DOHA: Qatar Development Bank (QDB) yesterday organised a first-of-its-kind workshop on ‘National Incubation Strategy’ and discussed the various gaps and challenges facing the Qatari entrepreneurs.

The workshop also exchanged ideas on initiatives that can cover those gaps. The workshop was as part of QDB’s numerous initiatives to develop and promote SMEs in Qatar to achieve economic diversification through a vibrant and robust private sector.

The QDB’s workshop, which aimed at enhancing the national strategy for business incubators and business accelerators, was attended by representatives from concerned authorities responsible for entrepreneurship and development of SMEs in Qatar.

During the workshop, the main challenges facing Qatari entrepreneurs were discussed, furthermore, appropriate solutions were developed and opportunities to support emerging projects by establishing a foothold in local, regional and global markets were explored.

This strategy is the first of its kind in Qatar and in the Arab countries. It aims at nurturing business startup companies which help develop the business sector and young established companies who have significant potential to grow.

The strategy aims at assembling expertise and competencies to create a state of cooperation and communication among various stakeholders in the country in order to form a strong base for the small and medium-sized businesses and scale-up projects, while improving their contribution to economic diversification of the nation and encouraging them to expand and divert their activities and businesses in the fields of industrial, trade and services, and create an investment climate beneficial to their success.

Abdulaziz Nasser Al Khalifa, CEO of QDB, said: “We at Qatar Development Bank are proud and pleased to be hosting the national strategy for business incubators and business accelerators workshop, which marks the first of its kind in the region and the entire region as a whole, and is a step forward towards strengthening the development of the growing business sector in Qatar. This strategy was designed as a direct result of rigorous studies that indicated the available opportunities in the various economic sectors in the Qatari market and to identify ways to transform gaps into opportunities through innovative projects, which works on implementing and execute innovative ideas that benefit all the sector sectors in the country.”

He added: In addition, QDB will act as a major support for all business incubators and business accelerators, and will be the primary reference for both companies and institutions. The national strategy for business incubators and business accelerators will be the road map for the success, growth and prosperity of leading businesses in an appropriate and encouraging investment climate, contributing effectively to the diversification of the Qatar economy, which is in line with achieving Qatar’s National Vision 2030.”

Furthermore, this strategy aims at developing a plan that will keep pace with the expansion of  entrepreneurship in the Qatari and global market by identifying opportunities for developing the system and new business incubation programmes and providing the necessary support to entrepreneurs by supporting creative ideas in the field of entrepreneurship.

“Today in this workshop we are aiming to discuss the various gaps in the ecosystem that have been experienced and identified to support the SMEs in a more effective manner. We will also be discussing the initiatives that will help covering those gaps,” Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al Mannai, Executive Director for Advisory Services, QDB, told The Peninsula on the sidelines of the workshop.

He said that QDB will be launching the final phase of the national incubation strategy by the fourth quarter of this year in collaboration with all its partners and stakeholders.

Meaningful discussions and participations of various ideas and interpretations were observed during the workshop, after a demonstration offered by the team from QDB. In the same context, global consultants and experts, who contributed to the development of international entrepreneurial systems, provided valuable information regarding best international practices in leading business incubation.

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