset change: Be smart, use technology and make changes!

JULY 2013

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TECHNOLOGY

people might also become potential customers in the future.”

Pointing out that social media is essential for all businesses, he continued, “As we know, it is a tool that people use to communicate. People start in some way to build a relation with a business through this channel and they do get emotionally attached to it. Thus, the best thing about social media is that it promotes various products and services. Moreover, social media allows businesses to launch new products all over the world at the same time. This helps companies to grow globally.”

For businesses which are still in doubt whether to use social media, Shabbir cited a quote of Erik Qualman, “We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media or not, the question is how well we DO it.”

Shabbir summed up the following benefits of social media to businesses:

Shabbir Adamji

“Social Media as a Marketing and Strategy Tool” Shabbir Adamji, Founder & CEO, GoMadideas

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n a very interactive session, Shabbir Adamji, highlighted the importance of using social media as a marketing strategy tool to take a business to the next level.

In Shabbir’s opinion, the social media presents the fundamental shift in the way we communicate, “We witnessed a big jump in the last ten years since a lot of people are now using social media. It is a platform to exchange information and communicate in a different way. It is one big nation since out of two billion people, who are Internet users, in the world, 1.5 billion are using social media. If we know that the world population is more than sevem billion people, it means that the remaining five billion

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Improve customer service Promote a product or service Manage and respond to a crisis Be highly cost-effective Advocate an issue or cause

Since all businesses are always concerned with costs, Shabbir explained, “Social media requires just a small investment while the marketing benefits are huge. Social media platform is very cost effective.

As companies started to use social media, they gained trust of people around the world who could recommend them to other customers.”

Although it is a cost-effective and time-saving marketing tool, Shabbir suggested that businesses still need to be savvy in the ways that they are using it. Thus, he continued by providing tips for using social media: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Register your brand Do your research Be innovative Understand the culture and etiquette Select the right tools Encourage staff to participate and network Think how to make a difference Read, read, read

He advised businesses to define a marketing strategy and follow it closely, “New platforms are constantly emerging with innovative and exciting ways to communicate with your peers. Define a marketing strategy and follow it closely as this will allow you to truly reap the rewards of social media and its online community.”

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TECHNOLOGY

Her last point opened the discussion on the importance of a virtual office as a platform to foster SME’s growth. Laudy stated that the virtual office concept was born because SMEs and startups needed to watch their bottom line, and said, “A virtual office includes a professional receptionist providing tailored call handling, a global network of premium business addresses, a dedicated support team, fully equipped meeting room facilities in the home country and around the world, and powerful global IT network and an online system that works instantly. The real advantage of a virtual office is that you only pay for the services that you utilise while you have a presence at a corporate headquarters without additional costs. The role of virtual office is to assist businesses by offering flexibility. The savings it provides allows SMEs to grow at their own pace. It’s also a platform to expand into other markets.”

Laudy Lahdo

“Virtual Offices and SMEs” Laudy Lahdo, General Manager, Middle East and Turkey, Servcorp

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audy Lahdo kicked off her presentation by presenting data on the rising importance of the SME sector around the world, “Statistics show that in Europe SMEs are the backbone of the economy. 20.7 million of European firms or 98% of all enterprises are SMEs. In Australia, SMEs employ 70% of their workforce. In Hong Kong, SMEs account for over 98% of the total business units and provide job opportunities to over 1.2 million persons.”

Turning her focus to the Middle East region, Laudy said that SMEs, present 94% of the total projects in the UAE, 92% in Bahrain, Oman and Qatar, 78% in Kuwait, and 75% in KSA. Taking a closer look at SMEs in the UAE, she added that they represent more than 60% of the UAE’s GDP. The available data suggest that the SME contribution in Qatar is not that significant as in the region or other parts of the world. According to the IMF report, SMEs in Qatar have definite room for improvement mainly because they contributed only 15% of non-oil GDP in 2010 and accounted for less than 20% of total employment in 2011. Having said that, Laudy stated that the government is addressing these issues by implementing strategies to support entrepreneurship and SME growth.

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She went on by elaborating on the current office market in Qatar, “Currently, the total office supply in Doha is approximately 3.6 million square meters.

There was an increased demand for office space in 2012, which continues into 2013. Increased demand for office space mainly comes from new companies, which bid for infrastructure projects, and companies which faced difficulties renewing company registration in commercial villas due to the related law change.”

Following up on this, she suggested to entrepreneurs and SME owners to consider the concept of virtual office when faced with these kinds of problems. She advised them on how to choose a virtual office by pointing out the issues a business needs to check when deciding: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

The business address The interior decoration Employees presentation Signage Overloaded responsibility Ratio of employees to clients The team’s capabilities and experience IT and communication savings

After Laudy’s presentation, an interesting discussion developed when one of the participants asked whether this office could be legally registered by the municipality in Qatar, about which Laudy said, “Unfortunately, the legal framework in Qatar and the region does not allow registration of a business on the virtual office. But, you can register your office and have physical presence elsewhere, but get all other services like a dedicate receptionist or access to meeting room facilities. The beauty of a virtual office is that it gives you access to the world.”

criminals, “The new law is meant to punish anyone who manages, via the Internet or any information technology means, without a right, to enter a website and information system of any of the state’s organs, institutions, authorities or otherwise affiliated bodies or companies thereon.”

Presenting the main features of the new law, Chris went on by explaining, “It stipulates that anyone who establishes or runs a website via the internet or any other technological means illegally, or publishes false news with the aim of jeopardising the state safety, its general order, internal or external security, will be liable for legal action. The law will punish anyone who infringes on the social principles or values or otherwise publishes news, photos, audio or visual recordings related to the sanctity of the private and family life of persons, even if they are true, or infringes on others by libel or slander via the Internet or other information technology means.”

Chris Appleby

“Cyber Security and Legal Framework for Businesses” Chris Appleby, Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications, Al Tamimi & Co

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n the last presentation, Chris Appleby began by stating that, at present, Qatar has no specific law concerning cyber crimes. All rules on cyber crimes are now found under the Qatari Penal Law (11-2004). The Qatari legislation sets these crimes under the title of “Computer Crimes” which includes Articles 370-387 of the law.

