With only a short time left until the 2012 US presidential election, Al Jazeera English news anchor Kamahl Santamaria looks at how it might impact this part of the world. Four years ago I remember being at work, on-air in the middle of the night, watching Barack Obama win the 2008 United States (US) presidential [...]
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Qatar Impact: The Business of Childcare
With childcare practices in Qatar in the spotlight, Kamahl Santamaria asks if the care of our children is becoming too much of a business. As I wrote in Qatar Impact a few months ago, the Villaggio fire made us think about a lot of things. The obvious one was fire preparedness, and how safe our homes [...]
read moreQatar Impact: Too much of a bad thing - Eating Healthy
While in search of a healthy lunch option, Kamahl Santamaria considers Qatars obesity and diabetes epidemic, and asks what business can do to help. My intention this month was to write a column about Qatar, its malls and businesses, and the effect they are having on the countrys obesity and diabetes problem particularly over [...]
read moreQatar Impact: Does Doha have too many hotels?
The World Cup is coming to Qatar in 2022, and the country needs a lot of hotel space to cope with the influx of people. But what happens with all those spare beds in the meantime, and after the big event? Kamahl Santamaria investigates. I have always been fascinated by the way hotels are such [...]
read moreIs Qatar Environmentally Aware?
Pollution, recycling, emissions they are all environmental buzzwords for our conscience. Kamahl Santamaria considers if those words are really being turned into action in Qatar. I remember being told years ago about the paperless office: how in the future everything would be electronically delivered, streamlined, and environmentally friendly wrapped in the bargain. Well, the [...]
read moreFamily Business: Three generations of ‘Alfardan’
Alfardan is a name synonymous with business in Qatar. Kamahl Santamaria met three generations of the family, and found the original pearl and jewel business is still very much at the heart of their billion dollar empire. With the huge amounts of cash splashing around Doha these days it would be easy to assume that [...]
read moreQatar Impact: High Rates Slow Connections
Access to the Internet and mobile communications are perhaps the most important business tools we have. TheEDGE columnist Kamahl Santamaria asks if residents of Qatar are being asked to pay too much for them. As an avid Twitter user, I have noticed something appearing more regularly in my tweet stream recently the hash tag #QtelFail. It [...]
read moreQatar Impact: Qatar, Your 51 Percent Partner
Business is booming in Qatar, but Doha-based news anchor Kamahl Santamaria wonders if the 51 percent ownership law could actually be holding the country back. Everyones looking for a gap in the market ahead of the World Cup in 2022, or dare I say the Olympic Games in 2020 if Dohas bid finds some traction. [...]
read moreQatar Impact: From Doha to Benghazi
When the Arab Spring as it has become known, began blooming in early 2011, asks Doha-based news anchor Kamahl Santamaria, who would have thought Qatar would be playing a leading role on the military, political and economic front?Of course the countrys made no secret of its desire to be an influential Middle East, if not [...]
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