Selling Brand Q

8/6/2019 Selling Brand Q

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Qatar today a u g u s t 2 0 1 142

SEllING BraNd Q I CoVEr Story

seLLingBrAnd Q

WouLd YouBuY iT?

b y v a N i s a r a s W a t H i


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a u g u s t 2 0 1 1 Qatar today 43

CoVEr Story I SEllING BraNd Q

he nation has projects in excess o QR350

billion (about $100 billion) planned. Apart

rom FIFA 2022-related work, Qatar will

spend $35billion on a rail network, $20bil-

lion on roads and $25billion on real estate

(approximate: QR127 billion, QR73 billionand QR90 billion respectively). Local busi-

nesses must be riding high on these an-

nouncements. When something seems too

good to be true, it probably is.

Despite the massive investment in hu-

man capital and the liquidity o the state,

government and quasi-government corpo-

rations drive growth, with the private sec-

tor relegated to the periphery.

The truth is, the economy o the region

is mainly driven by the government, not the

private sector. The government makes the

call, sets the agenda, draws up the strategy

or the economy. In essence, the privatesector, which is supposed to be one o the

strong engines or growing the economy,

has taken a back seat, says Issa Al-Mohan-

nadi, Qatari corporate leader and CEO o

Msheireb Properties (MP).

In this context, it is no wonder that

Brand Q has little distinction rom the Qa-

tar Government, leaving a blurred distinc-

tion between the two.

Headline events like winning the 2022

bid, announcing the worlds most expensive

ootball stadium, the Qatar Foundation logo

on the Barcelona ootball jersey or owning

Harrods have little local avour, while the

building and rolling out o Qatar initiatives

is seen more as a triumph o wealth over

ability than as ruits borne rom home-grown industries (a perception that is not

entirely o the mark). Those who benet

the most are the ones to whom the jobs are

outsourced to.

Talking o home-grown capabilities is

a very sensitive subject and is oten a sore

point when the discussion veers towards

why buying local is not the rst option.

The simplest and most bandied about ex-

cuse is the lack o expertise, service and

skill in the country, which means look-

ing beyond the borders as the best way

orward.

However, the voices countering this ar-gument are getting louder and more inces-

sant. The counter-arguments range rom

the emotional to the studied; rom truth

to convenience; rom acts to assumptions.

One grouse is shared across the board: that

apart rom nance, little or no support is

given to local industries.

The argument here is not about nation-

als versus expatriates. Its about businesses

that have invested in the local market, that

tap into its resources to help to build ca-

TibrahiM Jaidah

tHE GUy WHo IS GoING to Start HIS

oWN BUSINESS HaS to takE a rISk,

takE a loaN at tHE BEGINNING oF

HIS CarEEr. Say IF ItS SomEoNE

IN tHE CrEatIVE FIEld, HE IS

ImmEdIatEly UP aGaINSt tHE SaVVy

Fly By NIGHt BUSINESSmEN, WHo

WIll CoNdUCt BUSINESS oUtoF a SUItCaSE, WHo doESNt HaVE

aNy PrESENCE, doES Not EVEN Pay

a rENt HErE. tHErE SHoUld BE

lEGISlatIoN to at lEaSt ProtECt

tHE SmallEr aNd mEdIUm SIzEd

ComPaNIES.


3/15



pacities against those who do business out

o suitcases and tea lounges.

Qatar Today speaks to captains o indus-

try and entrepreneurs to understand why

Brand Q is such a hard sell.

thRee CleaR points emeRGe:

Make the PriVate sector and

entrePreneurshiP More attractiVe to

youngsters.

Bring aBout a Mandate to Buy LocaL.

and Most iMPortant, LocaL coMPanies

need to Face reaLity and gear uP For

coMPetition.

These three interlink to both highlight

the problem and provide the solution.

We begin by asking why local companies

are not seen as worthy competitors.

Bring it on!

Ibrahim Jaidah o Arab Engineering Bureau(AEB), considered a pioneer in his eld and

is an ot-quoted success story, has an inter-

esting take on competition.

Some local rms complain about com-

petition rom abroad and I dont agree with

this. True, with competition, with bigger

names coming in and better quality o work

in the market, local companies will have

to ght harder to compete with them. But

now that Ive proved that I can do as well

as international rms, I can bill like them

and get away with it. Ive taken advantage

o this, instead o complaining that Im notbeing spoilt!

This is the new world o competition,

and its going to open up more. So there are

local businesses that are worried, and will

be more worried in the uture.

What cant be overlooked is that other

countries which opened up to competition

did so ater building local capabilities. That

hasnt happened here yet.

Jaidah agrees that the solution is not in

restricting international competition, but

in building local capabilities. Unortu-nately this hasnt been looked at. Its been

slow, and Qatari companies are struggling

to compete with new comers. Some coun-

tries have implemented legislation that

says a locally registered company gets a

10% extra margin. For instance, i you are

not lowest in price but have the ability and

are up to 10% above the lowest bidder, you

still get priority. This should be the case in

all sectors. The construction industry is one

o the main sectors in any economy. Such

advantages should be considered, because

what we build in the next 10 years is going

to equal what we have built in the last 30years.

We will lose out, i we dont use this op-

portunity to establish strong, highly quali-

ed local entities in terms o companies, in

all sectors be it graphic or interior design or

suppliers.

Talking about the projects being an-

nounced in the light o 2022, he says: In-

terestingly, it was announced by the Prime

Minister when we won the bid that the local

companies would get a decent share o the

pie. Frankly, when you see the amount o

work that has to be done, there is no way wecan do it; its ar more than we can handle.

Raise your game

Al-Mohannadi raises a question that has no

single or easy answer: Dene what is local.

issa al-MohaNNadi

tHE laSt CHaNCE For tHE PrIVatE

SECtor, at lEaSt IN my tImE, IS

2022. aNd I SaId aS mUCH to tHE

QCCI. WE loSt tHE oPPortUNIty

IN 2006 to dEVEloP tHE PrIVatE

SECtor, WE loSt oUt IN tHE o&G

dEVEloPmENt WE CoUld HaVE

dEVEloPEd a maJor ENErGy

SErVICES ComPaNIES; WE HaVE

rEaCHEd 77mtPa BUt tHErE WaSNt

mUCH dEVEloPEd aloNGSIdE

tHat. tHE raIl ProJECt HaS BEEN

laUNCHEd; HoW mUCH oF tHat WIll

dEVEloP loCal CaPaBIlIty?

IF WE lEaVE It to CHaNCE, tHEN

NotHING WIll HaPPEN. It IS tImE

For tHE GoVErNmENt to

takE a CoNSCIoUS dECISIoN, to HElP

loCal BUSINESSES.