Pointing that this is insufficient to cover broader interests of the state, the organisations and individuals operating within the Qatari market, Chris presented recent positive developments in this regard, “In May 2013, the Cabinet approved the draft Law on Cyber Crime, which is not yet published in the Official Gazette. It will be very similar to the Cyber Crime Law of the UAE, which was adopted in December 2012. The feature of both is that many activities, which are already considered unlawful, are to be criminalised in a very severe and heavy fashion if carried out online. Thus, the fines and criminal penalties, envisaged by these new regulations, will be much stricter.”

According to him the proposed law in Qatar will have provisions to protect state entities, business organisations, families and individuals from cyber

Since it is assumed that the proposed law in Qatar will be very similar to the recently adopted Cyber Crime Law of the UAE, he presented the main features of this law, “The UAE law applies extraterritorially, which means that if you are based in the UAE, but decide to set up a website in Europe, you could be prosecuted in the UAE even though it has no connection to the UAE.” Following up on this, Chris elaborated on the negative influence of inadequate cyber security on the state security and political stability. In addition, breach of cyber security can pose serious threats to the morality and proper conduct of citizens, about which Chris said, ”These additional types of conducts, like releasing materials affecting the public morals, are broadly drafted under the new law.”

All business owners present at the forum were interested to hear about financial and commercial implications of these crimes, ”The acts like forging documents or using somebody’s credit cards, if done online, will be sanctioned under the Cyber Law.” stated Chris.

He concluded by presenting a unique feature of the UAE law when compared to regulations in other countries, “Unlike many countries, under the new UAE law the website owner or the Internet service provider is liable for any illegal content hosted on their websites. In other countries, this party is not liable provided that they take it down immediately.

Here, they will be liable even if they didn’t put it there or didn’t even know about it.”

JULY 2013

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SNAPSHOTS

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JULY 2013

35

TECHNOLOGY

FOCUS ON INNOVATION The success of 3M begins with their ability to apply technologies to an endless array of realworld customer needs. In a conversation with Aparna Shivpuri Arya, Raghavan Manohar, Area Leader for the Middle East and Africa, 3M Gulf, revealed their ambitious plans initiated after establishing their of�ice in Doha.

Manohar Raghavan is the Area Leader for the Middle East and Africa at 3M Gulf Limited. He has 14 years long experience in various sectors of 3M Gulf Limited. His previous experience includes different positions within BASF, Asian Paints, and Apollo Tyres in the multiple segments. For more information, please visit www. solutions.3mae.ae

When did 3M set up their operations in Qatar?

In line with our extensive growth plans for the Middle East and Africa, 3M established its presence in Qatar by inaugurating a wholly owned office in Doha in the second quarter of 2012.

What opportunities does the Qatar market bring to 3M operations?

Qatar is one of the primary markets within 3M’s regional growth plans, and we do see potential opportunities in the healthcare, oil and gas, construction and infrastructure sectors, in addition to the emerging retail industry.

Since the Middle East is one of the fastest growing regions in the world, our presence in Qatar will facilitate the company’s ambitious business plans and operations. It will be a vital catalyst for achieving 3M’s strategic growth objectives in the whole region.

With over USD 100 billion worth of investment that has been announced in line with the FIFA 2022 World Cup plans, there will be further opportunities in multiple segments. With our diversified portfolio of products, 3M is very well positioned to cater to the customers’ demand across diverse industry segments.

The decision to open a regional office in Doha is a reflection of our ongoing commitment to provide our customers with the best products, services and valuable insights based on years of our technological innovation excellence.

At 3M, we strongly value our relationships with the regulatory authorities and strategic partners. Therefore, we look forward to long term collaboration with them through our expanded presence in Qatar.

What was the rationale behind this decision?

Qatar has been identified as one of the growth countries within the Gulf region. Thus, the decision was based on the government investments that have been lined up in Qatar, as a part of their economy diversification plans and projects initiated after winning the bid to host the FIFA 2022 World Cup. We have also looked at the outlook for macroeconomic factors, such as overall GDP and GDP per capita, considering that Qatar has one of the highest per capita income in the world. Hence, it was quite obvious that the decision to move to Qatar made sense, since the country has been investing heavily in major expansion projects across multiple industries.

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How do you evaluate the contribution of Qatar’s economy to the larger Middle East markets?

Qatar has one of the highest per capita income in the world, which stands at over USD 110,000. With the country’s increased focus on developing the oil and gas industries and investing these revenues across multiple industry segments, Qatar is expected to be one of the major contributors to the economic growth of the region.

With the diversification of its economy, Qatar is also attracting increased FDI in the country, which will spur growth and create more jobs. Qatar is also pioneering its efforts in mega trends, such as renewable energy, railways, emerging retail and healthcare. All of these are positive outlooks for the country, and its emergence within the Middle East region is quite visible and commendable.

How is 3M investing locally to leverage opportunities unique to Qatar?

Qatar is a high priority market for 3M Gulf. With the objective to seamlessly address the needs of our customers by identifying tailor made solutions, we have invested in creating a dedicated facility in Qatar. In addition, we are in the process of adding front-end resources across sales and other technical divisions.

There is a very strong partnership between private and public entities in Qatar, which will continue to spur growth for the country and benefit many companies, both global and local.

With our ground presence in Qatar, we will continue to pursue other opportunities. Furthermore, we will seek to get more resources and establish partnerships when the time is right and the opportunities are lucrative.

Would you say that this market is cohesive to public – private partnerships? How does this benefit a company like 3M? There is a very strong partnership between private and public entities in Qatar, which will continue to spur growth for the country and benefit many companies, both global and local.

Since we have more than 46 of core technology platforms, 3M is a pioneer across multiple industries. Thus, with our core technology, over 100 years of experience, and 65,000 products we will be able to bring in advanced technologies and product solutions to Qatar for leveraging our potential in the market.

It is often said that the Middle East region suffers from the lack of skilled personnel. Is this true for the Qatari market as well?

