Private Sector Qatar - March 2013 | English

MARCH 2013 www.privatesectorqatar.com/en

EXPLORING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH THE QRAIL PROJECT

GULFOOD

We bring you the highlights of this sector-speciďŹ c event

PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ

SUCCESS STORY

Get to know about one of the most interesting case studies we have come across

MANAGEMENT

Valuable advice on how to communicate better with your employees

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CONTENTS March 2013

14 18 FLAVOURS OF QATAR At the Gulfood Exhibition and Conferences 2013 Private Sector Qatar visited the Qatar Pavilion and shares with you experience of the Qatari exporters.

Legal 20 CHANGING TIMES FOR INVENTIONS Jamal Abu Ghaida, Managing Partner, AraMarks Intellectual Property, presents an overview of the development of Qatar’s intellectual property culture over the past few decades.

THE ARAB YOUTH AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP Private Sector Qatar brings to you the full coverage of the Arab Youth & Entrepreneurship: Holistic Approaches to Nurturing Local Ecosystems conference (AYE 2013)

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

About town 12 THE FOOTSTEPS TO SUCCESS Muhammed Mekki, Founder, Namshi, shared his entrepreneurial story with the attendees of the Second Sunday Networking event, which was organised by the Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Development. Private Sector Qatar brings to you the main points.

14 THE ARAB YOUTH AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP The Arab Youth & Entrepreneurship: Holistic Approaches to Nurturing Local Ecosystems conference (AYE 2013) was held in Doha from 16th to 18th February 2013. Private Sector Qatar was there to cover the whole conference.

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Success story 22 FASHIONABLY TRADITIONAL Tamara Pupic got talking to Aisha AlBedded, Managing Director, and Emna Heidi, Communication Manager, Darz Design, to learn about the first Qatari abaya brand, but found out much more than she expected from this inspirational Qatari woman.

SMEs 26 MOVING FORWARD Haytham Sadeq, General Manager, Seero Engineering Consulting, explained to Jenny Kassis how he recognised a good business idea within the many development initiatives relating to Qatar’s infrastructural sector.

Business guru 28 EVEN PROUDER Qatar Businesswomen Association (QBWA) has launched a number of valuable initiatives that support and promote Qatari women. In an interview with Aparna Shivpuri Arya, Aisha Al Fardan, Vice Chairwoman, QBWA, talked about the association’s achievements and gave some business advice to Qatari women.

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Sector study 38 GRAB THE OPPORTUNITY The QRail project points out various business opportunities within Qatar’s infrastructure and manufacturing sectors.

In the first article of a two-part series, Private Sector Qatar focuses on the main business opportunities within the manufacturing sector in Qatar.

42 WATCH YOUR COSTS

Management

Since the costs of borrowing for Qatar’s infrastructure and real estate projects are likely to be negatively affected, Dr. Tarek Coury, Chief Economist, Tanween, highlights the importance of cost containment measures.

30 NAVIGATING THE PEOPLE MAZE Success is all about understanding what people want and making sure that they get it just as they expect. In the third article of a series, Sangeetha Thomas, Management Consultant, advises how to tackle common communication challenges.

44 48 HOURS MORE Private Sector Qatar brings to you details of the Stratagem’s 2012 Market Research Report which highlight reasons for the expected longevity of Qatar’s tourism growth.

Entrepreneur 34 BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER...

Announcing the exclusive series of our interviews with members of Entrepreneurs’ Organisation - Qatar Chapter throughout 2013, Lauren Fryer, Communications Chair and Board Member, EO Qatar, introduces this group of exceptional individuals to us.

TASDEER

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49 OUR FIRST RESULTS! TASDEER supported the participation of two Qatari companies at the Arab Health Exhibition and Congress 2013. We bring you their feedback.

50 CONSUMER PROTECTION Jenny Kassis spoke to Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Al Sulaiti, Chairman, Qatar Pharma, to learn more about this topical drug manufacturing facility in Qatar.

52 PARTNER WITH THE BEST Emre Anlar, CEO, Qatari German Company for Medical Devices (Q.S.C), explained to Tamara Pupic how Q.S.C will become a leading manufacturer of medical devices in Qatar and the whole Middle East region.

54 TARGET: LIBYA

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TASDEER focuses on Libya as an important market for key products of Qatari origin.

Check if it can be a good export opportunity for your products or services.

MARCH 2013

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EDITORIAL Publisher Dominic De Sousa

Are you on the right track?

Group COO Nadeem Hood Managing Director Richard Judd richard@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9126

Isn’t that a question we ask ourselves every once in a while? We, here, at the magazine definitely do so and that helps us focus on issues we would like to bring to the fore.

EDITORIAL Senior Editor Aparna Shivpuri Arya aparna@cpidubai.com +971 440 9133

Qatar’s economy is gaining momentum with the FIFA World CUP less than a decade away and the government’s efforts to diversify and move on to non-oil and gas sectors. The IMF puts Qatar’s gross domestic product (GDP) at a new record of USD 191 billion in 2012 on the back of growth level of a real growth rate of 5.2%. That speaks a lot for itself.

Assistant Editor - English Tamara Pupic tamara@cpidubai.com +971 440 9130 Assistant Editor - Arabic Jenny Kassis jenny@cpidubai.com +971 440 9116 Contributing Editors Mike Byrne mikeb@cpidubai.com +971 440 9105 ADVERTISING Commercial Director Chris Stevenson chris@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9138 CIRCULATION Database and Circulation Manager Rajeesh M rajeesh@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9147 OPERATIONS AND DESIGN Production Manager James P Tharian james@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9146 Head of Design Fahed Sabbagh fahed@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9148

To follow up on some of the business and investment opportunities being created in Qatar, I’ll be heading there this month to attend the World Cargo Symposium and the Workshop on the QRail Project. The latter event aims to provide businesses with numerous opportunities in the manufacturing and infrastructure sector. Turn to page 38 to read all about the opportunities in the manufacturing sector.

We also focus on another sector - tourism and highlight some interesting facts. It is fascinating to see Qatar so active on regional as well as local fronts. There is a Qatar pavilion in all regional and international exhibitions. For instance, in February, it was Gulfood, where Qatari companies with the support of TASDEER showcased their products and it was a roaring success.

The PSQ team was also present to cover the Arab Youth & Entrepreneurship conference, which put forth some very informative and inspiring case studies and discussions.

March promises to be an exciting month as well and soon we’ll start working on our first success series event for the magazine. So watch this space for the updates!

Till then...

Photographer Jay Colina jay@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9137 DIGITAL SERVICES www.smeadvisor.com Digital Services Manager Tristan Troy Maagma Web Developers Erik Briones Jefferson de Joya Louie Alma online@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9100 Published by

Aparna Shivpuri Arya, Senior Editor, Private Sector Qatar Talk to us: E-mail: aparna@cpidubai.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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Al Wraq Printing Press, Qatar

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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Ms. 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 Mr. Hamad AL-Kuwari 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. White is Associate Teaching Professor of Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University-Qatar.

Abdulaziz N. Al-Khalifa

Nasser Al Muhannadi

Mr. Al-Khalifa is the Executive Director, Strategy and Business Development at Qatar Development Bank (QDB).

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

Raed Al-Emadi

Rashid Nasser Sraiya Al Kaabi

Mr. Al-Emadi is the Deputy CEO, Silatech.

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Ms. Al-Mannai is the Executive Director of the Social Development Center (SDC).

Mr. Al Kaabi is the Chairman of the Board of Energy City Qatar Holding (ECQH).

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

We are the new AIG

Bring on tomorrow www.aig.com AIG is the marketing name for the worldwide property-casualty, life and retirement, and general insurance operations of American International Group, Inc. For additional information, please visit our website at www.aig.com. Products and services are written or provided by subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group, Inc. Not all products and services are available in every jurisdiction, and insurance coverage is governed by actual policy language. Certain products and services may be provided by independent third parties. Insurance products may be distributed through affiliated or unaffiliated entities. Certain property-casualty coverages may be provided by a surplus lines insurer. Surplus lines insurers do not generally participate in state guaranty funds and insureds are therefore not protected by such funds.

NEWS

QDB and Shell jointly promote Qatari SMEs Qatar Shell has partnered with Qatar Development Bank (QDB) to open the doors for local SMEs to supply contracts for Shell’s businesses in Qatar. This new partnership will provide local companies and manufacturers access to new business opportunities as well as help them raise their operating standards in order to fulfill global requirements.

content development, not merely as an aspect of corporate social responsibility, but because it makes good business sense for us to do so.

Supporting Qatar’s SME sector is an essential component of our contribution to the economic and social pillars of the Qatar National Vision 2030,” said Wael Sawan, Managing Director and Chairman, Qatar Shell.

“Wherever Shell operates in the world, we are passionately committed to the SME and local

“We are very pleased to cooperate with Shell to provide exciting opportunities for local

DIMDEX 2014 Under the patronage of His Highness, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Crown Prince of Qatar, with the official support of the Qatar Armed Forces and hosted by the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces, DIMDEX 2014 will be held at the Qatar National Convention Centre, between 25th and 27th March 2014. It is now firmly established as the Middle East and North Africa leading maritime and naval defence exhibition and conference, and is set to be the largest event for maritime defence

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businesses. We believe this is an essential partnership for SMEs in Qatar. Also, it is in line with our mandate and strategy to develop a world-class private sector with the necessary skills, knowledge and best practices to attract multinational organisations, like Shell is. QDB will not only provide access to funding, but also access to business advisory and support services, links to potential strategic partners as well as facilitated access to local regulatory and support institutions,” said Mansour Bin Ibrahim Al-Mahmoud, CEO, QDB. SMEs listed with QDB and other institutions and/or incubators will have access to Shell’s tenders to supply various materials and services required by the company.

and protection of critical off shore infrastructure. DIMDEX 2014 will allow the private sector to take advantage of current and future procurement opportunities for all naval requirements across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

leading commanders, industry leaders, key decision-makers, thinkers, academics, experts and buyers to exchange experiences expand networks and develop future strategies for the maritime industry. DIMDEX 2014 creates a critical platform for companies to present the latest technological developments to meet the 21st century maritime security challenges”.

Brig. Dr. (Eng) Thani A. Al-Kuwari, Assistant Chief of Staff for Financial Affairs, and Chairman, DIMDEX, said, “Defence and security is one of the largest industry sectors in the global economy. Qatar is bringing together the world’s

DIMDEX 2014 will build on previous editions and is expected to see significant growth with over 200 exhibiting companies and an increase on the 79 delegations from 54 countries and over 9000 trade visitors received in 2012.

Christopher Hudson, Middle East Managing Director, Clarion Events Middle East, said, “DIMDEX 2014 is a fully integrated exhibition and conference which will provide the latest solutions for maritime defence and the protection of critical off shore infrastructure.”

Qatar is strengthening its position as a flagship destination for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions, with an ambitious vision in the expansion of international cooperation.

Hosting DIMDEX 2014 has placed Qatar as the meeting venue for the maritime defence sector in the region as well as around the world.

TASDEER supports export of Qatari electrical products QDB’s TASDEER took part in the Middle East Electricity which was held between 17th and 19th February 2013 at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre.

experts through free technical seminars, network with over 15,000 attendees and do business with the biggest names in the global sector.

Qatar International Cables Company (QICC) and Al Shams Advanced Lighting Technologies were present at the exhibition as the leading electrical products’ exporters from Qatar. The exhibition served as a strong platform for these exhibitors since they got the opportunity to discover the latest technologies and innovations, learn from world-renowned

Mansour Bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, CEO, QDB, said, “TASDEER continues to provide considerable opportunities for Qatari non-oil exporters in line with its strategy to further contribute to the development of the industry. Since inception, TASDEER launched a number of significant initiatives and participated at numerous exhibitions as

part of its tactical approach towards growing the export industry in Qatar.”

Hassan Khalifa Al Mansouri, Executive Director, TASDEER, stated, “The Middle East Electricity 2013 exhibition served as a great platform to network and establish business links with companies specialising in power, water, nuclear and renewable resources of energy. Additionally, our Qatari exporters gained key knowledge about prevailing market trends in the electricity sector.”

SAVE THE DATE! Date

Event

March

Energy Forum

MARCH – APRIL 2013 Location Doha

2 - 5 March

Seminar - Convert Natural Gas

Doha

4 March

Gulf Expo-Qatar

Doha

5 - 6 March

Meeting of the Islamic Chambers

Doha

10 - 17 March

Tasmeem Design and Art Conference

VCU Qatar

11 - 12 March

MultaQa

Ritz Carlton Hotel Doha

12 - 14 March

World Cargo Symposium

Doha

13 - 14 March

Middle East Geospatial Forum 2013

Qatar National Convention Center

17 - 21 March

Second Turbine Machines Middle East Symposium

Doha

18 - 20 March

Innovate Qatar

Doha Exhibition Center

19 - 20 March

4 Middle East Securities Forum

Ritz Carlton Hotel Doha

31 March - 2 April

World Luxury Expo Doha

Doha

1 - 6 April

Qatar Career Fair 2013

Qatar National Convention Center

th

2 - 4 April

Doha Carbon and Energy Forum 2013

Doha

8 - 9 April

Bloomberg Doha Conference

St. Regis Doha

4 - 6 April

Global Innovators 2013: Leading and Learning in Technical and Vocational Education and Training

Doha

9 April - 1 May

3rd Annual Global Refining Technology Forum

Doha

22 - 23 April

Arab Future Cities Summit

Doha

22 - 25 April

ICC WCF 8th World Chambers Congress

Qatar National Convention Center

29 April - 1 May

3rd Annual Global Refining Technology Forum

TBA

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

MARCH 2013

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ABOUT TOWN

THE FOOTSTEPS TO SUCCESS The Second Sunday Networking event, organised by the Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Development on 10th February 2013, was very interesting since it featured a presentation by Muhammed Mekki, the Founder of Namshi. Private Sector Qatar brings to you coverage of the event.