SUCCESS StorIESibRahim Jaidah:

"easy as it May sound For a LocaL guy to set uP a Business, it is hard work. i Purchased

araB engineering Bureau in 1990-91. i Borrowed Money to Purchase it. then you reaLise

that howeVer Much you May think its an adVantage to Be LocaL, its aLso a disadVan-

tage. who is this LocaL uPstart who can design? its aLways Been Foreign nationaLs

who haVe Been designing, so there werent Many others with the wiLL to do so.that was a chaLLenge which took Me Few a years to ProVe that i couLd do as weLL or

eVen Better. i Managed to do that with a Lot oF hard work and sacriFice. the rest is

history."

iF you were to do it now, wouLd it Be easier or tougher?

"there are tons oF oPPortunities. whether i wouLd haVe done it the saMe way, i dont

know. For youngsters, there is a wonderFuL oPPortunity to teaM uP with estaBLished

FirMs that coMe FroM oVerseas. they wiLL Be oF great VaLue - Being LocaL and haVing

the right kind oF training and education."

araB engineering Bureau is one oF the Leading architecture FirMs in the country and

region, and has to its credit seVeraL LandMark ProJects incLuding the qF headquar-

ters, BarZan towers and keMPinski.


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We are struggling to understand as a player

in the market what it means. Is there such

terminology as local companies versus local

reps maybe you can dene it or me?

Though his companys agship project

(QR20 billion regeneration o the down-

town area o Doha) oten awards contractsto oreign companies, Al-Mohannadi says

there is intent to go local then again,

all companies are local, arent they? Qa-

taris are supposed to own 51% interest in

all businesses as per the law but it is not

always possible. (See ootnote on Pg. 47)

There are some special areas whether

we like it or not, or they (private companies)

like it or not - that cannot be handled by lo-

cal companies, he stresses, because o is-

sues either o scale, technology or skill.

Deending why his company chooses

international or oreign companies over

locals, he elaborates: There are so manydierent skills required excavation, de-

water, dredging, site preparation. As a com-

pany, it is in my interest to have one con-

tractor who will take care o all those tasks,

to have one ocal point. Local companies

may have the capability to take care o one

o the operations, but not all o them. Local

companies complain that we go or interna-

tional companies, and they in turn use us.

You could have come to us directly, they say,

and we could have done it cheaper.

But thats cheaper only or one element,

Al-Mohannadi says. I have ve elementsor doing this job; yes, you are cheaper,

and you have been sub-contracted, but you

cant handle the other related work. For

business owners, its more efcient to go to

a single point o contact or their jobs than

break them up into pieces and oer them to

dierent companies.

Eventually that contractor may use our

to ve sub-contractors rom the market, he

accepts. Its not unusual when someone

tells me theyre working on my project.

Despite all these constraints, his compa-

ny has made an eort to dene whats local.

We are probably the only company thathas in its procedure, when we go or a con-

tractor, a mandate or a joint-venture (JV),

with a local company. This mandate did not

come rom the Government. We are trying

to help the local market, so we eel com-

pelled to do it this way. Did the Government

ask us, or the QCCI? No. I believe this is the

right thing to do or the market.

And the challenges continue. The

minute we say we want local companies,

the international companies point out that

they are majority-owned by nationals.

Omran Al-Kuwari o Green Gul, weigh-

ing in on the argument, says there are many

reasons why local companies lose out, some

o which are obvious. This is a new econ-

omy, and local companies do not have the

history or track record o the internationalcompanies. From the project owners per-

spective, going with an international rm

with a proven track record makes more

sense to mitigate risks, to get unding but

there are many areas where local companies

have an added advantage and still lose out

to international companies. They dont get

opportunities because o other reasons.

He eels the only way to compete is to

enter into partnerships with international

companies.

Al-Mohannadi adds: Qatari companies

dont reject the idea o a JV, but interna-

tional companies see no nancial benet init. When they can get their work done else-

where, or much less, without compromis-

ing on quality, they dont see the value o

coming to Qatar. Acquiring sta here isnt

cost-eective, because Qatar is one o the

most expensive places to live in.

I there is a mandate or companies to

have a local presence which we are con-

sidering, by the way what the internation-

al companies will do is jack up the price, and

we will pay the price.

Time or consortiumsProminent Qatari businessman and Chair-

man o Al-Darwish United Group Yousu

Jassim Al-Darwish says local construction

companies have increased their level o

perormance rom the previous year in all

aspects, technical or qualied expertise,

and are undergoing continuous develop-

ment and modernisation.

This development and modernisation is

in part due to the support given by the gov-

ernment, by way o awarding us tenders and

projects.

However, he eels, in light o develop-

ments in the country, with huge projectsplanned in inrastructure development

and construction, more support is required

rom the government, and to this end we

need to establish an association o contrac-

tors through which they can talk about the

problems acing the construction sector,

and to cooperate with each other and with

governmental authorities to nd appropri-

ate solutions that are air and transparent,

or the sake o the country and its citizens.

He suggests: Small and large local com-

Yousuf JassiM al-darwish

HE SayS: aS PEr tHE laWS

GoVErNING tHE Work oF

CoNStrUCtIoN ComPaNIES INQatar, tHErE IS No dIFFErENtIatIoN

BEtWEEN loCal CoNtraCtorS aNd

otHErS From tHE GCC. tHErE

arE HUNdrEdS oF CommErCIal

ComPaNIES From tHE GCC

WorkING IN Qatar. tHErE SHoUld

BE SomE Sort oF rECIProCIty tHat

IS INSIStEd UPoN.


5/15



panies alike could work together, so that

when a larger tender beyond the scope o

a single company comes up, then there can

be a consortium o two or more such com-

panies that works on it under a joint name,

pooling their capabilities and resources.

They can share the benets and liabilities

o the project.

(In a recent interview to a local Arabic

daily Al Arab , Al-Darwish discussed the

challenges acing local companies, parts o

which are used in this article.)

Why go international?

Being one o the largest regeneration

projects in the region, Msheireb has come

under a lot o scrutiny, particularly since it

aims to build something quintessentially

Qatari.

We are always asked why we didnt use

local companies to establish the architec-

tural language which is rooted in Qatari

history. So I ask mysel the question; i I am

bringing European architects to develop

this, are they more capable o doing this,

or do they have more knowledge than thelocal businesses? The answer is they dont

have the knowledge, but neither do the lo-

cal companies. What the international

companies have is creativity, capabilities,

discipline, quality and efciency.

Jaidah doesnt completely buy that rea-

soning. About 30% o the work I do is or

international rms, or signature architec-

ture. I that doesnt prove our merit, what

else would?

What eort has been taken to assess local

capabilities, he asks.

There is a tendency, especially in the

design sector, that whatever comes rom

the outside is resh and new, and this is not

unique to Qatar, it happens in many places

around the world. Unortunately a lot o

them get a shock later, when dealing with

someone not amiliar with local needs.