With Qatar’s increased focus on several industries and economic diversification processes, it would be crucial to look at the skills that are needed to meet various challenges. I believe that this is quite normal for any country, and Qatar is not an exception.

I am sure that with the objective to create a knowledge based economy, the country’s leadership has developed a solid plan to address these issues and provide support and assistance to diminish the gap between offered and required skills.

Qatar is one of the primary markets within 3M’s regional growth plans, and we do see potential opportunities in the healthcare, oil and gas, construction and infrastructure sectors, in addition to the emerging retail industry.

How is your company dealing with this situation?

3M is a diversified technology company and we are able to provide solutions that are needed in multiple industries. Many of our products are focused on improving the productivity, enhancing the aesthetics and performance.

We have dedicated technical and professional service resources that are deployed to address the training needs of our valued customers. Furthermore, we continue to focus on educational programmes to help industries achieve their goals in multiple areas.

Are you engaged in learning and development activities to even this situation out?

Yes, we regularly conduct education seminars, road shows and one to one training sessions in many of the core industries. That will continue to be one of our primary focuses for new countries including Qatar.

With the Qatar government’s vision to create an oil a natural gas independent economy, what future do you see for your operations in Qatar?

We foresee multiple opportunities in many industries, whether it is in the healthcare, safety, consumer, construction, communication sectors or within the infrastructure development projects.

One of our advantages, as I mentioned earlier, is that with 46 core technologies and over 65 000 products we are able to deliver in line with the expectations of our customers.

The innovation of new products is our constant focus, and our target is to increase our sales for 30% through new products and solutions. We have a very robust and disciplined process in place for the introduction of new products. With this approach, we have been very successful in the region.

Our state-of-the-art innovation center facility in Dubai, which exposes the phenomenal world of 3M’s innovations to an external audience, is the testament of our focus on innovation.

How is this likely to contribute to your business growth across the Middle East and the emerging markets worldwide?

Economic diversification will always bring in opportunities for any company. This applies to 3M in particular, due to our vast array of products and solutions that are derived from over 100 years of our experience in innovation within the global arena.

3M is actively looking at broadening the portfolio in line with the mega trends that are shaping the future of the regions’ economy. For that reason, we will continue to put more emphasis on the development of new products.

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MANAGEMENT

ARE YOU A STRESS-FREE

ENTREPRENEUR? Do you wonder how some people seem to manage themselves well in the face of adversity while others don’t cope so well? Jeanine Bailey, Co-Founder and Director, Empower People, explains to us how to rise to the challenge of being an entrepreneur.

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or some people, when facing unfavourable situations, they adopt strategies, which enable them to overcome challenges relatively easily and with minimum stress.

While for others, it’s more difficult, and either takes a whole lot more energy to overcome adversity.

Jeanine Bailey is the Co-Founder and Director of Empower People. She is an ICF accredited coach, ILM accredited trainer, NLP Practitioner, and also EDisc accredited. She has over 20 years of professional experience in working with multinational, blue chip and influential organisations in Qatar, UK and Australia.

Jeanine can be contacted at jeanine@empowerppl.com

As a budding or fully-fledged entrepreneur, you will potentially face not so easy and stressful situations as you begin to try new things and take on new activities, opportunities and challenges. This can potentially lead to a stressful type of lifestyle, which may seem just part of the territory, but can lead to an imbalanced way of living and/ or poor health. Or, otherwise you can rise to the challenges and the unknown in a healthy, positive and sustainable way.

The former response is potentially a result of either being hard-wired to notice the risks or it’s a result of what we have learned through what we’ve been taught or experienced. The great thing is, for those who don’t know how to deal with challenges effectively, to model the successful behaviours of people who do overcome adversity relatively effortlessly. In other words, learn the strategies of an optimist.

The strategies of an optimist Many experts in human behaviour and personal success have identified an ability to manage problems in a healthy way. Often the techniques involved aim at creating conscious awareness about the way we perceive adversity and the beliefs associated with that perception, which may or may not be true for us. If we change the way we see a situation, we can also change our beliefs – from those that don’t support our emotional state to the ones that will support us positively.

Broadly speaking, we can do this by firstly pressing the pause button on ourselves when we notice we are in a fearful, dead-end and potentially repetitive cycle of pessimistic emotions. Next, we can create conscious awareness of how we’ve perceived a challenging or

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adverse situation, as well as indentify our beliefs associated with that perception, and then how those beliefs make us feel. From here, we can dispute what we currently believe with the aim of replacing those beliefs and thoughts with more empowering perceptions and beliefs. This then creates subsequent emotions because our emotions are a by-product of our focus - what we are thinking about at either a conscious or an unconscious level.

Humans are continuous, meaning-making machines. We make everything we experience mean something positive, indifferent or negative. Depending on the meaning we give to situations, people or experiences, we create beliefs which then determine our emotions and actions or inactions. It’s possible to change our beliefs and emotions whenever we decide to do so. Our emotions are a product of our beliefs and our beliefs are a product of how we see our world. For example, if I see the world as a rosy place to live in, I will believe people and circumstances are supporting me, which will energise me.

Once we realise that we have a range of choices as to what meanings we give to events, which are potentially easier perceptions to deal with versus what first comes to our mind, it then becomes possible to create positive change.

This is the approach of an optimistic person, which is opposed to the pessimist.

The pessimist, potentially unconsciously, believes that there is a lack of choice. They often identify the most disastrous meaning of a situation, compared to all the other possible meanings we can make about a situation or a challenge.

By changing the way we view something, we can change our thoughts, beliefs, emotions and actions.

Just because we believe something, doesn’t always mean it’s true. Some of our beliefs, which we’ve held for many years, can change because of new experiences or because we’ve received fresh information, which disputes our old beliefs.

The great thing is, for those who don’t know how to deal with challenges effectively, to model the successful behaviours of people who do overcome adversity relatively effortlessly. In other words, learn the strategies of an optimist.

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■ American psychologist, Martin Seligman, who wrote “Learned Optimism” (1990), is one of many specialists who provided a framework for learning an optimistic approach to adversity. In the past, he felt that he naturally saw the negatives in situations, which could lead into a negative emotional place. However, through his research, he identified many benefits of viewing our world generally optimistically. He concluded that optimists are generally higher achievers and experience better overall health while pessimists are likely to give up or suffer from depression.