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round 40 young entrepreneurs were eager to hear how has Muhammed Mekki, Founder, Namshi, managed to create the Middle East’s fastest growing fashion e-commerce business in 2011. Even more fascinating is the fact that the company grew from one to 150 employees and raised over USD 20 million in funding along the way.

Who did this?

Muhammed Mekki moved to Dubai from Silicon Valley, where he completed his MBA at Stanford University and also was a technology entrepreneur.

Prior to founding Namshi, Muhammed was a consultant at McKinsey & Company, serving clients across the GCC region. Muhammed holds Bachelor’s Degrees in Economics and Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a Fulbright Scholar with expertise in Islamic finance. Most recently, he established Dubai-based AbraLink, a firm focused on developing the Middle Eastern entrepreneurial ecosystem by building bridges to Silicon Valley. As an Iraqi-American, he is interested in connecting the US and the Middle East region with an aim to encourage a mutually beneficial exchange of people and ideas.

How to follow his footsteps?

Muhammed’s inspirational story taught attendees how to pick a winning idea, build the right team and culture from the start, take risks, make mistakes, and adjust to the course quickly. Using examples from Namshi’s history, Muhammed highlighted the importance of providing quality customer service, and also explained how to market a startup. The success story of Namshi pointed out the importance of operations in an e-commerce business.

In addition to the Second Sunday Networking event, Bedaya Center organised a separate talk with

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Muhammed Mekki for a large group of students interested in setting up their own businesses, at the College of North Atlantic in Doha. Furthermore, at the ictQATAR, Muhammed addressed representatives of the companies incubated within the ictQatar’s Digital Innovation Center.

Where should we all meet?

The Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Development, a partnership between Qatar Development Bank and Silatech, is located in Doha’s Katara Cultural Center. The Bedaya Center provides young people in Qatar with access to a range of services covering both career development and entrepreneurship.

As a monthly event, the series of Second Sunday Networking events aim to provide young entrepreneurs with the opportunity to meet, network and exchange ideas with their peers, mentors and advisors from the industry. Attendees can also learn from the various speakers who share their entrepreneurial experiences with the audience. Bedaya Center’s events and activities come in line with their vision to provide youth with access to relevant activities and training programmes and help them develop their skills and accelerate their entrepreneurial spirit.

Saleh Al Khulaifi, Manager, Bedaya Center, said, “Brining speakers such as Muhammed Mekki allows entrepreneurs in Qatar to engage with the people who have been able to successfully startup and operate a business in the region. It is important that our speakers are people we can all relate to as they act as true mentors to those who wish to follow in their footsteps.” Saleh sent an open invitation for the Center’s next Second Sunday Networking session, which will be held on 10th March 2013, encouraging all young and aspiring entrepreneurs to attend.

ABOUT TOWN

THE ARAB YOUTH AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP “If you don’t have a job, create one for yourself” was the underlining statement of the Arab Youth & Entrepreneurship: Holistic Approaches to Nurturing Local Ecosystems conference, which was held in Doha from 16th to 18th February 2013. Private Sector Qatar was there and brings to you coverage of the whole event.

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ilatech is a Qatar-based social initiative that works to create jobs and expand economic opportunities for young people throughout the Arab world. Founded in 1980, with permanent headquarters in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, The Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI) is a regional, non-governmental, non-profit urban research, technical and consulting organisation.

The two organisations joined forces in organising the Arab Youth & Entrepreneurship: Holistic Approaches to Nurturing Local Ecosystems conference at the Hilton West Bay Hotel in Doha. The conference saw in attendance more than 300 students, academics, business leaders, representatives of the governmental institutions and the NGO sector in Qatar.

The premise of this conference was that a more comprehensive approach to youth economic inclusion is needed. The approach should be supported by the creation of local urban ecosystems that enhance youth entrepreneurship and economic opportunity at the grassroots level. Such ecosystems come about through the joint efforts of local governments, civil society and the private sector.

On 16th February 2013, the conference kicked off with the opening remarks of Dr. Tarik Yousef, CEO, Silatech, and H.E. Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Nuaim, Chairman of the Board of Trustees & President, AUDI, both of whom expressed that their main intention is to encourage youth to start and excel in managing their own businesses. They pointed out that the conference should focus on exchanging ideas in order to create new economic opportunities for the youth since they currently face difficult employment conditions.

Following up on the main goals of the conference, Dr. Junaid Kamal Ahmad, Director, Sustainable Development MENA, World Bank, added, “This conference is important since it highlights that the topics of youth, entrepreneurship and local ecosystems should be analysed together. The cities are incubators for entrepreneurs across the MENA region and we should encourage cooperation between the private sector and the local governments. This linkage should support the advancement of innovative entrepreneurship in the following years.”

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Fadi Ghandour, Founder and Vice Chairman, Aramex, delivered an inspirational speech in which he stated, ”Entrepreneurship is not a policy, but a social process which involves all of its members. The empowerment of citizens allows more economic independence, especially for younger generations.” Elaborating further on the role of the private sector, Fadi pointed out, “The private sector needs to wake up and consider the well-being of the overall society as a return on their investments.

Therefore, they cannot be focused solely on the profits anymore.”

The agenda of the first day was composed of three plenary sessions and three workshops. The conference started with the “Regional Trends & Challenges Facing Young Entrepreneurs” session during which Mike Harrington, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, provided an overview of regional trends in youth entrepreneurial and self-employment activity, “According to our data, the youth in the region face the following challenges – lack of skills, difficulties in obtaining necessary finance and lack of experienced mentorship which would guide them.”

David Robalino and Haneen Sayed, World Bank, further explained that, according to the research done by the World Bank, the MENA region is characterised by high joblessness, informality and domination of public employment. They suggested that the interventions should be separately tailored for low and high skilled entrepreneurs. While less skilled entrepreneurs could benefit from internship opportunities and participation in various incubation centers, high skilled entrepreneurs require more advisory services in order to develop their potentials.

In the afternoon, three workshops, which were running in parallel, served as a platform for sharing experiences of many regional entrepreneurs.

We were impressed with the entrepreneurial idea of Khalid Al Khudair who created Glowork, the first Website for female recruitment in the GCC region. In 2008, Booz & Co published a study according to which only 15% of women in KSA were employed while 60% of women with a PhD degree could not find proper employment opportunity. For that reason, Khalid was determined to launch a company which would be dedicated to creating equal employment opportunities for women across the region.

The first day ended with the conference dinner which was attended by many prominent figures from Qatar’s government, business, academia and NGO circles.

ABOUT TOWN

OUTSIDE THE BOX It was a very busy morning on the second day of the conference, since we had to cover four plenary sessions, six panels and one roundtable. However, we managed to bring you the main highlights of these interesting discussions.

started his presentation by saying that the region is spending five times higher amount of energy than the amount it produces. He gave an example that the transport sector in the MENA region spends 350% more energy than the same sector in China. His project, Geothermal, provides geothermal energy systems and solutions which could overcome these problems.

Another presentation was given by Ziad Abichaker, Cedar Environmental, who said that the underlining idea of his project is to transfer waste disposal activities into green jobs. Namely, his project offers 100% environmentally-safe treatment of municipal solid waste. The project of Alaa Ensheiwat, ZajelMed, provides a solution for all of us who are used to losing our old medical results and prescriptions. ZajelMed is an online solution which allows all registered users to upload their medical files and keep in a constant online contact with their doctors.

The following session, titled “In pursuit of Meaningful, Sustainable Impact: The Importance of Innovative, Holistic, Multisectoral Approaches” focused on what is needed to create local urban ecosystems that truly support and enhance economic opportunities for young people. Curt Rhodes, Questscope, suggested that a way to take care of the youth in the MENA region was to help them achieve a state of high productivity.

The discussion further focused on finding the creative ways of working together to tackle all challenges faced by younger generations.

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Since Private Sector Qatar has been featuring stories of the six finalists of SILA Angel Investment Network, the roundtable “SILA Angel Investment Network Roundtable” was a unique opportunity to check the latest news from this network.

Fans of technology took their seats at the “Leading Social Change through Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation” session since it gathered young leaders from the region who have created technologically innovative social entrepreneurship projects. Khaled Al-Sabawi, MENA Geothermal,

The roundtable hosted a number of local and regional angel investors who explored the concept of angel investing in the MENA region, about which Fadi Ghandour, Founder and Vice Chairman, Aramex, said, “It is never about the money you will invest and the profit you will get, but about choosing the right business to support.” He further added that the best mentors for entrepreneurs are their investors since they have the biggest interest to see them succeed. The following discussion focused on how the government could work with the private sector in order to raise the level of entrepreneurship. Experience from other regions suggests that the wider safety net is provided by the government, the fear of failure among entrepreneurs is bigger. For that reason, it was concluded that success is based on the entrepreneurs’ resilience to failure, but Khalifa Al Misnad, President, Entrepreneurs Organisation, encouraged Qatari entrepreneurs by saying, ”Qatar is the best place to overcome the fear of failure since here you can always have a plan B and get support to start again.”

he first session “Building Alliances between Public and Private Sectors and Civil Society Organisations in Support of Youth Employability” focused on municipalities as key players in building a range of services for youth based on sustainable public-private partnerships.

Toufic Dabbousi, Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture of Tripoli & North Lebanon, started by explaining that Chambers of Commerce across the region should provide help and support to startups in the implementation of their innovative ideas. Following up on that, Nader Ghazal, President, Fayha Union of Municipalities, Lebanon, added that they initiated several urban development projects in order to activate the youth and create employment opportunities for them. Providing an example of the importance of that kind of projects, Rim Elmustapha, YWF, described her work with young women from the poorer classes, pointing out the resistance of parents and the overall society as the main challenges.

MARCH 2013

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ABOUT TOWN

LESSON LEARNED

Starting with the workshop “YEN Evaluation Clinic” and ending with the “Conference Follow Up & Dialogue: Implications for Entrepreneurship in Qatar” workshop, the last day of the conference proved to be no less interesting that the �irst two days.

Private Sector Qatar sums up the main conclusions for you.

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he workshop “YEN Evaluation Clinic” began with reflections on the conference, including specifically the issue of the labour markets in the Middle East region.

Drew Gardiner, Youth Employment Network, posed the question on what could be done to monitor entrepreneurship in the region.

After displaying images and footage from the last year’s conference, participants from different organisations such as Injaz Qatar, Bedaya Centre for Entrepreneurship and SME Development, World Bank and others, were divided into several groups. Drew asked them to talk about the current state of their organisations’ activities in Qatar, the challenges they face and their future plans in the process of evaluating and monitoring entrepreneurship. After an important peer to peer discussion, the participants were able to exchange their ideas and projects planned to take place during this year.

The second part of this workshop was unusually entertaining since it applied the “speed dating” idea in order to create more effective discussion among the participants and experts. The participants were providing their opinion on six different topics which included – log frame & indicators, quantitative tools, participative M&E, survey design and working data, ICT based data collection, and impact evaluation.

around the fact that the region needs to increase the role of venture capital in incubating technology startups. Elaborating further on this, Muhammed Mekki, Founder, Namshi, added that there are just a few venture capital funds active in the region. He shared his experience by saying that all Namshi’s initial funding came from abroad and advised that action needs to be taken to avoid that in the future.

The workshop “Conference Follow Up & Dialogue: Implications for Entrepreneurship in Qatar” was a perfect place to check the state of entrepreneurial activity in Qatar, which organisations and programmes support entrepreneurship, and what are the impediments to entrepreneurial activity.

In the second part of the session, the participants were divided into few groups in order to facilitate the exchange of experiences and share the lessons learned within Qatar’s entrepreneurship system. The group, which focused on education, concluded that education on entrepreneurship should start at an early age since it requires development of diverse skills.

The other group listed the following policy barriers to the development of entrepreneurship – burdensome bureaucracy, requirement of having an office space in order to establish a new business, the requirement of 51% of ownership of a Qatari national, difficult access to relevant people and existing limitations on hiring certain nationalities. These barriers mark in which directions the following actions should be taken.

In his opening words, Nader Kabbani, Director of Research and Policy, Silatech, reflected on the conference stating that Silatech’s main aim is to check which actions contribute to the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Qatar and which actions are needed in order to overcome currently existing gaps. Following up on this, one of the participants said that access to finance is still one of the most sensitive issues for local entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the discussion developed

The Arab Youth & Entrepreneurship: Holistic Approaches to Nurturing Local Ecosystems conference was a big success since it brought together all relevant stakeholders to form a strong alliance and support youth entrepreneurship in Qatar. If you are one of the young entrepreneurs who developed an idea and started your own business after this conference, please do get in touch with us since we would like to hear about your experience.

All participants agreed that challenges related to the lack of data and the high costs of tracking it are making the monitoring and evaluating entrepreneurship much harder.

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ABOUT TOWN

FLAVOURS OF QATAR The Gulfood Exhibition and Conferences 2013, the world’s biggest annual food and hospitality show, was held from 25th to 28th February 2013 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Private Sector Qatar went to cover the event and visit eight leading food products’ exporters from Qatar whose participation was supported by TASDEER.

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ulfood Exhibition and Conferences 2013 (Gulfood 2013) was inaugurated on 25th February 2013 by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance, in the presence of H.E. Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, UAE Minister for Foreign Trade, country ministers, ambassadors and dignitaries from around the world, highlighting the importance of the world’s largest annual food and hospitality trade event.

Spanning over 100,000 square meters of space, the Gulfood 2013 saw the participation of 4,200 exhibitors with the biggest European showcase and the largest South American presence. More than 110 foreign country pavilions were set up at the Dubai World Trade Centre. All of them exhibited different varieties of food items, beverages, restaurant supplies, hospitality services and other related food equipments.

The Gulfood 2013 Conferences, a series of four key summits, commenced also on 25th February 2013 with H.E. Sheikha Lubna addressing senior executives of global food and beverages companies, dignitaries and trade professionals at the Global Food Leaders’ Summit. The forums organised during the rest of the conference’s days included Food Packaging & Processing Forum, Food Inspection Conference and Franchising Workshop.