In our eld o architecture and de-

sign, there has been an inux in the past

10 years o design rms coming rom

all over the world. The intention o theState o Qatar is to open up to competi-

tion and opportunities or variety, which

is not entirely a bad thing. I take this as a

challenge.

Revise tender processes

Al-Darwish is also concerned about unair

competition with international companies,

and points out that some oreign companies

operate here without adequate controls be-

ing imposed on them. Some oreign com-

panies claim to be international and get

their government's support to compete in

projects that local companies could easilyhandle alone or at least in partnership. Lo-

cal companies should be encouraged to ex-

ecute major projects, either by themselves

or in partnership with specialised interna-

tional companies, to acilitate their devel-

opment.

Furthermore, to ensure the efciency

o international companies, he says there

should be a mandate that they operate with-

in the local economy by not less than 40%

which means they will have to enter into

buthaiNa al-aNsari

tHE SEll IS IN tHE markEtING.

WHEN yoU aPProaCH ComPaNIES,

PrEParE yoUrSElF, markEt yoUrProdUCt WEll, BraINStorm WItH

yoUr tEam, aNd talk lIkE a

CoNSUltaNt. WHy arE CoNSUltaNtS

SUCCESSFUl? BECaUSE tHEy talk a

lot (EVEN IF tHEy dElIVEr lIttlE)

So lEarN From tHat, aCE yoUr

PrESENtatIoN.

SUCCESS StorIESomRan al-KuwaRi:

aFter 10 years with qatargas aL-kuwari though haPPy in his JoB, decided to do soMe-

thing diFFerent with his LiFe. he LeFt his FuLL-tiMe PuBLic sector JoB to iMMerse hiMseLF

coMPLeteLy in a new Business Venture. that was three years ago...

i had the idea For green guLF, But i wouLdnt haVe Been aBLe to do it without soMe

goVernMent suPPort. i had qstP and qatar Foundation suPPorting Me with strategic

Funding. i was aBLe to BeneFit FroM soMe oF the successFuL PrograMMes running in

qatar.

eVen though he had that suPPort, it was stiLL diFFicuLt. First oF aLL, there is a sociaL

eLeMent to it. it is stiLL taBoo to Be soLeLy a BusinessMan. whats exPected is a day JoB

in a Prestigious PuBLic sector coMPany, and running a Business on the side. But as

an entrePreneur when you decide to JuMP in FuLL steaM into a Business, it does raise

questions.

then there is aLways the FinanciaL risk, that entrePreneurs aLL oVer the worLd Face.

But the whoLe exPerience has Been Both chaLLenging and rewarding.

the tiMing was PerFect For aL-kuwari, as his Business was in sync with changes in the

region and gLoBaLLy. green guLF inc is a Leading cLean technoLogy adVisory Business

Based at the qatar science & technoLogy Park.


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oMraN al-Kuwari

yoU doNt NECESSarIly NEEd

morE ENtrEPrENEUrS IN tHE

US oNly 2% oF tHE PoPUlatIoN arE

ENtrEPrENEUrS, BUt yoU NEEd a

StroNGEr PrIVatE SECtor.

EdUCatIoNal INStItUtIoNS SHoUld

CrEatE morE INtErESt to BrING

aBoUt a CUltUral aNd SoCIEtal

CHaNGE IN tHE attItUdE toWardS

tHE PrIVatE SECtor. IN tHE

mEaNtImE, tHE GoVErNmENt NEEdS

to CrEatE tHE rIGHt ENVIroNmENt.tHE rIGHt StEPS HaVE alrEady BEEN

INItIatEd, By Way oF ENtErPrISE

Qatar, QdB. I am VEry oPtImIStIC.

CoUPlE oF yEarS aGo, It WaSNt So.

NoW tHErE IS SomE momENtUm.

tHIS IS Not aN EaSy ProBlEm to

SolVE For aNyBody, BUt WE arE

GoING IN tHE rIGHt dIrECtIoN.

a JV with a local company, rent equipment,

buy materials, and use local resources.

Recalling past practices, he says Qatari

companies that participated in tenders

were given preerence over oreign compa-

nies, up to a cost dierentiation o 15% over

the latters price. He regrets the stopping othis system, and emphasises that cheaper

oreign contractors dont mean better work

or efciency.

At this point he argues, it is important to

upgrade the Central Tenders Committee

and Audit Bureau, and to review and apply

tender rules and regulations accurately.

Omran Al-Kuwari says that when it

comes to less capital-intensive industry (in

emerging sectors such as new media and

other creative elds) there denitely seems

to be a perception that anything interna-

tional is better, simply because those com-

panies have better marketing. There needsto be more incentive to support local com-

panies. Keep in mind, its not just rom in-

ternational companies; competition is also

coming rom the government itsel. They

should make sure that theyre not compet-

ing with the private sector.

Qatariat T&D Holding Founder and

Chairperson Buthaina Al-Ansari points out

that there are monopolies here in various

sectors, which is a big challenge. Now how

do you compete with these? Some o them

have a huge government backing.

Even i we accept the need or mo-nopolies in some sectors, they should

unction in a manner that assists smaller

companies. Sub-contract your work. Allow

others to grow.

Dealing with decits

That question applies to private businesses

as well, says Jaidah: Although the country

has advanced, how have you taken advan-

tage o it? Dont hide your head in the sand.

Lets go talk to these international rms to

collaborate. I have proessional riends who

take advantage o this such as lawyers and

designers. Even i your rm is relativelynew, explore partnerships. We cannot go

against the tide. See where it is going and

adjust, try to nd synchrony.

Al-Mohannadi agrees: I we have

to help local businesses, then local

businesses need to help themselves rst.

How many have standardised their

systems and processes to international

levels? How many provide services to in-

ternational standards? A lot o people in

Qatar have representative ofces or have

businesses run by expats where a Qatari is

registered as the owner. To be honest with

you, I can count on the ngers o my hands

those owners who are keen to develop their

businesses.

Reerring to successul home-grown

businesses, he attributes their success tothe owners ocused and unwavering in-

volvement in the operations.

Thats the kind o entrepreneurial spirit

that will lit the quality o the private sec-

tor in Qatar. What we are missing now is

quality Q. I we dont work hard now, i the

government doesnt put an eort into cre-

ating quality say the kind o eect Made

in Japan products have then we will be in

trouble.

Building quality quotient and building

trust is important. This is what local busi-

nesses need to realise i I dont play by

international rules now, I will be let out othe game.

Saying people are not giving us a chance

and other such excuses are not unequivo-

cally true. There is some merit in those

arguments but you need to question

yoursel too. Are you using the latest tech-

nologies? Are you brain-storming strate-

gies or your business? Have you adopted

standards? Have you developed your ofces

and assured quality? Youve been in exist-

ence or 20 years as a business, but nothing

has really changed! You cant just scrounge

or crumbs. Youve been repeating yourselor the past 20 years without a growth strat-

egy.

