News: Qatar National Convention Centre set to host one of the largest conferences in the world

Doha, 8 November: With less than three weeks to go, the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) has intensified its preparations to take centre stage and host Qatar’s largest conference to date – the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change 2012 (COP18/CMP8). The event which will take place from 26 November to 7 December is expected [...]

News: Entrepreneurs Organisation Qatar, appoints new president

Doha, 7 November: The Entrepreneurs Organisation (EO) Qatar chapter has announced the appointment of Mohamed Jaidah as President to EO Qatar for the 2012-2013 year, under the international Entrepreneurs Organisation. The organisation brings together some of the most influential and socially aware entrepreneurs in Qatar, in an attempt to help their members learn and grow [...]

Interview: Khalid Al Jaber, A serial entrepreneur

As CEO of Innovation Group, Khalid Al Jaber is a 35-year-old Qatari who is involved in all four of his company’s divisions, in the information technology sector and filmmaking, as well model building for the construction, real estate and oil and gas industries, through the German-based Innovation GmbH. Al Jaber is also executive director of [...]

Virtualising Qatar’s Businesses

The virtualisation of business organisations and the challenges in the networking and data management industry TheEDGE spoke exclusively with Nimer Ghazal, country manager for Brocade Qatar about the virtualisation of business functions, the move to cloud based applications and the challenges for companies in managing their data in a time of information explosion. What is [...]

Qatar’s atomic future

Nuclear energy analyst provides evidence of Qatar’s atomic power ambitions by Jamie Stewart Evidence has emerged that the Qatar Ministry of Energy and Industry is moving forwards with its programme to develop nuclear power in the country. State-owned energy giant Qatar Petroleum is seeking to employ a senior nuclear energy analyst, with responsibilities including playing [...]

Is Management Ideology the last bastion of American hegemony?

Here is a tricky question: How many living management gurus did not learn their trade in North America? The London Business Schoolís Julian Birkinshaw, who has presented this condundrum to many of his esteemed international colleagues, writes that it is not easy to come up with a list of top experts who are not American, [...]

News: New NGO launched to enhance research and sustainability in Qatar

Doha, 25 October: As part of Qatar’s investment and long-term commitment to the environment, the Qatar Sustainability Network (QSN) was officially launched in Doha yesterday. At the launch, Nadia Aboul Hosn interim board member at QSN outlined the mandate as a network to cultivate a culture of research, science, and sustainability through active engagement of civil [...]

Vol 4 Issue 10 Oct 2012

This month’s cover story in about one of Qatar’s more contentious investments, The Shard, a skyscraper that sits on the bank of the river Thames in central London. We take a look at the differing sentiments it has generated from Londoners and Qatar’s role in the project. In this issue we also look at the [...]


RecentArticles: Sectors

Are robots the future of healthcare?

In a utopian science fiction future, human beings are a blend of man and machine that will not require the delicate care our bodies do today. While that might be a far ways away, some of the healthcare problems facing humans are solved today by machines that function like humans. Shehan Mashood talks to surgeon [...]

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Ready for take off, New Doha International Airport

The New Doha International Airport, with construction investment of more than QR64 billion, is set to open its doors by the second half of 2013. Martin Rivers examines Doha’s vision to become the busiest transit hub in the world once the airport is completed in 2015 - and the country’s high demand for the deluxe [...]

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News: British construction industry set to increase focus on Qatar

Doha, June 28 - All eyes will be on London this month as it hosts the 2012 Olympic Games. But for Britain’s construction sector, the opening of the Games signals the end of its home market spike. With the UK now facing economic stagnation, attention is turning to the world’s fastest growing economy, Qatar. Over [...]

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News: S&P report expects gulf banks’ capital to remain high

PARIS (Standard & Poor’s) June 27 – Banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region have capitalization that generally exceeds their international peers’, says Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services in its report Gulf Banks’ Capital Positions Compare Well With Those Of Global Banks, published this week. S&P’s risk-adjusted capital (RAC) framework, which it uses to [...]

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Where there is a will, there is certainty

Where there is a will, there is certainty

Adrian Bliss writes about the essential element of financing planning and which for most is least relevant on the to do list. It is important to create a will and testament and be aware of the local and international law before drafting it. Not many of us like to dwell on this essential element of [...]

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Qatari Withholding Tax: Do not bury your head in the sand

Qatar Law No. 21 of 2009 (the New Tax Law) has now been in force for just over two years. One of the key concerns of businesses operating in Qatar is the application of withholding tax under the New Tax Law. With failure to deduct withholding tax attracting potential financial penalties of 100 percent of [...]

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SMES in Qatar and Listing on QE Venture Market

The development and support of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is necessary to bolster economic diversification in the State of Qatar. In recent years this sector has been considered weak, however, legislative initiatives have been put in place to drive it forward. SMEs are material to Qatar’s National Vision 2030, which has set up a [...]

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Gulf shipping in 2012: Piracy, Protection, Iran and the UN

A secure exporting shipping industry is vital to trade and commerce in the Arabian Gulf, but with piracy and nuclear geopolitics on the very shores of the Gulf Cooperation Council states, this year will be anything but plain sailing, as Edward Jameson finds out. On Saturday 21 May 2011, five small motorboats each carrying five [...]

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The Key to Investing in Global Real Estate

While most of the Middle East residents are still very wary of buying local property, sights are still set on global opportunities – of which there are many. Robert Pearce writes an introductory guide to successfully navigating international property markets. Understand the Legal Aspects First and foremost, do not get into something if you do [...]

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Legal Insight: Qatar’s Constitution & Governance

The State of Qatar is a hereditary Emirate.  The Al Thani family has ruled in Qatar since the 19th Century. The current Emir, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, acceded to the throne in June 27, 1995. The Emir’s son, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, was declared heir apparent in [...]

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