The whole exhibition was attended by over 60,000 qualified business visitors. Attendees could also participate in the Baking and Pastry Guild Competition as well as attend the corporate award ceremonies. In addition, many professional chefs used this opportunity to highlight their skills to a large audience.

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The team of Private Sector Qatar was interested to talk to some of the awardees, and we caught up with Raewyn Wise, Export Manager, Morlife International, whose company won two of the Gulfood Awards – The Best New Confectionary Item and The Best New Innovative Product. We first asked her about their experience from participating in this exhibition, on which she said, “All our products have comprehensive nutritional value to improve the overall body functioning. We are based in Australia, and we have a strong focus on the GCC market. For that reason, we have participated in this exhibition for the past three years. Since 2012 we started supplying the UAE market. The Gulfood has been great for us in terms of contacts we managed to establish. A few, very strong, regional companies have become our partners in that manner.”

Since we wanted to hear her opinion about the regional food sector, Raewyn explained, “I think that the region has a very interesting food sector since a lot of people from around the world pass through regional countries, especially Dubai. That provides so many opportunities for the whole variety of food items. Furthermore, people here are looking for improved food products and that is where the new opportunities come from. Also, the trend of eating healthy food provides for new business potential for companies like ours.”

With an idea to hear the opinions of some of the regional producers, we got talking to Mohamad Khachab, Regional General Manager, BMB Group, who stated, “We produce chocolate and bakery raw materials and we also have a section for all kinds of Arabic sweets. Our manufacturing is done in Dubai while we export our products to Qatar, KSA and Lebanon. We have been present in Qatar nearly three years already. For the last six years, we have been

exhibiting at the Sweets Middle East Exhibition while this is the first time that we are present at the Gulfood Exhibition. We are very satisfied since we are opening new markets for our business just by sitting here and meeting people.”

Regarding the conditions for doing business in the food sector across the GCC region, Mohamad opined, ”We consider that conditions for food production in the UAE are very good while facilities in, for example, Saudi Arabia are not that advanced. For that reason, I think that regional countries should pay more attention to their food production sectors.”

From Qatar to the world Most of our time at the Gulfood 2013 was spent at the Qatar Pavilion which witnessed very high traffic during the all four days of the exhibition, with visitors’ eyes strongly set on the Qatari products of eight leading food products’ exporters from Doha: ■

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Qatar Flour Mills (QFM), a division of ZAD Holding Group, which specialises in the production of wheat flour, wheat derivatives and pasta.

National Food Company, a division of ZAD Holding Group, which specialises in the production and distribution of processed and frozen food products ranging from minced meat to burgers and other edible meat products.

Dandy Company Limited, ZAD Holding Group, which manufactures a wide array of dairy and milk based products like ice creams, non-carbonated beverages and fresh juices.

Colosseum Doha, which specialises in the production of gelato, ice cream, sorbetto, desserts and fresh pasta.

Qatar Tunisian Food Company (Q-T Food), a QIMC company, which specialises in the manufacturing and distribution of bottled olive oil.

National Food Company (NAFCO), a QIMC Company, which is engaged in processing, packaging and marketing of various food products, especially dates.

Qatar Food Factory (Pafki Qatar), which manufactures crispy corn curls, potato chips and tortilla chips.

Chocolate Graphics, which provides customised chocolates in various colours and designs with no artificial ingredients.

TASDEER, Qatar’s export development agency, provided all the support needed by the Qatari companies in order to strongly establish the “Made in Qatar” brand at the exhibition, In addition to organising a Qatar Pavilion and booking prime advertising space at the exhibition hall, TASDEER also provided the Qatari exporters with a list of potential importers for their products in the region.

Furthermore, TASDEER distributed booklets containing profiles of all the Qatari food product exporting companies.

About the importance of presenting Qatari companies at the Gulfood 2013, Hassan Khalifa Al Mansouri, Executive Director, TASDEER, QDB, stated, “The Gulfood 2013 is one of the world’s largest and most influential annual trade shows for the food and beverage industry. It provides our exporters with superb networking and business opportunities which is exactly what we, at TASDEER, aim for stemming from our firm belief in the ambitious potential that we have in Qatar. We do hope that all Qatari exporters present at the Gulfood 2013 managed to capitalise on this outstanding opportunity.”

Hassan Khalifa Al Mansouri, Executive Director, TASDEER

We decided to hear the experience of some of the Qatari companies and, therefore, we first got talking to Gianfracesco Peretti, General Manager, Colosseum Doha W.L.L., who said,“This is a great opportunity for us and we couldn’t have done it without the support of QDB and TASDEER. We are taking advantage from this event since it is a point of meeting of all the distributors and clients active in the Gulf region.

We already have clients interested in our products from Pakistan, India, Jordan, and even Australia.”

Faheem al Haq, Assistant Business Development Manager, Colosseum Doha W.L.L., quickly added,”This kind of promotion raises the profile of our local market in Qatar. Our target for 2013 is to be at least present in all the GCC countries since these countries have committed to not introduce additional taxes. We aim to start with small plans and to expand gradually. I would say that we are targeting the GCC region today and the whole world tomorrow.”

The following day we spoke to A.Abdul Hameed, Sales Manager, Qatar Food Factories Co. W.L.L., who told us, “This is the first time that we are present in the Qatar Pavilion. For that reason, a lot of visitors are getting to know more about our products. We are very happy. We already export to all countries in the GCC region, and now we are focusing on countries like Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Jordan. We expect that this exhibition will help us to establish contacts in these countries.”

Since Qatar Floor Mills Co. has been participating in the exhibition for the past few years, M. Salim Pathan, General Manager, Qatar Floor Mills Co., explained to us why the Gulfood 2013 is special for his company, “This is not the first time that we participate in the Gulfood.

However, this year we got full support from TASDEER to participate in the Qatar Pavilion. Our target is to show the image of Qatar and Qatar Floor Mills Co. to the whole GCC market. With our overall presentation, we want to illustrate the cultural heritage of Qatar, but also to show our new products. It took us some time to prepare for this event and bring all our products from Doha. TASDEER has helped us a lot. It has been a good experience and people are appreciating our efforts. In addition, we are getting a lot of inquiries from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and Oman.”

Although all the Qatari companies present at the exhibition were quite busy with many visitors we managed to interview most of them.These stories will be published in our forthcoming issues.

MARCH 2013

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LEGAL

Changing times

for inventions Half a century ago, the only way to claim ownership of a patent in Qatar and other GCC countries was the publication of cautionary notices in a Pan Arab, English or Arabic newspaper. Jamal Abu Ghaida, Managing Partner, AraMarks Intellectual Property, explains how in 2013 Qatar has proved its proactive approach towards the development of the intellectual property regime.

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Jamal Abu Ghaida is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of AraMarks Intellectual Property. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Business School of Yarmouk, Jordan. In 1990 he joined Saba&Co. IP Qatar Office. Before founding AraMarks Intellectual Property (2007), in 2003 he joined the 15th Asian Games Organising Committee as the Brand and Intellectual Property Rights Protection Manager. He is a member of International Trademark Association-INTA, New York. Jamal can be contacted at info@aramarks.net

rom those early days, in 2011 Qatar became a member state of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). In addition, its Intellectual Property Protection Center at the Ministry of Justice has started taking the initiative to accept filing of patents, claiming PCT priority even before the issuance of the Patents Law implementing regulations and determination of official fees. And some thirty years ago, when the local Trademarks Office, which is now the industrial property office at the Ministry of Business and Trade, issued the filing receipt of the first trademark applied for registration in Qatar, in January 1981, no one would have dared to imagine that in 2012, the number of trademarks applications filed and registered would come close to 80,000 applications.

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since those early years. At the verge of 2013, Qatar enacted intellectual property laws that are consistent with the international obligations which resulted from its accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The proactive approach the State of Qatar assumed in launching its intellectual property initiatives was apparent long ago in Qatar’s early accession to international intellectual property treaties like the Nairobi Treaty on the Protection of the Olympic Symbol in 1983. Furthermore, it was evident from enacting unprecedented intellectual property laws and legislations like the Law No. 27 of 2004 on The Protection of the Marks, Logos, Insignias, Copyrights and Neighboring Rights Of the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006. That was the first sports related intellectual property rights protection legislation in the history of the Middle East.

As a matter of fact, the growth and development of Qatar’s intellectual property culture, witnessed over

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the past decades, are epitome of the milestones Qatar has achieved and accomplished in all arenas – political, economical, commercial and academic.

The time is now These leaps in the intellectual property (IP) practices which encouraged Qatar legislators and policy makers to start discussing the importance of drafting a national intellectual property strategy dedicated to harmonising and streamlining the national efforts towards an IP enriched nation and knowledge based economy.

Once such a strategy is concluded and enforced, it will undoubtedly empower the national stakeholders to smoothly integrate and implement their micro IP protection, enforcement, encouragement and awareness plans into a macro scheme capable of fulfilling Qatar’s ambitions and aspirations to become a world leader in the knowledge based economies.

In parallel to the advancements made in the IP legal infrastructure, IP rights holders in Qatar’s private, government and semi-government sectors also started realising the vital role of intellectual property assets and capital for their well being and wealth creation.

Regardless of the products they make or the services they offer, in recent years Qatar’s private and public companies and foundations started to substantially invest in protecting their IP rights. Not only because IP rights are becoming one of the most prominent components of any entity’s intangible assets, but also because when transacting business in the 21st century, companies will regularly use and/or create intellectual property rights.

Consequently, the necessity of adopting best practices to protect, manage, commercialise and enforce IP rights cannot be underestimated.

With this mindset, many of local IP owners are scientifically planning and providing for their intellectual property needs and requirements. The territorial nature of IP protection laws and procedures and the substantial financial burdens associated with the protection of the IP rights on regional and international scales, raised the bar for local IP owners. It made them realise that the protection of intellectual property rights and assets, as is the case when protecting any other type of property, should not be thought of as an objective by itself, but as a tool that enables the right holder or owner to reap the fruits of his or her intellect, research and developments, and the investments made in building and nourishing its intellectual capital. It will also serve as the internationally accepted legal tool to defend what is lawfully theirs in case of a dispute or litigation with a third party before the courts of law.

It is a known fact that the IP portfolio creation and management requires handsome investments and financial provisions, since in many cases the owner needs to file applications for the protection of his IP rights in each and every designated market or country. More and more, IP owners find themselves forced to deal and come up with answers to questions like: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Why do I need to register?

Where do we need to register?

What will be the costs of answering the “why” and the “where”?

Does the registration in the selected countries serve our business plans and objectives?

In case of disputes or third party infringement, would we be able to benefit from such registration?

As a matter of fact, the growth and development of Qatar’s intellectual property culture, witnessed over the past decades, are epitome of the milestones Qatar has achieved and accomplished in all arenas – political, economical, commercial and academic.

From a business perspective, answering and tackling these questions and issues at an early stage proved to be very beneficial and worthy to the IP owners and stakeholders universally.

Importance of an IP strategy An increasing number of IP rights owners in Qatar are implementing more systematic procedures to manage

and utilise their intellectual capital in business-oriented manners. Gone are the days when the decision on when, where and how to protect a trademarks or a patent was owned and made solely by the legal department. Recent trends in global IP management mandate not only the development of a corporate IP plan within the right holder’s organisation, but also the interaction between all stakeholders in the development and drafting of such a strategy or a plan. While the lawyers are the best professionals to procure the rights and enforce them, other executives and professionals in the research and development when it comes to patents, and in marketing and business development when it comes to brand and trademarks, should be involved and participate as key partners in the drafting and implementating the corporate IP plan within the right holder’s organisation.

The marriage of expertise of both legal and operational teams within an organisation will surely guarantee the rationalisation of the intellectual property rights management, protection and enforcement decisions.

It will also lead to the development of a unified and consistent set of internal policies and concept of operations that serve as a road map providing for solutions and answers to most of the unfavourable occurrences that might take place.

A well drafted and implemented IP strategy will also provide for proper education and precautions to help the right holder avoid the accidental infringement of third parties IP rights in the course of conducting its normal business operations and functions.

In conclusion, Qatar’s public and private sector grasped the important role IP plays in the development and growth of micro and macro economies and businesses.

Awareness of the judicial and administrative bodies on IP rights protection and enforcement is picking the momentum. Small, medium and large privately-owned and semi-government companies and foundations are investing more and more in protecting and managing their intellectual property assets and capital.

Ultimately, a sound and solid economy and a modern society, will never tolerate fake and unlawfully produced patented medicines, infringed brands associated with quality and high attribute, neither pirated artistic and literature works like music and movies. On a national scale, it is proven that the negative consequences of entry of illicit goods justify all the efforts the government exerts to protect its economy and reward the inventors for their intellect.

MARCH 2013

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SUCCESS STORY

FASHIONABLY

raditional

Darz Design is famous for elevating the industry of designing abayas to a new level while remaining compatible with the values of the Arab culture. Tamara Pupic got talking to Aisha Al-Bedded, Managing Director, and Emna Heidi, Communication Manager, Darz Design, to learn about the �irst Qatari abaya brand, but found out much more than she expected from this inspirational Qatari woman.

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pon scheduling an interview with Aisha Al-Bedded, Managing Director, and Emna Heidi, Communication Manager, Darz Design, my initial intention was to write about another successful SME in Qatar - Darz Design, which is a high-end abaya boutique based in Doha. I planned to talk about Aisha’s path of creating the first Qatari abaya brand and plans for development of her business in the whole Middle East region. However, the more time I spent delving into details, the more layers of her outstanding activities were revealed.

The rising success of Darz Design has earned Aisha Al-Bedded a growing regional reputation which has been acknowledged by the MBC’s Award for the Best Abaya Design in July 2012 and the L’Officiel Arab Women Award for Fashion Designer of the Year.