I they want to compete with the best,

they have to bring something more to the

table. The problem with local companies

is they want to think local and take inter-

national jobs. That doesnt cut it, because

Qatar is already international. Building the

2022 stadiums is an international job; MP

is an international job, in size, quality, and

cutting edge technology.

I see where they are coming rom in their

hesitancy to commit to cost without guar-

antee o business or assurance i somethingin the pipeline is risky; and I agree with

them. Thats where the government should

step in and say listen, i you do 1,2,3,4,5, you

will be classied or X (see box on Pg 46),

and i you get that classication you will be

taking 10-20% o any international tender

that comes in. I you set that up, then there

is an incentive or local companies to re-

orm themselves, to become capable to play

the game at that level.

Its a long debate and is bound to con-


7/15



tinue i action is not taken. They will accuse

you o not giving them a chance, but we will

counter this by saying you dont have the

proo o capability.

Al-Kuwari adds: I am not an expert

on tender policies, but I do know there

is an urgent need or the government tostep in, without compromising on qual-

ity. There are several critical projects in

the pipeline, and we need the best working

on them. Why would companies invest in

themselves i they dont have some kind o

assurance?

Private sector needs zest

The truth is, or Qataris to be ully en-

gaged in the private sector is not appealing

enough.

Very creative young graduates come

into the market and I know the government

cannot absorb more than 70% o them. Im-agine, we have the school o architecture in

QU; VCU-Q is graduating a lot o interior

designers; and all o them are entering the

government sector in a direct or indirect

manner. When they come to train here

with me, the rst thing I tell them is to train

well, open their eyes, and hopeully theyll

become a new competitor or me in a ew

year's time.

You take all the consultants in the State

o Qatar, and see what percentage are Qa-

tari. Just imagine, in my industry, locals

who are practising in the design or archi-tecture eld account or less than 1% o the

total. This is alarming. There should be an

incentive rom the Government or young-

sters to seek opportunities in the private

sector. Sometimes, they get a job in the

public sector or no greater reason than to

gure in the payroll."

Jaidah is worried that a lot o young crea-

tive brains are sitting in a job where they

might not even ulll hal o their ambi-

tions. He eels there should be some sort o

incentive to absorb young local talent.

Lets take my design team here I have

400 people in my company, and I am theonly local. Ive been begging some locals to

come and join us, but they wont. They want

something easier. They dont understand

that by being patient or a ew years, to be-

come a proessional, how much it would

mean or them in the long run, as a proes-

sional designer, gaining experience rom

the local industry. They dont see the op-

portunities in ront o them, and we need to

open their eyes. There is so much to gain.

He recalls that 15-20 years ago, it was

mandatory to employ locals or the dura-

tion o their contract. Imagine how much

training and building o local capabilities

would happen. Say i its building stadiums,

and the international rm has to take in a

ew locals seconded rom government

departments perhaps - and train them. Im-agine the scope o growth rom there or

that person. He can either take the learning

back to the employer or, i he is ambitious

enough, set up his own rm. QF has done it

in a ew cases, but QF is dierent, its not the

norm.

AEB has recently signed a contract or an

army-related project. Its a good-sized one.

The conclusion o the contract is that we

will train three locals through the duration.

I initiated this, while we were negotiating

my ees. I can give you more than money,

I can invest in people with brains, I told

them. The youngsters are thrilled that theyare going to be joining us. By the time we

complete the project, they will know a lot

about it, and how it was achieved. Hopeully

they will be ambitious enough to compete

against me one day - it is getting boring now,

as no one is really competing with me.

Who is at the helm?

Its more than evident that dynamic local

businesses that are doing well have at the

helm a business owner who is 100% com-

mitted to the operations. Al-Kuwari himsel

stands testimony to this reasoning.Just because you are a local company it

doesn't mean you can take it easy? The only

way to be ahead o the game is to be hands-

on. The reason companies like AEB are suc-

cessul is because their local management

team is ully engaged. Local companies have

the strength o knowledge and insights o

the country that they must leverage to their

advantage.

You cant expect business just because

you are local i you are not willing to put in

that eort. But i the company is competent

and able to do a task, then you have the right

to ask or preerence.

Lack o support

Speaking or SMEs, Qatariat T&D Founder

and Chairperson Buthaina Al-Ansari says

there is not enough support or guidance. I

you only support the well established, and

the giants only support each other, what

happens to the rest o us? I need someone

to guide me and teach me. The small and

medium enterprises get let behind; we are

orced to take on competition in a dierent

one stop shop to help

pRivate Companies

issa aL-Mohannadi rues the Lack

oF guidance For the PriVate sec-

tor. once that is Fixed, the cre-

ation and seLLing oF Brand q wiLL

Be Much easier, he says.

he contends that there is soMe-

thing criticaLLy wrong that soMe-

one has to correct right away.

who? in My oPinion the goVern-

Ment shouLd steP in, he says, sug-

gesting the estaBLishMent oF an

oFFice For this PurPose. this oFFice

wiLL audit coMPanies and Brands,

and categorise theM as Per ca-

PaBiLities. the oFFice wiLL aLso Be

resPonsiBLe For attracting and

nurturing LocaL coMPanies.

it wiLL heLP LocaL Businesses uP

their gaMe, Be it By way oF educa-

tion, technicaL suPPort or con-

suLtancy. heLP theM to estaBLish

quaLity systeMs and work with

theM to Bring theM to a certain

LeVeL. this oFFice shouLd aLso

FaciLitate Business contacts For

theM.

First heLP Me identiFy LocaL coM-

Panies, and then hoLd Me account-

aBLe For using their serVices.

Mandate that these Branded and

categorised coMPanies shouLd Be

giVen PreFerence in tenders.

how do we identiFy and heLP

LocaL coMPanies, he asks. so

there are internationaL coMPa-

nies Based aBroad, with a LocaL

Branch that has qatari inter-

est, and they cLaiM to Be LocaL.

how Much can i dig and ask theM

For structure and ProoF on the

LocaLisation oF their oPerations?

its not PracticaL For us as a

Business.

giVe Me an oFFiciaL List to teLL Me

iF these LocaL coMPanies recruit

resources FroM here and that

they haVe the right caPaBiLities. iF

that source is aVaiLaBLe, we wiLL

take it seriousLy. we now haVe

a tendering coMMittee List and

that List incLudes internationaL

coMPanies.

hoMe-grown coMPanies are now

Fighting oVer the cruMBs, as the

Biggest ProJects wiLL go to inter-

nationaL coMPanies that haVe a

ProVen track record, he Points

out.


8/15



league. We dont have the wherewithal or

that."