A new way Seligman defined a simple process, which enables those who generally have a pessimistic approach to situations to learn an optimistic method.

This is by thinking about choosing reactions to the challenges in a different and empowering way. He says that whether we choose to experience our world optimistically or pessimistically, we can all benefit from understanding of learned optimism in order to achieve better outcomes when we experience hardship – no matter how big or small it might be Utilising his process, people can talk themselves through a challenge by identifying the following: ■ The event which shapes your emotional response ■ The beliefs associated with that event ■ The consequent feelings and actions that result from those beliefs ■ The counter-evidence to dispute the initial negative meanings we give to the event, or even if the meanings are true or somewhat true, identify the positive lessons learned.

■ The emotional outcome due to successful disputation of negative beliefs or minimising the impact of the adverse situation.

To bring this process to life, here is an example of something I personally experienced: ■ The event – Just before moving overseas, a truck loaded with almost everything I owned caught fire and I lost most of my possessions.

■ The beliefs – “I’ve lost everything I’ve worked so

hard for. Life will not be the same. I’m so behind financially. I’ll never be able to replace the things I’ve loved and lost. This is a nightmare.”

The consequences – Overcoming the adversity with being angry, in worry or despair, led to disempowerment and feeling like a victim.

The disputations – “Well, I’m not my stuff. It doesn’t define me. I can move overseas without the burden of my possessions, which represents my past. It’s time to make new, fresh beginnings. Material things don’t matter since I define my own happiness and success while my stuff doesn’t. I can choose to be upset or I can choose to be empowered. I choose the latter.”

The outcome – I felt light and free because I saw this as a way of letting go of the past. I chose to move into a great new adventure.

Even though I initially viewed this truck fire event as overwhelmingly devastating, I was able to dispute and de-catastrophise it very quickly by identifying the positive lessons in it for me.

I recognised I could take responsibility for my emotional health through changing the meanings I give to situations and the beliefs I hold, which then creates the emotions I want to feel. So, when I sense pessimism within me, I know it’s a preference I’ve made based on how I’ve decided to experience my world in that moment. I know I can switch to an optimistic or less pessimistic approach anytime I want by utilising this method to make positive, powerful choices. I know I can choose to see my world in a way that supports me.

People of any age, including children, can be guided through this technique, to overcome difficulties or challenges they experience in their lives. And after a while, for those who haven’t mastered optimistic thinking as yet, it can become more automatic, leading to a successful and happier life.

In conclusion, whenever you feel caught in a downward spiral or web of negative emotions, press the pause button on self. Then think about and create conscious awareness of: ■ How are you viewing a situation in your business or any area of your life (like, the truck fire)?

■ What kind of beliefs are you holding as a consequence (like, “I’ve lost everything”)?

■ What kind of emotions are you consequently experiencing (like, grief or disempowerment), as a result of those beliefs?

■ How can you contest or de-catastrophise those old beliefs, so that you can see or experience the situation differently (like, “I’ve been set free from my baggage”)?

■ How will it lead you to create new, positive, or more empowering beliefs (freedom)?

■ How will it serve you to create the results you truly desire (an adventurous new life!)?

JULY 2013

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MANAGEMENT

Setting a benchmark for CSR Qatar Shell fully understands that its host country is determined to take advantage of its hydrocarbon resources to build a sustainable and knowledge-based economy. Therefore, Qatar’s largest foreign investor actively supports achieving that vision. Along with their wellknown innovation in energy and R&D, Qatar Shell now presents to us its fresh approach to CSR that turns vision into tangible results.

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he largest foreign investor in Qatar, Qatar Shell, has carved out a distinctive approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR), and by investing in Qatar’s lasting resource, its people, the company supports the nation on its path to achieving goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030).

As part of its core business, Qatar Shell invests heavily in the development of its own 300 Qatari employees and also sponsors students. In addition, it undertakes research and technology development activities at its centre in Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP).

However, Qatar Shell has also developed a social investment programme that seeks to help turn Qatar’s vision into tangible results. It is aimed for people in Doha as well as in remote precincts surrounding the capital, such as Al Khor and Al Shamal, where nearly 50% of the country’s residents reside. The company pursues

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various initiatives to develop the private sector, to encourage a healthy lifestyle through football, to promote road safety, and to build technical capability in project management.

In short, Qatar Shell’s CSR model is focused on social impact and partnerships with other Qatari organisations to create a lasting legacy that contributes to the fulfilment of the QNV 2030.

A partner from the beginning Shell first came to Qatar nearly seven decades ago.

In 2003, Shell and Qatar Petroleum signed a Heads of Agreement to build the world’s largest gas to liquids plant, Pearl GTL. Since then, thanks to an extraordinary partnership, Shell has invested some USD 21 billion in Qatar, which has made the company the largest international investor in the country.

While Qatar set out to identify its priorities and direction in the new millennium, Shell remained committed to adding value in its areas of expertise, namely innovation and technology.

The QNV 2030, published in 2008, set a clear and visionary framework of priorities, inviting broad participation and generating momentum as Qatar moves into the new era. Towards fulfilling these priorities, Qatar Shell seeks to play its part.

Wael Sawan, Managing Director and Chairman, Qatar Shell, summed up the approach Qatar Shell has taken to help the country fulfil its vision, “Qatar Shell believes that CSR should be about having material and measurable impact for Qataris and the Qatari society. We, therefore, seek to go beyond philanthropic donations to contribute both our innovation and expertise, in addition to money.”

A holistic approach to CSR Qatar Shell employs a holistic approach to CSR that is both guided by and centred on the QNV 2030. Its core business operation, which is embodied in the Pearl GTL plant, contributes to the economic pillar of the QNV 2030. Shell’s CSR efforts seek to contribute to the human and social development pillars, through investment in Qatari talents and development of Qatari enterprises, as well as to the environmental pillar.

Developing a vibrant private sector Qatar Shell launched an initiative to bring more small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) and local manufacturers into its supply chain.