Aisha started by saying, “I didn’t plan this, but I saw this coming because I worked really hard. Just a few years back some small changes to abayas were not accepted. I was the first one who took this challenge in Doha. Young designers now have more freedom, but for me it was quite difficult.” When I asked her how she found the courage to do it, she was decisive, “When you have the

I didn’t plan this, but I saw this coming because I worked really hard. Just a few years back some small changes to abayas were not accepted. I was the first one who took this challenge in Doha,” said Aisha Al-Bedded. passion for something, you will ignore obstacles and just think about how to realise your dream. Now, my dream is to have a shop in New York one day. So, let’s see.”

What is extra special about Aisha is that she does much more for women and the overall society, other than creating distinctive fashion lines. Regarding this Aisha explained, “We want to give love back to our customers and to people around us.” She is dedicated to the charitable activities of the Sanad Fund of the Qatar Foundation’s Social Development Center. For instance, in March 2012, a certain percentage of each of the abayas sold from Darz’s Mother’s Day collection was donated to the fund.

This commitment to the society is also evident from the special programmes they occasionally run to help young designers, and especially to empower women in Qatar. Within the Darz Love they gave a possibility to all talented women in Qatar to design their own

abayas. The designer received a certificate for the abaya designed by her while Darz Design also gifted her with the original piece. The similar idea was pursued for the Mother’s Day in 2011 when they invited women to create their own abayas.

“We didn’t have that many women participating in these programmes, because they didn’t trust themselves. I had that kind of a problem before and now I want to help young designers, “Aisha sadly admitted to the reasons for initiating this kind of projects.

Lastly, this mother of two is also the Editor-inChief of Harayer, the first Arabic luxury magazine.

For all these reasons this will be a story about a successful abaya designer, a female entrepreneur, a philanthropist and, therefore, a sincere role model for women around the world.

The beginnings Her passion for fashion was evident ever since she was a child when she used to draw and design dresses for herself and her friends and family, “It actually all started when I was preparing my friend for her wedding. She had bought an expensive abaya which didn’t look good.

So, I fixed it by changing some small details. That was enough to achieve an amazing look. The positive reactions gave me the confidence to start.”

In 2000, she took the leap and opened “Black”, a small fashion boutique. That was the beginning of her entrepreneurial path in fashion and it was also the message sent through her designs, as she explained to me, “All our abayas are black. We never play with colours, because the black abaya represents the traditional image of women in our society which is very conservative.

However, if a customer orders abaya in some special colour, we will do it. But, otherwise I don’t design abayas in other colours. I consider it even boring, and just a trend. The fact that abaya is black, makes it so feminine, unique and classy.”

“Classy” is the perfect word to describe her designs. She has found a harmony between fashion and tradition to create a brand that is innovative, but still true to her heart and her Arabian heritage, “I respect the basic rules for designing abayas, but my abayas have a special cut. It’s my signature cut. Also, I was the first one to add a belt to abaya, and to introduce different fabrics like velvet, French lace, shantung, taffeta, silk and chiffon.”

Elaborating further on her style, Aysha explained that her inspiration comes from all the beauties of life, but she again underlined, “The first thing is always tradition.

So, respect for tradition and focus on details come along with the inspiration in each particular case. My abayas can make every woman elegant, but yet conservative, because abaya should be conservative. There is no reason for the opposite.”

MARCH 2013

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SUCCESS STORY “Women were hesitant thinking that they could not wear that kind of abaya. So, I was the first one to wear it. I don’t design any abaya I cannot wear. In this manner, I am honest to myself and to my customers,” confessed Aysha. Her fashion statement is a perfect illustration of the kind of woman Aisha Al-Bedded is – genuine, committed and trustworthy.

In the beginnings, she opted to avoid mass production and relied on the word-of-mouth as the most reliable marketing strategy in Qatar. The success was inevitable as the demand for her unique abayas increased and led to the establishment of Darz Design on 10th October 2010.

Furthermore, she felt that the new-found stability derived from her marriage and motherhood allowed her to focus on her job. However, Aisha confessed, “I love abayas. It’s not a job for me. My dream is to see every woman elegant.”

The brand The production process starts with Aisha’s drawings, but she is also involved in all consequent stages of production.

Thus, she works on every single abaya and through each of the production steps, “We have the certificate to use fabrics, even the thread, from the famous UK supplier Joel & Son Fabrics. Then we put our embroidery on it. But, our final “touch”, which is in details and the cut, makes our abayas stunning,” Emna Heidi stated in the beginning of our talk about the creation of their brand.

Aside from her obvious talent and eye for details, what sets Aysha apart from her counterparts is that she is constantly evolving. “Up to now, we had around

The success was inevitable as the demand for her unique abayas increased and led to the establishment of Darz Design on 10th October 2010.

ten collections. We don’t present them in line with the seasons, but occasions – Eid, Ramadan, Mother’s Day, and similar. In line with that, we also design special abayas for summer, travelling as well as for children since daughters like to have the same abayas as their mothers,” Emna continued.

The first two ranges are custom-made abayas while all the others are ready-to-wear. Furthermore, Aisha added, “We also accept special orders from our VIP clients. For these orders, we use fabrics of designers like Valentino, Ellie Saab or Versace. The combination of these fabrics and our style results in an abaya which is a piece of art. We cannot make two pieces of these custom-made abayas, and this kind of a service depends on the person who has requested it.”

With all her past collections, Aysha is used to creating bold and unique designs that have paved the way for Qatar’s fashion scene. About the new collection, Darz L’Original, which was showcased in the beginning of March 2013, Aisha said, “It is very luxury. I really focused on details this time and worked so much on this collection. Although, it’s Darz, it’s different.”

Another special event in 2013 will be the launch of Darz Vintage collection which will include the pieces she had created before Darz Design was established, about which she pointed out, “Since my old customers told me that the abaya, which they had bought from me ten years ago, was the only one which they still had, I decided to launch Darz Vintage. I accept these comments as compliments that my style is classic and that my abayas can be worn forever.”

Emna was quick to add, “We aim to show that the same spirit is still trendy although those abayas were designed ten years ago. We like to compare this to the concept of “a little black dress”. Thus, in Darz we are creating the same legend.”

Management style Since I was curious to learn about their day-today business activities, they told me that all of their 50 employees are involved in every single part of the business since they proved their loyalty to Darz. Speaking about her management style, Aysha admitted, “Managing women is difficult, but I love my team. Even though, they have problems sometimes, they do love Darz. For that reason, I work with them like I am an employee as well. I don’t take an attitude of the manager.”

However, business requires strictness on which Emna added, “Being strict and tough is not part of her personality. For that reason, we are glad to have Aisha’s husband, Mr. Ahmad Al Sulaiti, as the manager of the company because we need a strong hand which can manage various business issues.”

Each of the collections includes six ranges: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

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Darz Limted edition Darz Couture Darz Opening Darz Signature Darz by Darz Darz Honest

The market Market in Qatar is composed of numerous abaya shops, but they do not consider them as competition since Darz Design offers a different style and also a distinctive approach to customers. For now, they have their showroom and a stocker in Jo LaMode boutique in Doha.

In 2013, they will start the regional expansion by approaching Middle Eastern countries, like KSA, Kuwait, and the UAE.

When asked about their position in the Qatari market, Emna answered, “We introduced a change in the market, not only with our unique abayas, but also with the concept of our service. We try to be with our customers for all their important events, like birthdays and weddings.

Since Darz Design is the first abaya brand in Doha, we play with our logo in each design.”

However, a lot of shops try to imitate their style. For Aisha and her team the best solution for this problem is to ignore them and preserve their clients by focusing on their own quality and service, “The fact that they are trying to copy our abayas is enough for us. It means that we are the best.”

Furthermore, with the support of Qatar Development, Bank Darz Design obtained specific machines for embroidery. Highlighting that point, Emna concluded, “Our machines cannot be found anywhere in the Gulf. Because of that, others cannot make exactly the same abaya.”

Regional expansion In 2013, they will start the regional expansion by approaching Middle Eastern countries, like KSA, Kuwait, and the UAE. That decision is based on the numerous orders received from there, “We have to focus on these people now because they are placing orders just because they only saw our designs on Instagram. That is why we want to go to them,” Emna explained.

However, it should be noted that their growing regional success is due to Aisha’s unique understanding of differences in style among Arab women, “Our clients in Abu Dhabi are more traditional and classic while women in Kuwait like more fancy details and different kind of embroidery. If you ask me about KSA, I would say that in Riyadh women prefer only black abayas while in Jeddah they like colours. The style in Qatar is still very traditional. Most of the Qatari women like the new styles, but on average they wear classic abayas. So, it all depends from country to country, and that is how we plan our regional strategy.”

This is a unique story, you must admit. Because of her talent, passion and ability to recognise what the market needs just by observing the society, Aisha Al-Bedded left me in no doubt that we will hear more from Darz Design and herself in the years to come.

MARCH 2013

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SMEs

MOVING FORWARD With a lot of infrastructure projects lining up in Qatar, consulting work in the areas of transportation engineering and planning is needed more than ever. That demand constitutes a good business idea which was recognised by Haytham Sadeq, General Manager, Seero Engineering Consulting, who tells Jenny Kassis about his entrepreneurial path and how his company will contribute to the development of Qatar’s infrastructure.

Please tell us more about Seero Engineering Consulting and the services you provide.

Our dream to establish Seero Engineering Consulting started in 2010 and became a reality in 2012. This dream marked the beginning of the investment projects aimed at improving the infrastructure in Qatar. In more details, the planned and initiated projects should facilitate transport of more than three million of expected visitors of FIFA World Cup 2022. So, at that time we started the process of establishing our company whose office is now in Al-Garrafa area of Doha.

Haytham Adnan Sadeq is the General Manager of Seero Engineering Consulting.

He holds a bachelor degree in Civil Engineering from Qatar University, and a master’s degree in Transportation Engineering from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

Before he established Seero Engineering Consulting in Doha, Haytham worked at Halcrow Consultants, Qatar, and was trained in Bechtel overseas. Haytham can be contacted at Haytham.sadeq@seeroeng.com

The name “Seero” is chosen on the basis of its meaning in Arabic language which is “moving forward”. In our opinion, it symbolises that improved infrastructure can facilitate more convenient transport of people. That is exactly what we are planning to achieve – to use the most efficient, safest and innovative engineering solutions in order to design and improve transportation systems.

Seero Engineering Consulting offers various consultancy services in the field of transportation engineering and infrastructure.We mainly focus on providing engineering services related to the field of roads and infrastructure.

The most important services are the following: ■ Traffic impact studies ■ Road safety audits and planning ■ Traffic management plans ■ Sustainable transportation planning ■ Highway and infrastructure design ■ Pavement design and consultancy We also offer detailed studies and consultancy services in the field of systems analysis methods and demands for public transportation systems such as buses and metro.

In addition, we can make statistical forms to determinate the rates of the current demand. The forms identify the main variables which help promoting and increasing demand for public transportation that should reduce pollutions and traffic on highways.

Currently, the Qatari law requires review of the new engineering designs by an independent engineering

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team which should asses its compliance with traffic safety standards. For that reason, that is one of the most important services which our engineering team provides to interested companies and developers in Qatar.

How did you develop your business plan?

First of all, we studied the formal requirements imposed by the government in order to properly develop our idea and start the process of registration.

We also analysed potential needs of the company with regards to the number of employees and the amount of asset resources.

Secondly, we composed a detailed business plan which included a market research, analysis of competition, and market segmentation in terms of the number of customers and required services. Lastly, we prepared a detailed financial study for the following three years.

I need to stress that we tried to be realistic in the process of preparing the study. It means that we avoided exaggerating and underestimating the market challenges. Through this approach we realised the existence of an excellent opportunity to develop engineering transport sector in light of the planned infrastructure, metro and freeways projects in Qatar.

It is also necessary to point out that, although our vision is precise, we are always open to change and modify our plans in order to respond to the market needs and ever-changing business environment.

How did you obtain finance?

Funding the project was not an obstacle for us. We were lucky to get proper support and finance from our family and partners. We worked on the project step by step, in order to stabilise the company, so it could finance itself one day.

In the initial stage, we received a lot of support from our colleagues engineers and professionals from different institutions. In addition to that,

our participation in various events related to entrepreneurship, organised in Qatar by Qatar Development Bank and Bedaya Center, gave us a great moral support and motivation.

How does you company contribute to reducing the number of road accidents?

Seero gives particular importance to road safety, accidents’ prevention strategies and safety planning, macro-safety planning, concept design safety reviews, How do you assess the existing competition in your line of business in Qatar?

Qatari market is going through a major expansion phase.

We provide road safety consulting services, especially after the establishment of the National Road Safety Committee in Qatar. These services are detailed design safety audits, and in-site safety analysis for currents roads and intersections. A safety study on roads can also be applied to identify the current problems and help in proposing feasible solutions which should improve road safety on an ongoing basis.

The rate of investments in the infrastructure and engineering projects is significant. While the market is growing, the opportunities for SMEs are also increasing due to the high demand infrastructure projects in Qatar.

There is no doubt that Qatari market is facing major challenges, but great opportunities are available for all those who work hard, conduct researches and provide different services and products from the ones currently offered. We believe that opportunities exist for companies that can provide excellent services and innovative solutions which respond to the global quality standards.

What are the main challenges you face?

In fact, our challenges actually encourage us to work better and achieve more. The main challenges are the following: ■ Maintaining the ability to build a strong and relevant network of relationships.

■ Identifying customer’s needs and ensuring the ability to meet and deliver the best quality of our services as soon as possible.

■ Building effective partnerships with agencies and companies involved in our field.

What is the message you would like to give to entrepreneurs and startups?

We advise all entrepreneurs who wish to set up a business, to choose an idea they believe in and then work hard on developing it. Many people have ideas, but there are few who are turning these ideas into the reality.