She voices a thought shared by another

entrepreneur, Bassam Al-Ibrahim (see in-

terview on pg 48). The larger corporations

need to back us up. I would like to highlight

and speak or this middle generation. Thisgeneration needs to put in triple the eort

to succeed like the rest. The younger gener-

ation on the other hand, those 16 and below,

they have everything education, linguis-

tic skills, techno-awareness. But those o us

rom the 70s, we need to work very hard to

align with the economic development hap-

pening now.

Al-Ansari is o the rm opinion that the

eort to build onesel should come rom the

person or company itsel. Then again, not

everyone has the ability to do so and many

require a bit o hand holding. Now the gov-

ernment has two programmes - one is theQDB-run Al-Dameen (nancing), and the

other or SMEs through Enterprise Qatar.

These support you nancially, and they ed-

ucate you on how to set up. But what about

the next step, when you roll out your busi-

ness, and you want to sell your services or

products?

The consultant complex

There is not sufcient belie in our abilities,

bemoans Al-Ansari. I will educate you, -

nance you, incubate you, but beyond that

how do you buy peoples trust? You, as anentrepreneur, a business owner, need to

take responsibility to earn that trust. The

Government cant really do that. What we

need rom the government is to inuence

larger, established players to buy into us.

She quotes a traditional proverb to

strengthen her argument:I the leader does

not believe in his people, then his people will

not believe in him.

I you see the decision-makers approach

consultants and oreigners, then youll do

the same.

Taking a dig at a common practice, she

says,big corporates love consultation -

and what do the consultants do? They take

inormation rom us and make a presenta-

tion out o it. And they walk away with a mil-

lion riyals in their pocket. Look at the ads in

the magazine and on the billboard even

small things like the abaya and the thobeare depicted wrong we laugh at this.

She underlines the need to tap into local

knowledge. You need our inputs, consult

us. We know what we want, what appeals to

us, not the consultants. Use our expertise.

She also echoes her peers views: We

have to promote ourselves. There is no

other choice. You have to squeeze yoursel

dont wait or things to be handed on a

platter. Youll be stamped out i you dont

do that.

Future perect

Omran Al-Kuwari is very upbeat about thegrowth o the private sector. He says the

road map is available, and its just about

getting in sync with it. Keep in mind that

this is a huge country economically, even i

its small domestically. The Qatar National

Vision (QNV) has already identied areas

where it needs more private participation.

As or Brand Q, he says internationally

its already extremely strong. You think o

Qatar, you think o progress, you think o in-

novation, transparency, good governance.

But isnt that based more on diplomacy

and the unctioning o the Sovereign WealthFund (SWF)? Isnt the lack o separation

between government and private sector an

issue?

It could be an issue, but could it also be

an opportunity?, he asks.

I Qatar has a strong image, even one

built on the governments activities, you

can use that as a springboard. Take ad-

vantage o the situation we are in. We are

well placed to improve the Made in Qatar

brand. There is no reason why this cant

happen. The important thing is to identiy

areas we want to ocus on.

*generaLLy, a non-qatari nationaL, whether naturaL or Juristic, May engage in coMMerciaL

actiVities ProVided the Foreign ParticiPation in the entity does not exceed 49 %. in octoBer

2000, the goVernMent enacted a new Foreign inVestMent Law aiMed at ProMoting Foreign

inVestMent in sPeciFic Business sectors incLuding agricuLture, ManuFacturing, heaLth,

education, tourisM, Power and ProJects which deVeLoP and utiLise the states naturaL

resources. the new Law PerMits uP to 100 % Foreign ownershiP in these Business sectors.

the Law does not aLLow a non-qatari to ParticiPate in Banking, insurance, coMMerciaL

agency or reaL estate trading actiVities.

iF non-qataris are Partners oF a Joint Venture coMPany, then the coMPany is aLLowed to

carry out onLy those Business actiVities stiPuLated By Law For non-qataris.

Yousuf JassiM al-darwish

chairMan, aL-darwish united grouP

"It IS ImPortaNt to UPGradE

tHE CENtral tENdErS

CommIttEE aNd aUdIt

BUrEaU, aNd to rEVIEW aNd

aPPly tENdEr rUlES aNd

rEGUlatIoNS a CCUratEly."


9/15



ow can local companies compete bet-

ter with regional and internationalplayers?

Bassam:Khalia and I have discussed this

so many times. We believe that i you want

to compete with international rms you

need to set standards. This means that the

global standards set today are not the ones

that Qatar ollows, but that Qatar creates its

own standards that the world ollows. Its

about exporting instead o importing.

Khalifa: I agree with Bassam, we denitely

need to get into the business mentality o

wanting to export Qatari brands rather than

ocus on opening up ranchises. I think this

question depends on the company trying

to determine whether it wants to be the

best in Qatar or the best in the world.

There are many challenges:

Companies do not seem to want to em-

ploy local talent or the services o local

businesses because o the belie that a

oreign company means higher quality.

Right now there isnt that much compe-

tition in the market, or local compa-

nies to be able to improve and compete

on a global scale; they need to improvethe quality o their services and nothing

does that better than good old ashioned

competition.

Owning a niche or segment is also a key

actor. People try to do too much. I you

want to succeed pick a product or serv-

ice and work hard at becoming the best

there is. Spreading yoursel too thin

(and its easy to get distracted with so

much potential here in Qatar) is your

ast track to being JUST another anony-

mous company.

h

desPerATeLY

seeking:AngeLs,guideBooksAndfLexiBiLiTY.

kHalIFa SalEH HarooN aNd BaSSam al-IBraHIm arE tHE Co-FoUNdErS

oF IloVEQatar.NEt, aNd tHE CloSESt tHING Qatar HaS to SErI al

ENtrEPrENEUrS. tHEy draW From tHEIr ExPErIENCES to dISCUSS

ISSUES FaCING ENtrEPrENEUrS, oFFEr INSIGHtS oN WHy BraNd Q IS

oFtEN a Hard SEll , aNd CoNSIdEr HoW BESt to CHaNGE tHat.

bassam al-ibRahim


10/15



Why are local corporations reluctant to

use local services and products?

Bassam: The local market is a vast one,

and in recent years the economy has really

stepped up its game to provide the service

and product requirements needed to realise

Qatars National Vision. Unortunately the

quality o these services and products can-not meet the standards required by these

corporations. The labour or white collar

workers placed in these businesses do not

provide the SME quality required to ensure

a Grade A project delivery.

Khalifa: Its hard to get people to start

searching locally. Its one o those Catch-

22 situations. Local companies need to be

given the opportunity to grow and improve,

and those that are hiring want the best rom

Day 1.

Another reason is that many people in

the past would simply go ahead and set up a

company, bring in the cheapest labour/em-ployees they could nd, and the corollary o

this was usually an extremely low quality o

service. People have been burned too many

times.