The aim is to enable them to become the supplier of choice to the Pearl GTL plant, which is the largest plant of its kind in the world, in place of international service providers.

At the accompanying workshop, Sawan spoke to over 100 local business owners, which were all SMEs, and said, “We do this because we recognise the importance of developing SMEs in the countries where we operate to create a vibrant and dynamic private sector. We have been very impressed with the quality of our local providers and we continue to look at opportunities of broadening that partnership base.”

Following the success of the Enterprise Challenge 2012, Qatar Shell has signed an agreement with Bedaya Centre for Entrepreneurship and Career Guidance to bring to Qatar the Enterprise Challenge 2013, a business simulation competition that promotes the spirit of entrepreneurship and business knowledge among young people.

The partners, Qatar Shell and Bedaya Centre, a business incubator set up by Qatar Development Bank and Silatech, and Mosaic, a UK-based charitable initiative for Muslim youth founded by H.R.H. Prince of Wales, will open the doors for students from all of Qatar’s universities as well as several high schools in Al Khor and Al Shamal, in the north of Qatar, to participate in this programme.

The Enterprise Challenge Qatar 2013 kicks off in September 2013, and concludes with the Business Simulation Finals during Global Entrepreneurship Week, from 18th to 24th November 2013.

He continued, “A healthy private sector, which begins with SMEs and entrepreneurs, is beneficial to large organisations. We hope that Qatar Shell will become the lead example that has succeeded in delivering and then operating world-scale projects with local suppliers.”

Sawan stated, “Bringing this innovative simulation to students will contribute to a lasting impact for participants and, ultimately, Qatar.

Widening the horizons of youth to consider and appreciate the value of entrepreneurial endeavours is part of our investment in Qatar’s future and in a sustainable economy.”

The workshop followed on the heels of an agreement signed between Qatar Shell and Qatar Development Bank (QDB) earlier this year to provide local companies and manufacturers access to new business opportunities.

Empowering youth to build a sustainable environment In 1939, several researchers in a Shell laboratory in the United States began a friendly competition to see who could get the most miles per gallon from their vehicles.

Qatar Shell also signed an agreement with QDB and Corporate Publishing International (CPI), publishers of Private Sector Qatar magazine, to partner with them in supplying information and advice on best practices from leading international and local experts.

Decades later, the competition, dubbed Shell Eco-Marathon (SEM), is one of the world’s most challenging student innovation competitions held annually in Europe, America, and Asia. In 2015, it will also start in Qatar.

Investing in young minds While supporting established local SMEs, Qatar Shell also recognises that cultivating entrepreneurship begins with another kind of investment – the investment in young minds.

The marathon brings together current and future leaders and other people, who are passionate about energy issues, and asks them to think about sustainable solutions to the world’s energy challenge. Sawan explained, “It aligns perfectly with the Qatar National Vision 2030,

JULY 2013

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MANAGEMENT Qatar Football Association and Qatar Shell have partnered to develop KOORA TIME!, an initiative designed to improve the health and wellbeing of Qatar’s youth through football. A community based initiative, KOORA TIME!, utilises football as a platform to a healthy and active lifestyle by facilitating access to more hours of physical activity and more opportunities and spaces to play.

The initiative expanded further this year to launch Il’Ab We’Yana (“Play With Us”), an extra-curricular school programme based on the FutbolNet method created by FC Barcelona Foundation. The programme uses football as a mean to develop healthy habits, and provides children with an extra four hours of non-competitive physical education per week.

The initiative was launched with kick-off festivals across the country, which were attended by over 1,000 children, with one in Al Khor attended by 300 youngsters.

Wael Sawan

touching the human, social and environmental pillars through its focus on education, team-work, environment and scientific innovation. At Shell Eco-Marathon, student teams are challenged to design, build and compete with energy efficient vehicles. The winner is the team that goes the farthest distance using the least amount of energy.”

Preparations are already underway for Shell Eco-Marathon Middle East and Africa to be held in Doha in 2015.

Protecting Qatar’s most precious asset While road safety is an integral part of Shell’s social investment programme globally, it takes on a special significance in Qatar, where too many of the country’s youth are lost in fatal accidents caused by reckless driving.

In an effort to protect Qatar’s most valuable resource, Qatar Shell launched U-Turn, a road safety campaign designed in consultation with the Ministry of Interior and in line with its priorities.

According to Sawan, U-Turn was developed on the basis of an original market research that Shell conducted last year. It is focused on young males between the ages of 16-21, who are most prone to road accidents.

“The research led us to take an approach that highlights confident and ‘cool’ males doing the right thing, rather than adopting ‘fear tactics’ or focusing on the breaking of rules,” he explained.

The video campaign, which can be found on YouTube (www.youtube. com/user/uturnsafedriving), consists of three short films focusing on speed, seatbelts and the use of mobile phones. It has been aired on Al Jazeera Sports Channel, MBC2, and Al Kass TV as well as in local cinemas, alongside a radio campaign.

A well-known and prevalent threat to the well-being of the Qatari youth is obesity, and to that end Qatar Shell invests heavily in sports, especially football, from grassroots youth football to the pinnacle of Qatari football, His Highness The Emir’s Cup.

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During H.H. The Emir’s Cup, QFA and Qatar Shell also launched L’Batak, as part of the KOORA TIME! initiative, a high-tech football themed mobile fan zone, which toured Qatar. Attended by more than 6,000 participants since its launch, a total of 17,824 calories were burned across the country as a result of a wide range of activities that were part of L’Batak.

Capacity building based on excellence At the recent CSR conference organised by the Ministry of Business and Trade, Bader Al-Jaidah, Operations Manager, TAFAWOQ, tied together all of the company’s initiatives in a simple, but telling statement, “Our strategy is to build a corporate social responsibility programme through investment in the community, youth and Qatarisation and to develop a sustainable legacy of professional competency in Qatar.”

He went on to speak about TAFAWOQ, meaning “excellence” in Arabic, and explained that it is the project management center of excellence, and a partnership between Qatar Petroleum, Hamad Bin Khalifa University and Qatar Shell. The centre is focused on developing the competencies of project management professionals.