They also need to study the market and make sure that there is an urgent need that might increase the demand for their products or services. Startups should not waste time in choosing a business idea before analysing the market by testing products and checking customer’s reactions. Only after that they can develop the business idea and proceed. This method is mentioned in “The Lean Startup”, a book by Eric Ries.

In addition, entrepreneurs should not give up on their plan since there is never a perfect business plan. They will always need to develop and modify their projects.

This flexibility in dealing with the requirements of the market distinguishes the team by its understanding of the business environment.

We consider that it is necessary that the company’s vision and objectives are clear from the beginning in the minds of its founders. The success awaits an outstanding entrepreneur who is able to implement his business plans on the ground.

What are your future projects and plans?

In addition to the work with our clients in infrastructure companies, our current plans include expansion and development of our business through collaboration with various agencies and relevant consulting firms. We hope that the future will be full of opportunities for us since we are working very hard in order to get ready for new opportunities and the implementation of the upcoming projects. What is most important is that we strive to meet the real needs of the Qatari market by offering the best quality of our services.

From this point, Seero mainly focuses on the Qatari market, since it is a fast growing and sustainable market.

This is what the next ten years will witness, especially after the huge investments in the infrastructure.The expansion of Qatar gives a lot of opportunities for startups to find their place in the market faster and easier than usual.

That is achievable for the companies which are able to offer quick and high quality services to its customers.

In addition, our mission is to become the first transportation engineering consultant who will plan, design, sustain and improve the transportation systems through innovative solutions in the Middle East region.

We are working to achieve this goal.

As for the business expansion itself, we try as much as possible to focus on road infrastructure and related construction projects. We also plan to do some different projects in order to ensure that we offer proper response to the market needs. Only after we prove ourselves and fulfill the demand of the Qatari market, we will expand our projects and plans to deliver our services to some GCC countries such as Saudi Arabia and Oman.

MARCH 2013

27

BUSINESS GURU

Even prouder Qatar Businesswomen Association (QBWA) played a prominent role in empowering Qatari women to pursue their ambitions in the business world and contribute to the country’s overall development. In an interview with Aparna Shivpuri Arya, Aisha Al Fardan, Vice Chairwoman, QBWA, talks about the association’s achievements and gives some business advice to Qatari women.

Please give us a brief background about the Qatari Businesswomen Association (QBWA).

Qatari Businesswomen Association was established in 2000 to enhance women’s contribution to the economic activity which constitutes a real gain both to Qatari women and the society at large. QBWA is chaired by H.E. Sheikha Al Anood Bint Khalifah Bin Hamad Al-Thani, and managed by a number of prominent businesswomen. All of them are successful in various businesses which they work in or manage.

In line with the wise vision that the government has set, QBWA has played a distinguished role in enhancing women contribution to push the economic wheel towards the strategic growth that Qatar is witnessing today. QBWA is also

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a founding member of the Middle East and North Africa Businesswomen Network which includes ten members from ten countries. The network is now becoming a role-model through its activities and promotion of the best practices.

Aiming to develop and promote the role that it is playing at local, regional and international level, QBWA has adopted new strategies and plans. Furthermore, it aims to extend its platform to include different sectors and build cooperation relationships with various Qatari organisations which would support its vision and help achieve its objectives.

In line with that, QBWA has launched a number of valuable initiatives that support and promote Qatari

Women are capable to compete if they have the will. Thus, there is nothing that can stop them. For that reason, today in Qatar, we have women engineers who work on sites, side by side with their male colleagues. women like Qatar Businesswomen Award, Corporate Ambassadors Programme and Qatar International Businesswomen Forum.

What is the percentage of women involved in business in Qatar?

There are approximately 3,500 registered businesses owned by women. However, not all of them are involved in actual running of these businesses. What QBWA is trying to achieve, is to increase the number of women businesses and to provide business owners as well as professionals with skills needed to both start new businesses and run and grow the existing projects.

3,500 registered businesses owned by women in Qatar

What are the challenges and opportunities for women in Qatar?

Women in Qatar are blessed with many privileges. The wise leadership of His Highness, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, and the full support, vision and dynamism of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned have paved the way for progress and achievements in the area of promoting gender equality and for creating an enabling business environment for women.

Qatari women, as a result, have access to excellent education, healthcare and employment. Qatar National

Vision 2030 stresses the importance of creating increased opportunities and vocational support to Qatari women.

It also highlights the need to encourage women to play a greater role in political and economic decision making.

How does QBWA help women who are interested in running their own businesses?

Through its projects and programmes, QBWA provides women with opportunities to network and to acquire skills and get the information they need to do their businesses. Furthermore, we organise a series of orientation and introductory visits for our members as well as workshops, seminars and forums. These activities are very useful, and our members undoubtedly benefit from participating in them.

According to you, what are the sectors that are more conducive to women?

Women have entered all sectors, even the most male-dominated fields like construction, oil and gas, and similar.

Women are capable to compete if they have the will. Thus, there is nothing that can stop them. For that reason, today in Qatar, we have women engineers who work on sites, side by side with their male colleagues. That only makes us even prouder of Qatari women and the immense contribution they are making in building our country.

If a woman is keen on setting up a business in Qatar, what advice do you have for her?

They always have to remember that not every good idea is going to be a successful business. In general, any successful business should go through phases in the right order. So, after evaluating an idea and doing the feasibility study, a solid business plan should be developed.

What I recommend to them is to get support and training, if needed.

Objectives: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Developing and strengthening links of cooperation in trading and economic interrelations between Qatari businesswomen in order to provide the atmosphere which is necessary to ensure their effective contribution to the economic development.

Promoting the role of Qatari women in making their own decisions in exercising commercial and economic activities.

Encouraging Qatari women to effectively contribute to the establishment of small scale business and artisan activities.

Emphasising the role played by the private sector and Qatari women in their effort to contribute to business and investment activities.

Linking businesswomen to the Chamber of Commerce to absorb business and economic laws and regulations through holding regular meetings and seminars as well as upgrading capabilities and skills of the businesswomen.

Developing training programmes that aim at building the capacities of women to help expanding the role of women in the process of overall economic development.

Handling the constraints faced by Qatari businesswomen and informing the concerned authorities about such constraints in order to find appropriate solutions.

Representing Qatari businesswomen in international and regional economic events Receiving counterpart delegations and strengthening cooperation between Qatari businesswomen and their foreign counterparts abroad.

Undertaking any action for upgrading Qatari women contribution to the economic and national fields.

Supporting business startups and small businesses owned by women.

MARCH 2013

29

MANAGEMENT

Navigating the

people maze A majority of your work time is spent in communicating with people – to get the work done, discuss the work that has been done or plan the work to be done. In the third article of a series, Sangeetha Thomas, Management Consultant, analyses some of the common communication challenges and provides a few ways to tackle them in order to make your business more successful.

L

anguage is not the only barrier to communicating effectively. While individual personalities and crosscultural traits influence interpersonal communication, work related issues that can be traced to ineffective communication go beyond that.

Your team seems to be hearing you loud and clear, but they don’t appear to be listening to what you have to say. The nodding heads with affirmations of agreement seems to be at crossroads sometimes when the results come out. Let us take a look at some of the operational challenges that SMEs face as a result of how people communicate work related information and what can be done about it.

“This is not what we were expecting…,” Ever heard that one?

Expectation management is one of the challenging areas for any SME. Battles are constantly waged to meet expectations. Success is all about understanding what people want and making sure that they get it just as they expect to get it.

So, what happens to be the problem here? It is important how you communicate the two following factors: ■ Assumptions – the limitless possibilities (or opportunities, as some may perceive it) ■ Constraints – the limitations that are going to apply the brakes on what is possible.

You may think you have clearly explained to the client what to expect, including clear outlines of what is likely to happen during the course of your engagement with them. You may also have described how things will be delivered, and how the final delivery will come together.

it effectively to your stakeholders. It will not be sufficient just to have an ARC reporting approach to affirm the shared understanding. For that reason, you will need to take some time to reinforce the approach by asking questions to your group.

Another scenario is where you try to gain the clients’ goodwill by wanting to surprise him or her with good news. Worked smartly, these surprises can transform into opportunities for you. However, the key is to let the surprise be outside the realm of what is expected to be normal.

An outstanding example of this is Apple. The normal world for the computer user looked like occasional frozen screens, viruses in the computing environment and frequent patches. Apple came in with computers that did not have frozen screens, did not require an anti-virus, and involved only a few updates. People were surprised, and Apple earned the “WOW” factor. Over time, Apple OS raised user expectations that Microsoft exerted to meet with its otherwise capable OS. The 3 Is approach What can be done to set and manage expectations? To ensure that you tailor your communication at work meaningfully and effectively, adopt the Involvement, Interest and Influence (3 Is) approach.

Make a simple listing, as explained in Table 1, of all the people and groups related to your project and rate their levels of involvement, influence and interest. This 3 Is grid gives you an informed view on who needs to be communicated with.

But, somehow, it won’t be enough and people will be disappointed.

People’s assumptions may obscure your explanations. Their preconceptions may distort your rationale of constraints, and then they will be disappointed when they don’t get what they expect.

The ARC reporting approach A smart way to prevent expectation mismatch is to include a section on current assumptions and constraints in your work progress reports and during review meetings with your group of stakeholders.

Assumptions (A), Results (R), and Constraints (C) reporting approach will help you capture the essence of your work environment and communicate

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The grid also helps you gain an insight on how you can align information to carry the team together with you as the work progresses.

People tend to make decisions based on the best information they have at the given time. If you ensure that each person or the group gets enough information to support their involvement, channel their influence and meet their interests, it will help you gain their support to the work that you do.

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MANAGEMENT

Proactive communication means that you keep your risk from delivering unwelcome news because people are constantly updated on changes. If you don’t keep the people or groups informed on what is happening, they will be taken by surprise when the change ultimately occurs. People tend to get angry and frustrated when they discover bad news at the last minute, and especially when there is very little that they can do to change the situation.

Sangeetha Thomas is the Management Consultant with extensive experience in working with clients from private and government sector across the GCC region. She uses her expertise in project and process management areas to advise clients and foster expert teams within the clients’ organisations. She can be contacted at sangeetha.thomas@iccke.org

The painful questions that usually arise are of the like, “Why was there no notification about this before?”, “Who approved this?”, “I could have helped you if you had checked with me earlier?” and so forth.

The FAN communication approach An effective way to pre-empt such situations is to integrate the use of three communication items into your work related reporting – Feedback (F), Approvals (A) and Notifications (N) approach. The FAN communication approach will help you align various groups to have a shared understanding about the work that is being done and how it progresses.

For instance, inform the approvers that what has reached them is based on feedback given by a person or a group, and that the approval status will be notified in order to trigger work activities. The people notified on work activities are informed that specific approvals have been sought based on the feedback given by certain individuals or groups. When feedback is sought, people are informed that their input will form the basis for decisions which might approve further work related activities. In this manner, there is a clear communication of roles and responsibilities and everybody is kept informed on status updates.

Another symptom of poor work related communication is the amount of rework being done by the team. Often, the team members do not know what is expected of them, though they may appear to be in agreement with directives at all of the work review meetings. Some managers are ineffective at communicating with their own team on what the team is expected to do. Sometimes the manager has an idea of what a deliverable looks like, but is not able to communicate that to the team until the first attempt comes back wrong.

This can cause an additional work and frustration on the part of the manager and team members alike. The result is that the expectations are mismanaged, both externally and internally, and time is lost in the process.

Frustrated team members are likely to contribute less.

In this manner, an ineffective communication can result in work inefficiencies.

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The SPARK approach An effective way to help team members stay aligned with the work, is to adopt the SPARK approach: S – Scope indicates what needs to be done and what is not expected as part of the work assignment.

P – Plan helps the team members to gain perspective of where their piece of work fits into the larger work picture and, thus, understand dependencies.

A – An activity listing helps streamline work efforts.

R – Resource mapping will help them work within constraints and clarify assumptions.

K – The knowledge, whether it may be a resource person or a reference knowledge base, will point them in the right direction to solve the work related issues.

A well-defined project plan will include all of the above.

Your job is only to ensure that, when you communicate with team members, you adopt the SPARK approach to help them tune it into their work. Ask simple questions during review meetings or personal interactions to confirm that they know: ■ What needs to be done?

■ Where do they stand in the plan and who is dependent on their work outcomes?

■ Which activities do they need to do to ensure completeness and eliminate rework?

■ What resources they can put to use and when?

■ Whom they can reach out to if they have a problem?

We have looked at four practical strategies you can adopt at your organisation in order to navigate the people maze when it comes to work related communications. The key to effective communication is to keep the receiver as the focal point of the communication, not the sender. Question all assumptions and validate all constraints. Get to know the people involved in your work environment and the roles each of them plays in terms of their influence and involvement. Ensure that your communication addresses what interests them, so that you can get them to not just hear your out, but listen to you.

Try to think about what the receiver of the communication needs and which information will be the most helpful to them. Integrating feedback, approvals and notifications will help the receiver assess the work environment holistically and contribute better. Help team members stay on the top of their work by adding SPARK to your work related interactions with them. Having a nurturing work environment is all about getting the right information to the right person at the right time and in the most appropriate way. Use communication opportunities to your advantage and drive results!

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ENTREPRENEUR

BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER...

It was only natural for a group of entrepreneurs to create the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO), a global network, in order to share ideas, knowledge and opportunities to achieve more. As an announcement of an exclusive series of our interviews with members of EO’s Qatar Chapter throughout 2013, Lauren Fryer, Communications Chair and Board Member, EO Qatar, explains to us why it was evident for EO to set up its Qatar Chapter.

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S

Lauren Fryer is the Communications Chair and Board Member of EO Qatar. She is also is the Managing Partner at Qanect Communications with 15 years of professional experience. During this time, she has worked with the leaders in media and communications including the BBC, Time Warner, Time Inc. Publishing, Network Ten and ITP Publishing while based in London, Dubai, Melbourne and now Qatar.