When I look at the new generation o

start-ups and growing SMEs, Im very im-

pressed with how they apply themselves.

In this situation, how can home-grown

industries make their mark and com-

pete with y by night consultants rom

outside?

Khalifa:There are a number o dierentways; the government could intervene and

try to orce the market to look locally. Thatd

probably help but it might make the local

market lazy and uncompetitive. Either way,

I think when it comes to companies that try

to get a slice o the pie or a quick buck and

run o, its something that the government

has to solve. Otherwise itll demotivate the

local market.

The groundwork or nurturing talent is

being laid through Education City and

other such initiatives. Yet buying local is

seen as inra dig?Khalifa: You made me whip out the diction-

ary there. Inra dig, meaning beneath ones

sel. Hmm, I dont think I would go as ar as

saying that buying locally isnt seen as be-

ing valuable, I just think that the ramework

isnt completely there yet. Ill use an exam-

ple. Take a simple game o connect the dots,

draw the lines rom 1-10 and you get an im-

age. Sadly were missing a ew numbers, so

nobody can really see the big picture.

The younger generation now have the

education needed to start thinking outside

the box to create a new company. But the

requirements rom the Ministry o Business

and Trade (MoBT) are quite strict or start-

ups. I they do manage to tick all the require-

ments, where are they going to rent? Will

it be easy to get the licences they require?

Where are the angel investors and venture

capitalists to invest in great ideas? I theytake a loan rom the bank then theyre stuck

with a strangling interest rate. Its just not

really business-riendly or start-ups and

SMEs.

Bassam: That situation is simply based as o

today. Education city will educate and create

a culture based on learning and knowledge-

sharing so that Qatar can be a knowledge-

based economy. These concepts will create

the new generation o Qataris who will cre-

ate products or services that other young Qa-

taris will thrive on.

These businesses will create high qual-

ity products; young entrepreneurs in Qatarare taking things to a new level. I personally

know o a young Qatari who wants to cre-

ate handbags rom material purchased rom

Italy and London to eventually create a de-

signer handbag collection based out o Qa-

tar. The process has already begun based on

the act that we wish to create a new image

o quality products made by Qataris or the

Qatari market.

It truly is an uphill task or an entrepre-

neur. Despite that, how do we get inter-

ested people to take the leap and becomeentrepreneurs? What can be done at pol-

icy level, and at an educational level?

Bassam: This is something we both discuss

regularly. Firstly entrepreneurs need to be-

lieve in themselves and not quit when the

going gets tough. They need to believe in

their idea and stick with it, as we have.

The policy makers need to ease the proc-

ess o creating a business entity. To create

a WLL in Qatar you need start-up capital

o QR200,000, which does not even include

the unds required to create the business or

the additional unds to rent a location. So to

start your business you would need a mini-mum o QR400,000, which most aspiring

young entrepreneurs simply dont have. Ad-

ditionally most banks wont provide unding

since you need some orm o collateral such

as more unds or real estate - just one barrier

ater another. These busy minds may have an

amazing idea but dont know where to start

when creating a business plan or how to sell

their business once its up and running.

Educating these entrepreneurs in the

ways o business etiquette is so important

to ensure theyre comortable with interna- Khalifa saleh haRoon


11/15



tional business standards to drive Qatars

economy orward.

Khalifa:Well, its all about taking the plunge

and just giving it a go. Did you know that on

average in the Middle East 70% o people

with great ideas have ull-time jobs and work

while trying to set up their business? Theyregiving it a go (albeit without being able to

give it their ull attention).

Even as they innovate and come up with

great ideas, we need to remind people o

RISK. Risk implies that someone has some-

thing to lose. When youre a young person

trying to get your project o the ground,

what do you really have to lose except time?

And lets be honest, your time isnt really

that valuable until youre actually achieving

something worth risking in the rst place.

At a policy level, more exibility is re-

quired to start up a business. Looking at it

rom an educational level, I believe its not just talking about theories, but presenting

success stories to give young entrepreneurs

the condence to give it a go.

Look at us. We didnt start o with much..

We decided that we were going to do every-

thing on our own, invest whatever we could

in ourselves, and just give it a go without

sweating over the small. Now were trying

to encourage and support other young guys,

especially now that Qatar is the place to be.

Once of the ground, what in your mind

is the single most disabling actor whenit comes to local companies selling them-

selves?

Bassam: A company needs to understand

that to reach the wider community you need

to show yoursel o, and since Qatar is now

(besides other ocuses) becoming a tech hub

or the Gul, these companies orget the on-

line space and just create a solution to ll a

void rather than innovate. The MoBT and

ictQatar are promoting businesses and other

requirements to be completely online-based.

So being online is not only an amazing way to

reach your target market and wider commu-

nity, it is playing a role in the 2030 vision.

Khalifa: To sell yoursel, you need to invest

in your idea, take a risk to develop it and then

sell that product to prospective clients. I

think that people arent willing to take those

risks most o the time.

I I had to look at it rom a simplistic point

o view though, I think its the cost o adver-

tising and marketing in this country. To be

honest, the cost o advertising in any medi-

um, be it in print, roadside ads or the radio, is

just ridiculously high. How can smaller com-

panies aord it and market themselves? Ac-

tually, orget small companies, I know large

corporations that cant aord it!

So should the onus o building SMEs be

on the government? Or on the private

sector?

Bassam:Both. The government should as-sist nancially and educate the private sec-

tor to ensure their growth. A mentor told me

that great leaders stand on the shoulders o

giants and not dwars and the same applies

to businesses. These business powerhouses

in Qatar should assist the SME industry to

ensure their growth and in turn the SMEs

will push the powerhouses to the next level.

Khalifa:It starts with the government. Prop-

erties need to be cheaper, requirements or

setting up a business need to be simpler, ac-

quiring licences needs to be straight orward;

there needs to be one central area to get eve-

rything done (rather than running aroundlike a headless chicken trying to gure out

what to do), and there needs to be support

rom the baladiya (Central Municipal Coun-

cil) to help reduce the cost o advertising in

the country. It boils down to transparency

at the end o the day. The problem we have

with SME growth isnt with one department

or area, its a joint eort between the Cen-

tral Bank, the need or competitively priced

commercial districts, reduced requirements

by the MoBT. The list goes on.

In closing, as a businessman, what is theone thing you wish could be done, so you

have air access to the economic pie?

Khalifa: I cant say one thing, but i I ab-

solutely had to select one, Id say we need

more angels, venture capital (VC) unds,

and reduced business start-up rates rom

the banks.

I I could slip in one other thing that we

wished or when we rst started up, its a

guide or road map. Its great hearing theo-

ries and listening to inspirational speakers,

but the question I believe 99% o entrepre-

neurs have is, Whats the road-map? or

what do I need to do to get started? Maybea beginners guide to setting up a business

in Qatar? Where to go, who to speak to,

what to do?