Al-Jaidah continued, “In partnership with QP, we delivered the Pearl GTL project safely, on time and on budget. This required excellent project management skills. Qatar Shell recognises that Qatar will develop some of the world’s largest projects in order to achieve its National Development Strategy, and we will continue to encourage and invest in project management skills and capabilities.”

TAFAWOQ builds on the internationally recognised and accredited Shell Project Academy (SPA) Pentagon model and Qatar Petroleum’s extensive experience in building large scale capital projects.

Ninety-five project professionals have successfully completed TAFAWOQ project management courses and now form the foundation of the first “Project Management Community” in Qatar.

Qatar Shell’s holistic approach and focus on impact and outcomes in supporting all four pillars of the QNV 2030 is what makes its CSR programme distinctive. By driving initiatives to support all four pillars of the QNV2030, Qatar Shell seeks with its partners to set a benchmark for corporate social responsibility in Qatar.

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BUSINESS ADVICE

TEN STEPS TO

success

A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to �inish. Srikanth Murthi, Head of the Project Management Of�ice, Qatar Development Bank (QDB), presents to us ten reasons crucial to the success of your project.

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Srikanth Murthi is the Head of the Project Management Office at QDB. He has been delivering large scale programmes for over 15 years in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Qatar. He has significant experience in driving a project-oriented culture within an organisation.

He is a qualified Prince 2 Practitioner, PMP, MSP and certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

Srikanth can be contacted at smurthi@qdb.qa

Understand the scope and guard it with your life The scope of your project is your best friend if you can understand it. Otherwise, it will be your worst enemy. Since the devil is in the detail, you should spend a lot of time understanding the scope. Guard this with your life since your reputation as a project manager depends on this.

plague. Don’t run away from them, but look after them and soon they will run away from you.

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Try to over-communicate. Don’t be offended when someone tells you that they already know this. In fact, take it as a credit.

Define successes at the start of the project Understand the key success factors for the project from a customer’s and a stakeholder’s point of view.

Understand the benefits, which the project should deliver, and, finally, share the success with everyone involved.

Understand the reasons behind the project It is equally important to see both, the forest and the trees. Understand the reasons behind the project in order to address any issue that may arise during its implementation.

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Define authority and responsibility Define the various levels of approvals and their respective authorities within the project. Keep it simple and practical. Don’t overdo it by having multiple levels of sign-off.

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Don’t procrastinate Paralysis by analysis is the bane of many successful projects. Don’t wait for the perfect option, choose the best option available under the current circumstances and be pragmatic about it.

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Don’t distance yourself from risks If risks are not managed they will spread like the

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Hold regular project meetings Have regular project management meetings even if there is nothing to discuss. I am sure that, when the meeting is finished, there will be a handful of action items that could translate to issues if they haven’t been raised.

Over communication is better than no communication You can never have enough communication. Understand your stakeholders and how they would like to be kept informed about the project.

There is no worse situation for a project team than when their stakeholders don’t know what is happening until the project is completed.

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Projects are like marathons not a 4 X 100m relay Keep the entire team focused and involved, whether directly or indirectly, throughout the whole process. Projects are on the slippery slope when many people turn up for the kick off or the first few phases and then the project is left only to the project manager to deliver.

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Plan your work and work on your plan I know this sounds clich , but plan your work and cascade this culture across the project’s teams. Leave the firefighting to the trained members of the Fire Service Department.

BUSINESS GURU

OLD IS GOLD For over half a century, Milaha has been building on its strong regional foothold in transportation and logistics. Aparna Shivpuri Arya spoke to H.E. Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al Thani, Chairman and Managing Director, Milaha, to know more about this industry leader.

Please give us a brief background about Milaha and its inception As Qatar’s oldest shareholding company, Milaha has a rich history. As the country’s first shipping agent in 1957, it was granted the country’s first ever commercial license (it carries Commercial Registration #1 in Qatar), opened its first overseas branch in Dubai twenty years later, and over the last few decades it has continually expanded to meet the needs of the Qatari economy and a burgeoning energy sector. Today, Milaha is a large, diversified, strategic holding company with core interests in various maritime transport sectors as well as logistics. It consists of six strategic business pillars – Offshore, Gas, Petrochem, Maritime & Logistics, Trading and Capital.

Milaha is a pioneer in Qatar and the region when it comes to logistics and trading. How did that take place? What has been your strategy?

The company’s goal is to deliver seamlessly integrated transport and supply chain solutions in sectors that are vital to Qatar’s economy. To achieve this, Milaha continues to invest in fleet expansion, state-of-the-art equipment and,

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most importantly, development of human capital. Milaha has been playing a crucial role across various sectors and projects to support Qatar’s ambitious development agenda – from active participation in the development of the new commercial port and transportation of increasing export cargo volumes from the petrochemical sector in Mesaieed to investing heavily in expanding its fully and partially owned fleet of offshore vessels and gas and petroleum product carriers.

What, in your opinion, is the status of the private sector in Qatar? What opportunities and challenges does it throw?

The private sector in Qatar plays a critical role in the expansion of Qatar’s economy and will continue to do so. The government has seen to it that even many of the largest companies that are critical to Qatar’s economy are publicly listed, so that the general population (both nationals as well as expatriates) are actively invited to invest. This helps develop the private sector even further.

In addition, the private sector plays a significant role in planning and executing mega-projects initiated by the government. We would naturally expect an expansion in

this sector in the coming years. The biggest challenge for the private sector is to attract and retain talent, particularly nationals. Those companies outside the energy and ancillary sectors are most affected by this.

What according to you are the challenges in the shipping and logistics sector? How do you see Qatar’s future as a trading hub?

Generally speaking, the weakness in the shipping industry is a result of over-supply rather than a lack of demand.

The macroeconomic conditions have played a part as well.

But this is quite a broad, general view that is not necessarily applicable to all our activities. The Arabian Gulf region per se is not suffering as much from over-supply even if there is a degree of overhang from the global situation.