Lauren can be contacted at lauren.fryer@qanect.com.

ince its foundation in 1987, the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO) has become a global network with more than 8,000 business owners in 40 countries. The Entrepreneurs’ Organisation – Qatar Chapter (EO Qatar) was established in 2009 and currently has 18 members who collectively employ over 2,531 employees and whose businesses turnover is more than USD 450 million in annual revenue. Members of EO Qatar are involved in various sectors such as the automotive, clothing, import and export, construction, hospitality, legal services, financial consulting, health and medical services as well as multi-media, communications, design and digital services.

As a nation, Qatar is promoting entrepreneurship.

Its stimulated economy, combined with a rich history of entrepreneurship, makes the country prime for hyper-growth.The presence of EO in Qatar is a promising sign that the country is on the path to building a strong knowledge-based economy in line with Qatar National Vision 2030. For that reason, EO Qatar is set to become the leading community of entrepreneurs in the country.

Join the exclusive club As an EO member, you have the opportunity to access a wide variety of tailor-made benefits which are designed to: ■ ■

Support the growth of your business Encourage and lead you to become a stronger leader

With the aim to support the “complete entrepreneur”, EO offers numerous resources to help you excel in your business and the industry within which you work as well as within your family and the overall community.

How? Upon joining EO, you will be surrounded by young, serial and veteran entrepreneurs, all of whom are eager to take the next step in business ownership, and who routinely participate in entrepreneurs’ networking, learning and business-building opportunities.

EO members are given unprecedented access to chapter learning and social events. Furthermore, through special off-site activities you can participate in speakers’ sessions and assist in the growth of your community through philanthropic endeavours.

Created specifically for members, and led by them, these chapter events are a prime opportunity to connect with the local business owners, build business social networks, give back to community and, most importantly, learn from some of the brightest minds in the business.

Why? The entrepreneurial journey is often a difficult one.

Finding any form of education for business owners has always been challenging. The concept of mentoring

has traditionally meant – “the old mentoring the young”. EO has created a platform, called the Forum, where business owners, both young and old, mentor other business owners on business, personal or family life in a confidential and secure environment.

“As entrepreneurs, we tend to share 95% of our business activities and knowledge with our investors, our banks, our partners and our staff. But, for the remaining 5% that we don’t share or cannot share so, who can we talk to? This is where EO Forum is invaluable,” confessed Lauren.

It is very much like having a personal board of advisors or access to like-minded entrepreneurs and business networks, all of whom can offer directions based on their first-hand experiences.

Every month, members of the Forum take part in growth-oriented meetings, employing special protocols to support a trusting environment in which they can safely explore business and personal issues.

“Entrepreneurs worldwide are benefitting from these healthy discussions that take place in casual environments in order to allow them to focus on a range of business-related issues with complete peace of mind. Through these interactive forums, entrepreneurs can choose the most effective strategies to improve their operational efficiencies,” explained Lauren.

By sharing their knowledge, EO Qatar is also equipping Qatari youth with all the resources required to build and continuously grow small businesses as well as to create the right business environment for sustainable development of the overall SME sector in Qatar. The aim is to create an “ecosystem” which will enable the SME sector to achieve its potential and provide the economic diversity that the country seeks to in order to strengthen its economy.

Using EO’s platform, entrepreneurs can network and interact with their counterparts globally represented in the EO network. A powerful peer-to-peer resource database offers EO members the collective experience of more than 25,000 members of EO, the Young Presidents’ Organisation (YPO), the World Presidents’ Organisation (WPO) and the Chief Executives’ Organisation (CEO).

Since 1982, Inc. magazine has highlighted the nation’s fastest-growing companies in their annual Inc. 500 list and the expanded Inc. 5,000 rankings. These lists reveal the businesses which are leading the charge in terms of innovation and economic growth.17 members of the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation were included in the 2012 version of the Inc. 500, and more than 250 total members can be found in the Inc. 5,000 rankings.

MARCH 2013

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ENTREPRENEUR

Where can you meet us?

The EO operates the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards programme, the premier award for undergraduate students that own and run businesses while attending a college or university. In addition, EO organises the Accelerator Programme, a series of quarterly, high-impact learning events that provide business owners with the tools, knowledge, and skills to grow their businesses to more than USD 1 million in annual revenue.

Like the global events hosted by EO every year, each of EO’s 120 chapters hosts a wide variety of local events designed to help members learn and grow as business leaders. EO Qatar has evolved into a major influence in educating entrepreneurs on how to expand their businesses. In 2012, EO Qatar hosted the EO Majlis in Doha, which saw in attendance top thinkers on innovation and entrepreneurship from around the world. This marked the first-ever Arab world event by them.

also provided a number of Qatari and expatriate entrepreneurs with the specifics on how audiences respond to and remember information that is delivered orally, outlining the following – the importance of a good introduction, how to introduce messages to the audience, how to structure the body of a speech, the use of focus phrases, and how to conclude.

employed by the members of EO Qatar

EO conducts a semi-annual survey of its membership – the Global Entrepreneur Indicator (GEI). The surveys globally represent a sample of the entrepreneurs’ predictions on economic trends in a number of areas, including job creation, profits and debt loads, economic

The presence of EO in Qatar is a promising sign that the country is on the path to building a strong knowledge-based economy in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.

EO Qatar also brought in Alan Miltz, the award winning speaker and cash flow guru, who shared his experience with EO members as well as with a large group of distinguished entrepreneurs operating in Qatar. Nenad Pacek, former Vice President of The Economist Group (Economist Intelligence Unit) and one of the world’s leading authorities on economic and business issues that concern multinational corporations seeking faster growth internationally, was also invited.

forecasting, and the business environment. The data from GEI is then distributed where applicable to help inform those who wish to discuss economic data that originate from business owners.

They have also held a training workshop with Nancy Mathis, one of the world’s leading media trainers.

The workshop intended to provide members with media and presentation skills in order to help them be more effective at major public events and deliver messages of their companies more successfully. It

In 2012, GEI found that approximately 60% of businesses experienced a net profit, while 59% increased their employee headcount. According to EO’s latest results from its GEI research project, entrepreneurs in Qatar benefited from a strong second half of 2012 and most predicted strong first six months in 2013.

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2,531

SECTOR STUDY

GRAB THE OPPORTUNITY! With FIFA World Cup 2022 in the spotlight, QRail will plan, design and implement Qatar’s integrated rail programme – the QRail project. The project points out various business opportunities within Qatar’s infrastructure and manufacturing sectors. In the �irst article of a two-part series, Private Sector Qatar focuses on the main business opportunities within the manufacturing sector in Qatar.

T

he value of the QRail project is estimated at around USD 40 billion upon completion. In order to ensure the project’s success, Qatar Development Bank (QDB) aims to financially support various QRail-related projects which impact the growth and profitability of the Qatari economy. All projects will be financed as per QDB’s lending terms and conditions.

Manufacture of pre-fabricated tunnel linings This opportunity focuses on supplying the pre-fabricated concrete elements to the main contractor and capturing the value during the construction phase.

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 110 million: • 2012 - 2020: USD 45 million • 2020 - 2032: USD 65 million The revenues are estimated for full contract while JV percentage is not considered.

Ease of capturing:

Initially medium feasibility due to highprecision requirement. A strategic JV with established multinational company may be required in order to capture the opportunity.

Construction of deep foundations This opportunity focuses on capturing value from the construction phase, although deep foundations are also applicable in other new constructions.

QDB currently has preference to fund manufacturing, industrial or service projects which will contribute to the rail development.

These potential opportunities range from R&D, manufacturing, operation and maintenance, training centers, design and development.

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 480 million: • 2012 - 2020: USD 280 million • 2020 - 2032: USD 200 million

Since the QRail project envisages huge business opportunities for the private sector, in this article we present you an overview of the main opportunities within the manufacturing sector in Qatar:

Ease of capturing:

High feasibility as provision of deep foundations is already done in Qatar and since low technical requirements are envisaged.

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Installation of drainage and sewerage systems This opportunity focuses on capturing value from the construction phase, although components could be applicable in other new constructions.

Size of the opportunity:

Ease of capturing:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 20 million: 2012 - 2020: USD 10 million 2020 - 2032: USD 10 million

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 1.2 billion: • 2012 - 2020: USD 700 million • 2020 - 2032: USD 500 million

Ease of capturing:

High feasibility as provision of structural frameworks is already done in Qatar and since low technical requirements are envisaged.

Manufacture of pre-fabricated steel grids The opportunity is for Qatari investors to buy existing software, integrate it with steel rebar shaping facility to supply prefabricated steel rebar onsite.

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 25 to 27 million: • 2012 - 2020: 12 million – 13 million • 2021 - 2032:13 million – 14 million

Ease of capturing:

Feasible as major input (construction steel) can be sourced in Qatar. Several smart rebar companies actually license their software, including Bamtec from Haussler Innovation.

Standard manufacture of steel rebars and billets This opportunity provides potential for additional steel rebar production to be used for the construction and civil works sectors in Qatar and the entire GCC region as well as within the GCC rail project itself.

Ease of capturing:

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 35 million: • 2012 - 2020: USD 20 million • 2021 - 2032: USD 15 million

Ease of capturing:

Medium to high feasibility as it also provides the opportunity for the existing market participants to increase their capabilities.

High feasibility as installation of drainage and sewerage systems is already done in Qatar and there are low technical requirements.

Construction of structural frameworks for stations This opportunity focuses on capturing value from the construction phase, although components could be applicable in other new constructions.

Size of the opportunity:

Manufacture of high performance glass This opportunity is based on the demand for high performance glass, which is prescribed by the regulations, and lower total costs of ownership for building owners. Main customer will initially be Qatar Rail, but a significant potential demand exists in building windows and facades, where demand is expected to grow due to the new constructions.

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 2 - 2.1 billion: • 2012 - 2020: 1.3 billion • 2021 - 2032: 680 million – 685 million (only considers metro phase 2, and not passenger/ freight rail) Highly feasible as it includes extension of current activities of domestic steel rebar and billet manufacturers, but may require additional investment in capacity and capabilities.

Manufacture of pre-fabricated concrete elements for elevated structures This opportunity focuses on capturing value during the construction phase, as prefabricated elements are the main costs in the construction of bridges and elevated structures.

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 3.3 billion: 2012 - 2020: USD 1 billion 2021 - 2032: USD 2.3 billion

Ease of capturing:

Medium to high feasibility, since the prefabricated structures for buildings and simple beams/columns are already produced in Qatar.

Manufacture of pre-fabricated concrete elements for stations The main customers are building and infrastructure developers. The regional demand for prefabricated concrete elements is expected to grow in the near future due to growth in new constructions Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 50 million: 2012 - 2020: USD 30 million 2020 - 2032: USD 20 million

Ease of capturing:

High feasibility as prefabricated structures for platforms, stairs, building walls, and simple beams/columns are already produced in Qatar.

Manufacture of standard glass The exact amounts and technical specifications of required glass to be determined once architectural designs are finalised.

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 5 million: • 2012 - 2020: USD 2 million • 2021 - 2032: USD 3 million

Ease of capturing:

High

MARCH 2013

39

SECTOR STUDY Manufacture of cables This opportunity can be seized within the rail infrastructure and a variety of other industries.

Size of the opportunity:

Ease of capturing:

Total revenue opportunity from sales to Qatar Rail sums up to approx. USD 135 million: • 2012 - 2020: USD 60 million • 2021 - 2032: USD 75 million

Cable industry is moderately attractive due to high supplier power, low average profitability and consolidated industry structure.

Manufacture of non electric doors Key success driver is sourcing quality materials, establishing effective cost management and achieving reliability.

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue opportunity from sales to Qatar rail sums up to approx. USD 4 million: • 2012 - 2020: USD 2 million • 2021 - 2032: USD 2 million

Ease of capturing:

Several Qatari companies are already present in the market.

Manufacturing of wall lining systems This opportunity provides potential for Qatari entrepreneurs to gain market share from foreign companies which currently import wall lining systems to Qatar.

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 20 million: • 2012 - 2020: 10 million • 2021 - 2032: 10 million

Ease of capturing:

Medium feasibility as input factors can be sourced locally or within the GCC region at extremely competitive costs.

Manufacture of protection walls The main customers will be railways and public entities like motorways, airports, and public parks.

40

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 200 million: • 2012 - 2020: USD 60 million • 2021 - 2032: USD 140 million

Ease of capturing:

High feasibility for concrete, wood, steel, aluminium, panel, and acrylic walls (to be imported) as capabilities are already present in Qatar.

Design and landscaping services for parks/green areas This opportunity provides for inclusion of planning and designing of water-efficient components, including efficient irrigation techniques to decrease the need for water.

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue opportunity from sales to Qatar rail sums up to approx. USD 5 million: • 2012 - 2020: USD 3 million • 2021 - 2032: USD 2 million

Ease of capturing:

Several Qatari companies are already present in the market.

Construction of parks/green areas This opportunity involves full range of activities, including earthworks, planting trees/plants, laying pathways, installing external lighting and laying irrigation facilities.

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue opportunity from sales to Qatar rail sums up to approx. USD 125 million: • 2012 - 2020: USD 75 million • 2021-2032: USD 50 million

Ease of capturing:

Several Qatari companies are already present in the market.

Manufacture of interior replacements This opportunity allows a possibility to replace the interiors originally supplied by OEM with minor local customisation of interiors from other suppliers.

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 3 million, all incurred during the 2021-2032 period. However, only interior replacement for rolling stock procured in Metro phase 1 are considered.

Ease of capturing:

Possibility to source major components internationally and do minor modifications in Qatar. The opportunity can include the existing furniture suppliers.

Design and manufacturing of cost efficient innovative insulation materials The value proposition of this opportunity is to reduce energy costs for property owners by reducing the need for cooling.

Size of the opportunity:

Medium revenue opportunity from sales to Qatar Rail project: • 2012-2020: USD 30 million (TBC) • 2021-2032: USD 35 million (TBC) Total market in Qatar in 2011 was USD 50 million. Total market in the GCC region in 2011 was USD 500 million.