Bassam: More assistance in capital to en-

sure the growth o SMEs in the orm o VCs

and angel investors. This will allow great

minds to launch their great ideas and en-

large the economic pie to ensure more op-

portunities or more entrepreneurs

interViewed By Vani SaraSwathi

BassaM aL-iBrahiM

is an engineering graduate FroM

the uk, MaJoring in teLecoMs. he is

currentLy with VodaFone qatar,

and is actiVeLy inVoLVed in Various

sustainaBiLity PrograMMes in the

country.

khaLiFa saLeh haroon

is a Law graduate FroM the uk and

is currentLy with VodaFone qatar.

he is aLso the Founder oF haroon

united grouP. he recentLy won

the entrePreneur oF the year For

2011 and is working on a nuMBer

oF unique ProJects, ForeMost

oF which is iLq, with the aiM oF

encouraging start-uPs and to

sPruce uP the qatar Brand.

iLoVeqatar.net was an initiatiVestarted By the two in order to

change the way PeoPLe run Busi-

nesses in qatar and to ProMote

a new way oF thinking through

encouraging a deeP PartnershiP

ModeL.

other ProJects in the PiPeLine

incLude iLq radio, creatiVe Minds,

and identity qatar, a Joint Ven-

ture PartnershiP with PJ Media,

Founded By FaMous BBc star Peter

Jones.


12/15



greATerconsumerAWArenessreQuired

raSHEd NaSSEr SraIya al-kaaBI, CHaIrmaN oF tHE INdUStry CommIttEE

aNd Board mEmBEr oF tHE Qatar CHamBEr oF CommErCE aNd INdU Stry

(QCCI), talkS aBoUt tHE Poor SalES PErFormaNCE oF QatarI ProdUCtS,tHE oBStaClES to tHE dEVEloPmENt oF loCal INdUStry, aNd tHE rElUC-

taNCE oF loCal ComPaNIES to lEVEraGE loCal ProdUCtS.

hat is QCCI doing to enable the private

sector to sell its services and products

better?

Were delighted with the launch in January

o the Export Development Agency, known

as Tasdeer, which is dedicated to support-

ing, encouraging and stimulating Qatari ex-

ports o various products and commodities.

It will serve to boost sales o Qatari-made

goods and help Qatari industries establish a

strong presence in world markets, thus bol-stering the local private sector. The agency

will help local companies in all sectors o

activity to create strong enterprises oering

high quality products capable o compet-

ing abroad. The government is taking great

pains to tackle any obstacles or barriers to

the export o Qatari goods, and we would

likewise urge local consumers to buy Qa-

tari products, as this is what will help local

businesses to compete with others. Theres

also the matter o setting up industrial ar-

eas with low interest rates, including one

or ood processing enterprises. All these

things will help to bring about a competitive

local industry.

Whats the main reason people are un-

enthusiastic about Qatari products, and

how can this change?There are a number o things hampering

the appeal o Qatari products in the mar-

ketplace, perhaps the main one being that

some o these goods ail to meet the re-

quired specications or measure up to the

standards o their oreign rivals. Also, some

o our industries ace extra charges, in addi-

tion to the customs duties on exports, which

increase their production costs and thus

lower their sales potential.

As or helping them, the government has

to clamp down on the producers o counter-

eit goods, and punish traders who manipu-

late prices. Secondly, the Consumer Protec-tion Department has to do more to promote

local products so that people become amil-

iar with them, because a lot o it is down to

consumer awareness and patterns o con-

sumption. So they need to run publicity and

advertising campaigns or a whole group o

products to get people amiliar with them.

The government has to support local pro-

ducers, both ood manuacturers and oth-

ers, by means o a support und to subsidise

local industry so that consumers can access

quality products at the best possible price.

W


13/15



Whe knowledge economy represents a para-

digm shit in our ability to guarantee the

uture prosperity and legacy o nations and

peoples. Creating intellectual capital is the

main orm o wealth creation today, account-

ing or 7.3% o GDP in the UK, or example.

In essence this means that o the fve capi-

tals - human, social, fnancial, economic and

intellectual - it is intellectual capital that is

going to provide the opportunity or successand longevity. Its a renewable asset!

Intellectual capital (IC) provides the roots

to nourish and cultivate the uture wellbeing

o nations and organisations. At the corporate

level, intangible investments (intellectual

capital) e.g. reputation and brand manage-

ment, innovation, knowledge creation and in-

cubation, marketing and advertising spend,

are now unanimously considered the most

important determinants o perormance and

competitive advantage. At the macroeconom-

ic level, new growth theories have already

T

inVesT inQATAr. forALL our

fuTuresaNtHoNy rymaN JoINS tHE BUy Qatar dISCUSSIoNS, aNdSPEakS oF tHE rolE loCal CrEatIVE aGENCIES Ca N Play IN

ENHaNCING tHE loCal ECoNomy.

Whats the biggest constraint on the

sales o local products?

Right now the obstacles we ace are in the

process o being eliminated. The QCCIs th

annual consultative meeting with HE the

Prime Minister resulted in a reduction in

interest rates on industrial loans to a maxi-

mum o roughly 3%, and then there was thesetting up o the Export Development Agen-

cy, Tasdeer. So there are very ew remaining

problems, and all we need now is to come up

with some quality local products that con-

orm to hygiene regulations.

Tasdeer is meant to secure its objectives o

helping local industry boosting its export ca-

pacity in a clear and open manner, which will

necessitate bringing representatives rom the

private sector into the agencys management

structure.

At present Qatari products suer rom

weak sales even in the local market, let alone

overseas markets, so Tasdeer should work

rst on marketing Qatari products at home

beore promoting them abroad. And even

beore that, it has to help entrepreneurs de-velop Qatari products to become competitive

in export markets.

Similarly, the Export Development Agency

should maintain a permanent exhibition o

all domestic products so that it stays ully up-

to-date with what Qatari enterprises have to

oer, which will help with their promotion

and development

interViewed By Ezdhar iBrahiM

tHE CoNSUmEr ProtECtIoN dEPart-

mENt HaS to do morE to PromotE

loCal ProdUCtS So tHat PEoPlE

BEComE FamIlIar WItH tHEm,

BECaUSE a lot oF It IS doWN to

CoNSUmEr aWarENESS aNd

PattErNS oF CoNSUmPtIoN

rashed Nasser sraiYa al-Kaabi,

chairMan oF the industry coMMittee and

Board MeMBer oF the qatar chaMBer oF

coMMerce and industry (qcci),


14/15



demonstrated the importance o knowledge

in the perormance o nations.