We participate in both regional as well as global trade and across a number of shipping segments. The dynamics vary from one segment to another. Some segments were not impacted as much or even at all during the downturn, for example LNG. What we have tried to do at Milaha is to diversify our exposure to the different shipping segments while finding the right balance between generating stable long term cash flows and being exposed to short term market conditions. We believe this is quite healthy for a shipping company.

What is the relevance of a third-party logistics (3PL) provider to businesses?

3PL providers are critical to enabling trade in the

"Milaha has shifted from individual services to providing complete integrated solutions for their transport and supply chain needs. Positioned in the dynamic region of the Middle East, at the historical trading centres of East and West routes, we recognise that global trade is becoming more complex,” said H.E. Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al Thani

region. With the exception of a few large companies in the region, building a competitive in-house logistics capability is simply not feasible. It takes valuable time and resources away from the core business. However, in the past, the capabilities and service quality of 3PL providers

H.E. Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al Thani

was considered inadequate by customers, and there was reluctance on their part to cede control over logistics to third parties. Therefore, logistics was still largely managed in-house, even when it affected companies’ competitiveness.

It is clear now that this is changing across the region.

3PL providers have strengthened their capabilities and are able to provide scalable solutions that can be tailored to individual businesses’ needs, along with performance guarantees. And businesses are recognising the value that these providers can add to their core business and are willing to outsource significant aspects of their supply chain to third parties.

Milaha is involved in a number of areas - how do you manage all these different activities?

Milaha is organised as a holding company with several strategic business units that are each focused on the different sectors, in which we participate. The holding company provides core support functions such as finance, HR, IT, and more. In addition to managing the overall strategic direction of the group, our goal is to allow the business units to focus on their core activities and drive growth across the different sectors.

For Qatari companies interested in availing 3PL services, what would be your advice to them?

3PL services, as an industry, are still evolving in Qatar and we have seen improvements in the past few years.

Local companies are in a better position to understand the specific requirements of Qatari customers, and

JULY 2013

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BUSINESS GURU

companies like Milaha are playing a big role in bringing 3PL solutions to Qatari customers, so that they do not need to depend on foreign companies to support their requirements. Where required, companies like Milaha are partnering with international 3PL operators to provide end-to-end solutions.

What specialised solutions or services do you provide to for end-to-end maritime and logistics services?

Milaha has shifted from individual services to providing complete integrated solutions for their transport and supply chain needs. Positioned in the

H.E. Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al Thani pointed out, “Maritime trade has been at the heart of the supply chain in Qatar and the GCC, and will continue to play a critical role. We can see from the level of investment in ports and related infrastructure in the region how important this sector is to the regional economies."

dynamic region of the Middle East, at the historical trading centres of East and West routes, we recognise that global trade is becoming more complex. Our goal is to simplify our customers maritime and logistics needs allowing them to focus on their core businesses.

The company is focusing on providing solutions and filling critical gaps in the supply chain for three core customer segments: ■

■

■

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Oil, gas and petrochemical sectors – Milaha is playing a key role in the offshore oil and gas industry value chain from supporting early stage exploration and production activities to transporting end products globally Non-energy customers – Milaha provides integrated freight and logistics solutions for Qatar-based customers. Our 3PL services include freight forwarding, warehousing and land transport, complemented by ocean transport services Ship owners and operators – Milaha also operates a shipping agency, representing 50 different ship

owners, which have regular services operating to Qatari ports. The company’s port management unit manages Doha Port, the main commercial port in Qatar, as well as a dedicated container terminal at Mesaieed Port, the base for the downstream industries sector in Qatar.

How do you see maritime trade in Qatar and the GCC? Maritime trade has been at the heart of the supply chain in Qatar and the GCC, and will continue to play a critical role. We can see from the level of investment in ports and related infrastructure in the region how important this sector is to the regional economies. For Qatar, the maritime trade will be extremely important over the coming years as the infrastructure for the 2022 FIFA World Cup is implemented, and the downstream export industries in Mesaieed ramp up production. Milaha is playing and will continue to play a significant role in this sector. In 2012, we expanded our role in Doha Port and, along with Mwani, we’re helping to bring Doha Port up to world class standards. In addition, we continue to support QP in managing different parts of Mesaieed Port as well. We’re actively involved in the planning for the New Port Project (NPP) as well, where we are able to bring our strongly improved port management capabilities.

What are the next steps for expansion for Milaha?

Looking to the future, we believe that Milaha will be able to leverage its reputation, balanced investment portfolio and strong balance sheet in order to increase its growth prospects. Our biggest strength is our ability to provide totally integrated logistics and shipping services to our clients. We need to leverage and build on this unique position.

While the market outlook for Qatar itself is almost entirely positive in the short to medium term, we hope to expand Milaha’s global presence. We want to have more of a presence in international shipping, particularly in gas and clean petroleum products, transportation and logistics. We also want to expand our offshore support capabilities by entering neighbouring markets such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and perhaps beyond.

This is a time of enormous change and opportunity. We have developed a new vision and a new focus to capitalise on the benefits of having a much larger company. We are in the unique position of being able to strengthen our local and regional footprint while at the same time targeting growth beyond our traditional borders. There is no time like the present to leverage our strong balance sheet to take the company to the next level. *This article was first published in Trade and Export Middle East, our sister publication

QATAR’S EXPORT DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

TASDEER TASDEER, Qatar’s export development agency, was launched by Qatar Development Bank (QDB) in 2011 with the objective to develop, support, and globally promote exports from Qatar through export �inancing and export development and promotion support to Qatar-based SME exporters. It provides access to �inance, credit insurance and advisory services for exporters and supports businesses to develop their export capabilities through export development and promotion.

As part of its offering, TASDEER offers two different sets of services: ■ Export �inancial services ■ Export development and promotion services.