Ease of capturing:

High

Manufacture of masts for electrification/signalling This opportunity focuses on capturing value during the construction phase.

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to QRail is approx. USD 5 million: • 2012 - 2020: USD 1 million • 2020 - 2032: USD 4 million

Ease of capturing:

High feasibility for wood or concrete masts, as existing materials and capabilities are already present in Qatar.

Construction of bridges and elevated structures This opportunity focuses on capturing value from the construction phase, with the potential to apply knowledge in future projects related to bridges and elevated structures.

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 850 million: • 2012 - 2020: USD 270 million • 2020 - 2032: USD 5800 million

Ease of capturing:

Initially medium feasibility, but JV with established company is required to capture the opportunity.

Construction of inner (non-structural) building divisions This opportunity focuses on capturing value from the construction phase, although service is also applicable in other new constructions.

Size of the opportunity:

Ease of capturing:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 270 million: • 2012 - 2020: USD 160 million • 2020 - 2032: USD 110 million

Provision of earth work services This opportunity focuses on capturing value from the construction phase, although service is also applicable in other new constructions.

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 970 million: • 2012 - 2020: USD 570 million • 2020 - 2032: USD 400 million

Ease of capturing:

High feasibility as earth works are already done in Qatar and since low technical requirements are envisaged. If the required capacity is available, opportunity could be captured quickly.

Manufacturing of drainage and sewerage components This opportunity focuses on capturing value from the construction phase, although components could be applicable in other new constructions.

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 15 million: • 2012 - 2020: USD 10 million • 2020 - 2032: USD 5 million

Ease of capturing:

High feasibility as drainage and sewerage components are already manufactured in Qatar. If the required capacity is in place, opportunity could be captured quickly.

High feasibility as provision of inner divisions for buildings is already done in Qatar and low technical requirements are prescribed.

Construction of structural frameworks for workshops This opportunity focuses on capturing value from the construction phase, with the potential to apply knowledge in future construction projects in Qatar and around the region.

Size of the opportunity:

Total revenue potential from initial sales to Qatar Rail is approx. USD 75 million: • 2012 - 2020: USD 30 million • 2020 - 2032: USD 45 million

The QRail project has envisaged many more opportunities in both manufacturing and infrastructure sectors. For more information, please contact QDB’s Business Development Team at busdev@qdb.qa, and visit QDB’s Website (www.qdb.qa) for a full overview of all of the business opportunities.

Ease of capturing:

High feasibility as there are no special technical requirements.

In our next issue, we will focus on the opportunities in the infrstructure sector.

MARCH 2013

41

SECTOR STUDY

Watch your costs!

While the recent �inancial market rally bodes well for global economic recovery, new risks may emerge for Qatar as sovereign borrowing costs are now more likely to inch up in the years to come. Dr. Tarek Coury, Chief Economist, Tanween, points out the importance of adopting cost containment strategies in Qatar.

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s global investor sentiment turns, a “great rotation” from bonds to stocks may push up yields for emerging market sovereigns.

The costs of borrowing for Qatar’s infrastructure and real estate projects are likely to be negatively affected, highlighting the importance of cost containment measures in the years ahead.

Qatar’s spending on projects that are currently either completed or underway for the decade beginning 2011 totals USD 190 billion (Please see Table 1).

Dr. Tarek Coury is Chief Economist at Tanween, a Qatari real estate developer and development consultancy providing turn-key solutions to investors, developers, land owners and occupiers. Tanween’s unique approach covers all services within the real estate investment value chain from idea creation to market research, feasibility studies, project delivery and asset management. For further information, Tarek can contacted at tcoury@tanween.com.

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This spending has caused government debt to rise. Past investments in the LNG capacity and infrastructure have pushed up government gross debt from 9% of GDP in 2007 to 30% in 2012 while external debt as a proportion of GDP has climbed from 53% in 2007 to 70% in 2012.

Qatar, along with Abu Dhabi, continues to enjoy the highest sovereign credit ratings in the GCC region.

Qatar’s net fiscal position (revenues less recurrent and capital expenditure) is expected to remain robust with an estimated fiscal surplus of 7.8% of nominal GDP in 2012-2013.

Government debt issuance has benefited from a confluence of positive factors, among them a high growth rate of GDP, yield-chasing investors in the emerging markets fixed income space, and the highest sovereign ratings in the GCC region from credit ratings agencies. Two out of these three factors are likely to change in the years ahead. First, GDP growth

in Qatar is likely to slow as a result of a moratorium on further expansion in the LNG sector – the onus is now on the non-hydrocarbon sector to drive economic growth. Second, global investor sentiment may favour equities over bonds in the years ahead as the global recovery, headed by the US in OECD countries, takes hold. These factors are likely to push up borrowing costs for Qatar.

The costs of borrowing for Qatar’s infrastructure and real estate projects are likely to be negatively affected, highlighting the importance of cost containment measures in the years ahead.

Situation around the world A number of economic indicators point to a continued rally in the global equity markets, in particular in the Eurozone and the United States. The Japanese Yen and the Swiss Franc, two global reserve currencies, have seen their values erode in recent weeks – the Yen fell about 5% against the US dollar in the past month. Similarly, the Swiss Franc lost a little over 4%

Table 1 – Qatar: Estimated spending budgets for projects completed or underway (2000-2020) in USD billion Year

Budget

Year

Budget

2000e

2

2010e

33

2001e

2

2011e

28

2002e

4

2012e

31

2003e

5

2013f

30

2004e

6

2014f

31

2005e

12

2015f

27

2006e

19

2016f

16

2007e

21

2017f

11

2008e

34

2018f

8

2009e

33

2019f

6

2020f

2

Source: MEED Projects and Qatar National Bank Group Analysis. Taken from Figure 8 of Qatar Equity Strategy 2013/Financial Services (E – estimate, F – forecast.)

of its value against the Euro. Interestingly, the Swiss National Bank had promised to keep the value of its currency at 1.2 CHF/EUR or weaker beginning in September 2011. The decision was made to limit the negative impact on Switzerland’s export-driven economy and was the result of a massive hike in the value of the Swiss Franc at the height of the Eurozone crisis. With changing investor sentiment with regard to the Eurozone, Euro-denominated assets have witnessed an impressive bull-run with the Swiss bellwether currency trading at 1.23 CHF/EUR. US equities have experienced a similar bull run in the past month, with the S&P 500 finishing up 7% in one month from the end of 2012. The return of risk-on investor sentiment is on the back of positive corporate earnings and encouraging US economic data. Whether recent highs are “overdone” remains to be seen, but data suggest that the recent bull run may mark an inflection point in the equity space – flows into US equity funds have been largely negative up until mid Q4 2012 while flows into the US fixed income funds have been positive for the past couple of years suggesting that the equity rally may persist in the coming year.

More worrying, however, are the repercussions on yields in the fixed income space and borrowing costs for emerging and frontier bond markets. The US treasuries, a benchmark in the fixed income space, have witnessed an uninterrupted bull run for the past 30 years with yields falling to the 2% mark from heights of 15% in the early 1980s.

This has pushed down borrowing costs for sovereigns in emerging and frontier markets as investors move down the risk curve in search of yield. Recent action by the Federal Reserve to stimulate the US economy has pushed down yields even further, but the action may seize when the US unemployment rates inch closer to the US natural rate of unemployment. With the Federal Reserve predicting the US unemployment at 7.7% by end-2013, down from its peak of 10% in 2009, the stimulus is likely to persist for the foreseeable future. A reversal in fortunes may, however, occur much sooner in the fixed income space, with a “great rotation” happening from bonds to stocks. If the 30-year bull run in fixed income comes to an end, borrowing costs for emerging markets are sure to increase. The potential, attendant increase in borrowing costs for Qatar points the importance of cost containment strategies in the years to come. *Data have been collected from the Qatar Statistical Authority and the Financial Times.

MARCH 2013

43

SECTOR STUDY

The GCC region has emerged as one of the most promising tourism hubs in the world and is likely to expand further over the next decade. Private Sector Qatar brings to you details of Stratagem’s 2012 Market Research Report which highlight reasons for the expected longevity of Qatar’s tourism growth.

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ccording to the World Economic Forum Report, a total of 55 million tourists visited the Middle East region last year representing 6% of the total international tourist arrivals. In line with the GCC’s booming industry, Qatar’s tourism sector has expanded significantly over the last years supported by large infrastructure project investments and the organisation of numerous business, cultural and sport events.

Stratagem, headquartered in Doha, is a marketing consultancy bureau which is specialised in market research and aims to provide strategic market guidance to local and international companies in the Middle East region. Stratagem’s consultancy services include business feasibility studies, industry reports, competitive benchmark, consumer research and marketing development strategies.

For more information, please contact marie.dumond@stratagem.qa

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Abdullah Mallala Al Badr, Director of Tourism, Qatar Tourism Authority, stated, “Qatar is preparing for a robust economic future and tourism will play a key role in creating a diverse and sustainable economy.

This rapid development of Qatar’s tourism industry and infrastructure will only solidify Qatar’s position as an upcoming business destination in the Middle East.”

For many countries, tourism represents a powerful tool for social and economic development. Qatar has clearly chosen to reposition its strategy transforming the energy-rich country into a diversified knowledge-based economy.

Variety of niche tourism markets The Middle East region suffered from a major tourist slow down in 2011 and 2012 as a result of the popular uprisings. These political developments caused the international tourist arrivals to decrease by 7% in 2011. However, the region is expected to grow steadily

within the 2010-2030 period. It already witnessed its first positive growth with a timid 1% increase in the first half of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.

The business tourism sector in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE proved to be the most resilient to the political situation of the region. Qatar was incontestably the largest beneficiary of these regional instabilities accounting for one of the fastest growing tourist industries with a 13.2% growth in the international tourist arrivals.

Qatar has been focusing on developing niche tourism industries as a mean of growth for the overall sector.

Qatar’s short term strategy is centred on attracting business travellers, corporate conferences and city-wide events hopping that these events will kick-start the other segments, such as leisure and sport tourism. According to Stratagem’s 2012 Market Research Report, Qatar’s inbound business tourism segment accounted for 77% of the total international tourist arrivals in the country.

To take full advantage of this highly lucrative segment and to ensure the longevity of Qatar’s tourism growth, the government has initiated a number of actions to develop the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) sector. In the next five years, Qatar plans to invest more than USD 17 billion in national infrastructure projects including new convention centre, museums, airport, luxury hotels and other leisure facilities.

Although Qatar appears to be devoted to building long-term tourism expansion strategies, many challenges yet remain. Qatar’s tourism industry has seen slower growth due to its strong reliance on business tourism. Thus, Qatar is now recognising the importance of developing leisure tourism, as well.

Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has announced its intentions to increase the number of leisure tourists to reach 30% of the total visitors. The government has already spent much efforts in increasing the number of various tourist activities including sporting and cultural attractions. Stratagem’s research revealed that the Souq Waqif was among the favourite touristic attractions in Qatar with more than 25% of tourists visiting it, followed shortly by malls (20%), museums (16%) and Katara (13%).

In addition, socio-demographic shifts have greatly impacted the demand for travel and tourism in Qatar.

In 2012, the research revealed that Qatar largely

benefited from the GCC’s outbound travels with over 845,630 visitors from the GCC countries. The number of tourists visiting Qatar increased hotel occupancy by 19.25%. Travellers from Saudi Arabia represented the majority of tourists from the GCC region, with 161,549 tourists arriving during the first quarter of 2012, marking an increase of 25.3% from 2011. The UAE and Kuwait followed with 30,787 visitors and 18,249 respectively in the first quarter of 2012.

Overseas markets performed well with a healthy 12% increase in international visitors travelling to Qatar. QTA indicated that Asian tourists accounted for 58% (26,385 visitors) of the total visitors while tourists from the European countries increased by 15% (10,456 visitors). Qatar is expected to see a 20% growth in tourist arrivals over the next five years which is projected to reach 1.8 million in 2014, with the number of business visits increasing at an average annual rate of 1.9% over 2009-2014.

49%

of tourists in Qatar stayed less than 48 hours in 2012

Boom of the hospitality industry While Qatar is becoming one of the fastest growing touristic destinations in the world, the hospitality industry is getting ready to accommodate this increasing demand. Since 2005, rafts of new hotels have rushed to Qatar revolutionising this destination, which used to offer only one luxury hotel ten years ago. From 2008, the number of hotels has considerably increased reaching 86 hotels by the end of 2012 and representing a total capacity of 15,312 hotel rooms, excluding hotel apartments. From the end of 2011 up to March 2012, the number of hotel rooms increased by 8.25% with the opening of some of the most prestigious hotels including Saint Regis, Intercontinental The City and the Ritz.

According to Ahmed Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Chairman, Qatar Tourism Authority, a further 77 hotels are either in the planning or construction stage. These will add up to 17,000 rooms to the existing market,

Stratagem’s research revealed that the Souq Waqif was among the favourite touristic attractions in Qatar with more than 25% of tourists visiting it, followed shortly by malls (20%), museums (16%) and Katara (13%).

MARCH 2013

45

SECTOR STUDY

Hospitality professionals are eyeing the market of budget segment hotels since low cost and mid-quality hotels are hoping to tap into the money-conscious business traveller market as well as to attract sports fans who plan to attend FIFA World Cup 2022 and other sport events in Qatar. but Qatar does not plan to stop there and strives to develop its hospitality capacity over the years. It is estimated that around 5,000 new rooms will come on stream each year until 2022.

The hotel segmentation in Qatar is mainly based around Qatar’s commitment to promote “quality tourism” and to develop into a leading luxury travel destination. The international world class hotel brands (four and five-star) currently share about 70% of the market. It has been estimated that about 80% to 85% of the hotels, which are currently in the construction, will be rated as either four or five-star. These figures include a number of new five-star hotels scheduled to open over 2013 and 2014, such as the Centro Rotana and Shangri La in West Bay. As more hotels enter the market, competition will continue to increase over the upcoming years, and hoteliers will have to accept lower revenues and occupancy rates. Over the first quarter of 2012, occupancy rates were recorded at 63% in comparison to 77% over the same period in 2011. Average room rates (ARR) fell for 7.6%, from USD 281 to USD 261.

ARR is likely to average around USD 212 to USD 247 between 2012 and 2016.

A lot of hotel managers and hospitality professionals are seeing a threat in the booming number of hotels in Qatar. For that reason, they have expressed their fear in that overcapacity could trigger a price war. In this context, they affirmed that hotels’ efforts should not concentrate on cutting prices, but promoting Qatar as a business destination. To avoid cutting prices to fill rooms, hospitality professionals will have to focus on increasing diversification of the target market and increasing the length of stay.

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Tourists’ short stay is indeed one of the greatest challenges faced by Qatar, according to Stratagem’s 2012 Market Research Report, as 49% of tourists in Qatar stayed less than 48 hours in 2012. In 2011, QTA launched an initiative designed to encourage business travellers to stay an extra 48 hours in Qatar. Through the campaign “Experience Qatar in 48 hours - our business is your pleasure”, QTA planned to target 5% of the estimated annual passenger capacity (50 million) of the new airport to stay for an additional 48 hours.

In addition, Qatar will need to diversify its hotel product range. Hospitality professionals are eyeing the market of budget segment hotels since low cost and mid-quality hotels are hoping to tap into the money-conscious business traveller market as well as to attract sports fans who plan to attend FIFA World Cup 2022 and other sport events in Qatar.

Recently, several budget hotels have joined the region ‘s hotels list. Qatar is expected to see its first budget hotel in 2013 with the opening of the Premier Inn Doha. Qatar National Convention Centre will certainly benefit from this opening as international delegates are likely to demand reasonable hotel rates in an uncertain economic climate.

No doubt that FIFA World Cup 2022 will have a tremendous impact on Qatar’s hospitality industry.

Although numerous hospitality professionals see FIFA World Cup 2022 as just an event among many others, the majority believe that the event is seen as a catalyst that will reform Qatar’s economy from an oil and gas sector towards a more open economy. Qatar plans to build 90,000 additional hotel rooms. Although, the FIFA requirements require only 65,000 rooms, Qatar has pledged to build an additional 25,000 rooms for assurance.

Many hospitality professionals have agreed that QTA and the government should invest in hotels to reach sufficient room capacity for hosting the international exhibitions.

Even though the first quarter of 2012 has been rough for the hospitality industry, Qatar’s hotel experts and professionals are confident about the future. Despite the short term challenges, many indicators have shown that Qatar needs to capitalise on its performance drivers to attract more visitors. Nevertheless, the road to 2022 is still long, and the hospitality market will have to adjust in the upcoming years to reach the objectives set by the FIFA.

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

Product Certification Programme

Capacity building among domestic focused companies to enable them to compete internationally

Programmes to facilitate SMEs to obtain relevant product certifications, like ISO and other industry-specific certificates, which will enable their access to international markets

Market Certification Programme

Capacity building among exporting community to enable penetration of specific targeted markets which require certain local standards to be met and help diversify exports

Programmes to facilitate exporters to gain knowledge about the specific market certifications and help in the approval process through training and invitations to the approving authorities

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

Exporter Awards Programme

Raising the public profile of exports by showcasing the exporting community and facilitate data gathering on exports for TASDEER

Programme to award the best performing exporters in various categories through appropriately designed criteria by an independent organisation

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

EVENTS

OUR FIRST RESULTS!

Healthcare manufacturers, wholesalers, dealers and distributors from around the world gathered together at the Arab Health Exhibition and Congress 2013 which was held at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre in January 2013. TASDEER supported participation of two Qatari companies – Qatar German Medical Devices and Qatar Pharma, which used this opportunity to showcase their products, innovations and technologies at one of the fastest growing healthcare markets in the world.

T

he Qatari exporters had a very fruitful participation in the Arab Health Exhibition and Congress 2013 . Each of the two exporters met with more than 50 interested buyers from all around the region. As a result, they are confident that a great number of orders for their products will be finalised soon.

In addition, both companies managed to appoint new sales agents and distributors in various new markets. These new activities should help them to enter markets such as Libya, Pakistan, Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, Lebanon and Afghanistan. As a good sign, both exporters stated that some of the deals are already in the final stages of execution.

TASDEER measured the level of their satisfaction after participating in the Arab Health Exhibition and Congress 2013 :

The exporters greatly appreciated TASDEER’s support.

In addition, they expressed their interest in entering the European markets.

That should start with the attendance at some of the key exhibitions like the Medica Exhibition, which will be held in November 2013 in Dusseldorf, Germany.

MARCH 2013

49

COMPANY FOCUS

PARTNER WITH THE BEST One of the two Qatari companies present at the Arab Health Exhibition and Congress 2013 was Qatari German Company for Medical Devices (Q.S.C), a leading manufacturer of medical devices in the Middle East, which is headquartered in Doha. Tamara Pupic collected some excellent advice for Qatari exporters from Emre Anlar, CEO, Qatari German Company for Medical Devices.

Please tell us more about your company and about the products it offers?

The company was established four years ago. It boasts a state-of-the-art production facility designed by reputable innovative technology providers from Germany, Switzerland and Italy. For that reason, our main products, which are Q Safe, Q Ject, Q Need, and Q Flow, meet the highest quality standards and accreditations. We thought it would be more beneficial to produce them in Qatar due to the proximity of the raw materials and cheaper labour costs.

Emre Anlar was appointed as the CEO of Qatari German Company for Medical Devices (Q.S.C) on 30th December 2012. He has more than fifteen years of experience in the field of management consulting, manufacturing and the financial sector. For more information please visit www.qgmd.com

What is your view about Qatar’s manufacturing sector and its exporting capabilities?

Qatar’s manufacturing sector has a lot of potential, but it still represents less than 10% of the total economy in Qatar. Recently, I researched and determined that Qatar is one of the cheapest in the world in terms of the key manufacturing costs such as energy, labour, land lease, and similar. If we add to that a no tax regime, we can conclude that the government is doing a lot to help the manufacturing sector.

In the coming years, the government should focus on presenting brands from the Qatari manufacturing sector to the world. Only in that manner, we can expect the manufacturing sector to mature and contribute close to 30% to the country’s overall growth.

What is your current position in the Qatari market in terms of the market share and competition?

As a new company, we share the market with international companies which have been present in Qatar for few decades. Even though the Qatari nation can choose among the best providers of the healthcare products in the world, we aim to communicate our value proposition to them. We will rely on the fact that we are a Qatari brand and offer the Qatari buyers to try our samples. In that manner, we hope to get a majority market share in Qatar since this is our home base. Thus, covering 51% of the market is our long term vision.

What export opportunities do you foresee for your products?

Currently, 80% of our products are being exported.

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We export to the entire GCC region and Europe.

Since our capacity is beyond the demand in Qatar, we aim to export no less than 70% of our production, especially when we reach the full capacity. For that reason, we plan to explore new markets in Africa, Latin America as well as to enter the US market. The ultimate vision is to make the company a world class player that can compete in every geographical market for which our products are suited.

As an SME, which challenges do you face when exporting?

Since the registration process is mandatory for the type of products we produce, our challenges are in finding the right distributor in the targeted markets which would properly complete the registration process for us. So, strong partner is the key to success in the export markets. We had bad experiences with some partners before since they didn’t perform as agreed.

How has TASDEER helped you improve your business opportunities?

We are blessed with QDB’s and TASDEER’s full support since they are opening markets for us and are also providing insurance for our products and export sales. In addition, they provide us with the subsidised space at various exhibitions in order to promote our products better. Lastly, they are giving us all kinds of market intelligence that they can, but we target the countries only according to the suitability of our products there.

What advice would you give to other SMEs looking at exporting?

As I have already explained, the key to successful export is to undertake thorough market intelligence and establish a reliable partnership. A partner can make you a king or a clown. I advise all Qatari exporters to check with TASDEER and Qatari embassies abroad before deciding with whom to partner. Also, I advise them to make a thorough check of the proposed partner’s financial statements, references from customers, and similar. Lastly, all Qatari SMEs should ask around and leverage on each other experience.

COMPANY FOCUS

CONSUMER PROTECTION Only a few companies within the healthcare sector can form an integrated medical city to serve all the needs of hospitals, doctors and patients. Since Qatar Pharma managed to achieve this in Qatar, Jenny Kassis spoke to Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Al Sulaiti, Chairman, Qatar Pharma, to learn more about the key to their success.

Please give us a brief background about your company and your products Qatar Pharma was established in 2009. It is the first topical drug manufacturing facility in Qatar. The company is focused on therapeutical drugs and care of critically and chronically ill patients in and outside the hospital.

Through a strong scientific base, we are helping Qatar to be the best among the countries which produce drugs and pharmaceutical products. Our factory is a leader in clinical nutrition in the most important countries of the GCC region. Within I.V. generic drugs, Qatar Pharma counts among the leading suppliers in the Gulf region.

Within the company, we have a production line for special bottled polyethylene and a separate production line for bags. Furthermore, we have a production line for dialysis solutions and also six production lines for medical creams and lotions for external use. All these production lines are placed within four factories.

What is your view about Qatar’s manufacturing sector?

Qatar’s manufacturing sector seems to be promising.

It has a strong export potential which can reach many countries around the world.

We can’t deny that the manufacturing activities are strong and advanced within the oil and gas sector, but the other parts of our economy still need to develop them further.

Procedure and administrative affairs are improving every year, but in order to grow more the manufacturing sector needs to obtain support from the government as is the case in the other parts of the GCC region.

What kind of competition and challenges do you face?

Since we are the only pharmaceutical factory in Qatar, we do not face local competition, but only competition from foreign companies. I will repeat once again that they are trying to enter the Qatari market with the support of their governments. The competition we face is significant in terms of the production costs. It is also because we need to import raw materials with special specifications in order to manufacture our sterile intravenous solutions.

During the establishment period, we faced many challenges which mostly related to the registration process because the pharmaceutical industry was not developed in Qatar at that time.

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Another challenge derives from the fact that the small size of Qatari market slightly affects our production quantities. We also have to import all the production supplies and some important spare parts since prices are quite high in Qatar.

What export opportunities do you foresee for your products?

More than 80% of our products are exported to all the GCC countries. We have also registered our products in more than 16 countries. Recently, we have opened a scientific office and few branches in Saudi Arabia. We are also willing to export to Europe in the next phase.

However, we face some challenges in the export process since the delivery period is often extended, and the shipments can stay at the borders of some regional countries for three days. From this standpoint, we need the government’s help since the rental prices during this process are very high. This kind of support will most certainly help us to export more.

How has TASDEER helped you improve your business opportunities?

We have recently started cooperating with TASDEER. But, they have already helped us to improve our export chances by exposing us to new markets in Morocco and Tunisia. TASDEER has also supported our participation in various exhibitions and conferences, such as the Arab Health Exhibition and Congress 2013. In addition, they have prepared marketing studies for our new products.

What advice would you give to other SMEs looking at exporting?

Our advice to companies seeking to export is to maintain the high quality of their products in every stage of the production. They must also prepare a full study of the markets which they are targeting.

What are your future plans?

Qatar Pharma’s strategy is focused on providing medical products in line with the high standards, and on the ability to meet the needs of the markets in Qatar and the entire Gulf region. In this respect, we will complete Qatar Pharma’s Medical City by establishing a factory dedicated to hemodialysis materials and a factory for ethical pharmaceutical drugs which will produce tablets, capsules, syrups and drops. Moreover, we will produce some products required by the market, including new eye drops. We also have a project to establish our own hospital in Al Rayyan which will accommodate 120 beds.

Dr. Ahmed Bin Mohamed Hassan Alehia Al Sulaiti is the Chairman of Qatar Pharma. He holds a Masters and a Doctorate degree from the Faculty of Law, Cairo University. Dr. Al Sulaiti held several positions in the ministries of Qatar’s government, participated in many local committees, and lectured at the Institute of Management Development. For more information, please visit www.qatarpharma.org

COUNTRY FOCUS

TARGET:

LIBYA!

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 Libya as an important market for the key products of Qatari origin.

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ibya’s economy is structured primarily around the nation’s energy sector, which generates around 95% of export earnings, 80% of GDP, and 99% of the government revenue. Substantial income from the energy sector coupled with a small population gives Libya one of the highest per capita GDP in Africa.

The major industries include petroleum, petrochemicals, aluminium, iron and steel, food processing, textiles, handicrafts and cement. With a GDP of QR 337 billion in 2011, Libya imported products worth QR 51 billion in the same year including key commodities like crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas, chemicals, and similar. Italy is one of the key trading partners accounting for approximately 32% of exports and approximately 16% of imports in 2010.

The total trade between Qatar and Libya in 2008 was QR 5.5 million. The balance of trade is highly skewed in favour of Qatar with Qatar’s exports accounting for approximately QR 5.5 million of the total trade. The key commodities exported to Libya

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from Qatar currently include vehicles, machinery, boilers, articles of iron or steel, and similar.

Libya 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 the Qatar’s export strategy. These include electric wires and cables, medical solutions, parts of air conditioning machines, powdered soap, valves, and so on. Libya’s total import across these product categories in 2010 was approximately QR 2519 million with medical solutions being the biggest category and accounting for QR 679 million. This is followed by valves and electric wires and cables, wich accounted for imports worth QR 613 million and QR 394 million respectively.

Moreover, given that Libya has the Greater Arab Free Trade Agreement (GAFTA) with Qatar, the import duty rates for all these products are 0%. Thus, taking into account parameters like import market size, presence of trade agreements and proximity of the market to Qatar, Libya is a highly attractive market for many of the key product categories in which Qatari exporters are competitive.

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