TASDEER’s export development services focus on products and services offered to the exporters in the area of capability and capacity building, market and business-related intelligence and market advisory services. As part of its export promotion services, TASDEER is focusing on facilitating the participation of exporters in identi�ied exhibitions in the target markets

TASDEER

EXPORT DEVELOPMENT SERVICES Product Offering

Key Objective

Product Description

Training Workshops

Capacity building through workshops which educate exporters on key policy initiatives

Workshops on aspects like Single Window System, GSP, free trade agreements, and similar

Trade Map and Market Access

Enabling the exporting community to gain market and business intelligence through public domain sources

Training workshops on the use of Trade Map and Market Access Map through ITC

Trade Secrets

Capability building among small and new exporters through a primer on exports and international trade

Preparing a Trade Secrets Document through interactions with the exporting community. Publishing and holding oneto-one workshops to educate and train small and new exporters

Country Market Surveys

Helping the exporting community penetrate identified new markets which offer opportunities

Conduct market studies on the identified set of products, target new markets and share the insights with the relevant exporters

Newsletter Programme

Enabling market and business intelligence and relationship building with the exporting community

Initiating a quarterly newsletter with information on appropriate topics and showcasing a key country and exporters

Importer Database

Enabling market and business intelligence in specific target markets and building relationships with exporting community

Provide information on importers in key target markets to the relevant exporting community through a database

EXPORT PROMOTION SERVICES

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Product Offering

Key Objective

Product Description

Exhibition Programme

Export promotion through facilitating the participation of exporters in identified international exhibitions in targeted markets

Programmes to facilitate exporters to participate as a group under the TASDEER umbrella in specific, targeted exhibitions aligned with the strategy

Matchmaking Programme

Export promotion through matchmaking events in targeted countries and in Qatar to showcase capabilities

Programme inviting trade facilitators and importers from specific countries either in Qatar or in that particular country and exposing them to the capability of Qatari exporters

Exporters Directory and Export Brochure

Export promotion by showcasing Qatar exporters in appropriate international forums

Publishing the profile and capabilities of the exporters in Qatar as a directory for marketing purposes

Exporter Publicity Programme

Export promotion by facilitating creation of appropriate publicity material for specific exporters

Programme to enable the design and production of suitable publicity material for exporters targeting specific markets

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PRODUCT FOCUS

Frozen to perfection Qatar’s food and beverages sector holds a lot of potential for both manufacturers and exporters. If you have been wondering how and where to plan the export of these kinds of products, pay attention to TASDEER’s analysis of export opportunities for frozen meat.

T

he frozen meat products are consumed in bulk quantities all over the world. The consumption pattern, however, varies depending on the cultural or religious preferences.

Imports of frozen meat in 2011

Qatar’s frozen meat products’ export consists of chicken, mutton and beef range. The key HS codes applicable for exports are: ■ ■ ■

Beef range 020230 (bovine cuts, boneless, frozen) Chicken range 020714 (fowls, which are known as gallus domesticus, cuts and offal, frozen) Mutton range 020443 (sheep cuts, boneless, frozen)

Currently, National Food Company is the biggest manufacturer and exporter of these products in Qatar. It accounts for a major share of exports that is happening in this category at the moment. Having being founded in Doha in 1990, it provides the best quality meat products.

Other Qatari manufacturers of frozen meat are Mawashi and Qatar Meat Production Company. These companies also have tremendous potential for exports.

Global imports grew from approximately QR 75.5 billion in 2009 to reach approximately QR 105 billion in 2011. Asia, except the GCC region, is the largest import market with

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48% share. Europe is the second largest import market with approximately 31% share of world imports.

Import demand in Europe is quite fragmented with Russia being the largest market with 30% share. Other key markets include France, UK, Germany, and so on.

In the GCC region, the imports are dominated by Saudi Arabia with 46% share of the total GCC imports. The UAE is the second largest importer with 29% share of imports for frozen meat.

Qatari exporters have tremendous opportunity to grow their export businesses in these import markets.

COUNTRY FOCUS

Target: France!

With an aim to address and tap export markets beyond the GCC region which are attractive for Qatari manufacturers, in this issue TASDEER focuses on France as an important market for the key products of Qatari origin. trading partners accounting for approximately 17% of exports and approximately 19% of imports in 2012.

The total trade between Qatar and France in 2011 was QR 10.6 billion. The balance of trade is skewed in favour of Qatar with Qatar’s exports accounting for approximately QR 6.8 billion of the total trade. The key commodities exported to France from Qatar currently include mineral fuels, oils, organic chemicals, plastics and articles of plastics.

France is an attractive market in terms of its size for many of the key non-oil and non-QP product categories, which have been identified as part of Qatar’s Export Strategy. These include medical solutions, plastic cups and plates, plastic packaging products and plastic tubes and pipes, and so on.

France’s total import across these product categories in 2012 was approximately QR 91 billion with medical solutions being the biggest category and accounting for QR 58 billion. This is followed by valves and electric wires and cables, with them accounting for imports worth QR 6.6 billion and QR 4.8 billion respectively.

T

he French economy is diversified across all sectors. The government has partially or fully privatised many of the large companies, including Air France, France Telecom, Renault, and Thales. However, the government maintains a strong presence in some sectors, particularly in the power, public transport, and defense industries.

With at least 79 million foreign tourists per year, France is the most visited country in the world and maintains the third largest income in the world from tourism. France’s real GDP contracted 2.6% in 2009, but recovered somewhat in 2010 and 2011, before stagnating in 2012.

The major industries include, machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics, textiles, food processing, and tourism. With a GDP of QR 8200 billion in 2012, Libya imported products worth QR 2399 billion in the same year, including key commodities like machinery and transportation equipment, vehicles, crude oil, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, and similar. Germany is one of the key

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Moreover, given that France has the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) agreement with Qatar, the import duty rates for most of these products are 0%. Thus, taking into account parameters like import market size, presence of trade agreements and proximity of the market to Qatar, France is a highly attractive market for many of the key product categories where Qatari exporters are competitive.

France also hosts one of the biggest food exhibitions in the world, the SIAL PARIS. The 2012 edition of the exhibition saw 5890 exhibitors from more than 100 countries and covering 19 different product sectors. The exhibition was visited by more than 150,000 visitors from about 200 countries.

The next edition of the SIAL PARIS is scheduled to be held from 19th to 23rd October 2014. This exhibition will offer a very good opportunity for Qatari exporters in the food sector to network and establish business links with the EU countries.

Thus, going forward it is important for the exporters to critically evaluate this market from an export perspective.