(Source: The World Bank)

Today, knowledge management is the

currency or trade and growth, and this re-

quires a new kind o creativity, approach

and critical thinking. This means there has

to be a sea change rom a trading and price-

sensitive mentality towards a value-based

mindset that promotes the wealth-creating

potential o people, ocusing especially on

their ideas.

In other words, ocus on value rather thanprice, and people rather than product.

Historically, higher levels o intellectual

capital have been associated with higher

standards o living. However, the power o

knowledge and ideation are not oten as-

sociated with the long-term prosperity o a

nation. This disparity highlights the need to

value intellectual capital and place it at the

centre o a nations value system.

It is people and their ideas that orm the

potential or countries and companies to

prosper.

Systems and processes can capture this

knowledge and provide the storage systemsto enable urther research and development.

This creates a eedback loop to urther de-

velop human capital, thus leading to more

marketable intellectual wealth resulting in

higher nancial well being.

I Qatar and Qatari companies can em-

brace intangible investments (Intellectual

capital) and put them at the centre o their

business environment, they can leaprog

older, more entrenched economies.

The enlightened leadership o Qatar has

set out its vision in the QNV 2030. This ena-

bles investment in intellectual capital (crea-

tivity), education and entrepreneurialism

(human capital) as central to the nations

uture.

Its time to invest in Qatars creativity

to promote inward investment, not just in

companies, systems and processes, but the

intellectual capital that goes with it.

Its time to protect intellectual copyright

in the orm o ideas and designs that sae-

guard the inspiration and capital creation o

the ideas and their owners.

Its time to invest in legacy, knowledgetranser, training and being part o the con-

versation.

Fostering creativity

There is no doubt that the green shoots o

creativity are being nurtured and ostered,

rom QSTP (Qatar Science & Technology

Park) to QMA (Qatar Museums Authority)

and rom Enterprise Qatar to the DFI (Doha

Film Institute). The prolieration o world-

class universities and the rise o gradu-

ates seeking to make their mark and nd

the right livelihood in Qatar mean creative

economy is growing.Creative agencies, whether in advertising,

events, PR or brand communications, pro-

vide the energy and environment to create

and oster the brand reputations o Qatari

companies, creating a unique tone o voice,

look and eel, and brand story to communi-

cate within Qatar and globally.

This will create a virtuous circle, rstly in

attracting global talent - i youve got a pow-

erul dierentiator, youll attract top people.

This talent will create the added value to

support and grow your business. Your brand

IN tHE INtaNGIBlE World oF CrE-

atIVIty aNd INtEllECtUal CaPItal,

It IS Hard to EValUatE CrEatIV-

Ity IN tECHNICal tErmS tHIS

CoUPlEd WItH tHE PrICE FaCtor

HaVE lEd ComPaNIES to PUrCHaSE

SUB-StaNdard tHINkING aNd

CrEatIVIty or ImPort ExPENSIVE

IdEaS From aBroad tHat HaVE Not

NECESSarIly rESoNatEd WItH tHEloCal PoPUlatIoN.


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with its inherent value becomes the acilita-

tor to lower costs and increase margins.

However, there is an inherent blockage in

the system. The growth o the economy to

date has been primarily ocused on the tan-

gible world o hydrocarbons, to process and

distribute oil and gas. In this world, once

technical competencies have been evalu-ated, price became the determinant actor.

In the intangible world o creativity and

intellectual capital, it is hard to evaluate

creativity in technical terms - this coupled

with the price actor has led companies to

purchase sub-standard thinking and crea-

tivity or import expensive ideas rom abroad

that have not necessarily resonated with the

local population.

There is the undamental DNA or soul

story to the country and its people that is

orever changing and growing. Its hard to

quantiy, but its very real. On one side, you

have heritage and tradition used with reli-gion and amily as the primary motivators.

On the other you have youth, vitality, and

enormous ambition brimming with ideas,

hopes and dreams.

It is this usion o let and right that is

orming and developing in Qatar.

We need to help this process along a little

bit by promoting a Buy Qatar campaign to

really ocus everyones attention on invest-

ing in this nations inherent creativity.

Take our agency. I you invest in Buy Qa-

tar trust us with your business we can

invest in bigger and better. Yes, well importpeople with real and measurable award win-

ning talent, but well also invest in and train

the local creative population, hiring more

designer alumni rom Virginia Common-

wealth University, and maybe one day, they

will start their own creative businesses.

Well invest more in creating systems and

processes that help to educate and inorm

our clients, thereby raising the bar again and

again. Through global thinking and crea-

tive local design well be able to grow your

brand and your business, increasing your

market share while reducing your customer

acquisition costs.Its a sel-perpetuating cycle o constant

improvement. It acilitates better crea-

tive work and aster output, because cli-

ent trust is there, derived rom increas-

ing aptitude, knowledge, experience and

intelligence.

Creating a legacy

The knowledge economy starts thriving and

maniesting in myriad small businesses, thus

ostering the entrepreneurial instinct in the

local population, a virtuous circle.

Empowering and protecting our home-

grown creative potential has never been

more important than now. Starting this

journey by changing the rules governing the

hiring o creative agencies, promoting a Buy

Qatar quotient and incentivising local crea-

tive agencies to hire locally will engender

and oster a creative renaissance in Qatar.What would help is raising the withhold-

ing tax on international agencies working

in Doha.

What would also help is some kind o or-

mula which rewards agencies that have been

here in Qatar or a signicant period o time

and are employing designers in Qatar.

Qatari-based companies, especially the

bigger quasi-governmental organisations,

have no real incentive to commission local

design and advertising companies, especial-

ly or the larger, more prestigious accounts.

In act the opposite is true they get kudos

or working with an international agencywhere they can possibly plant the seedlings

or their uture career. Where is the legacy,

transer o knowledge, skill-set or training

or local creatives?

Where is the reinvestment o those ees

in the local economy or in the raising o

creative standards?

Moving orward, there has to be a radical

rethink o what is important or the long-

term viability and success o Qatar Inc. And

I would put it to the powers that be - invest-

ing in your country means investing more in

your people and their ideas. You engenderloyalty, goodwill, passion and progress by

nurturing local creativity. And i we need to

cross-ertilise with international creative

talent, then let them invest in ofces and set

up here, hiring locally-based designers and

committing to training and education, tak-

ing the lead example o Qatar Foundation

who have a joint venture with Fitch.

So Buy Qatar is the rallying cry. Its also

the means whereby we can ensure the long-

term sustainable uture o Qatar by invest-

ing in local creativity and talent

anthony Ryman

is a Branding exPert, and the Managing

director oF grow, a doha-Based creatiVe

agency.he has years oF Branding exPerience in

uk and MiddLe east.

I WoUld PUt It to tHE PoWErS tHat

BE INVEStING IN yoUr CoUNtry

mEaNS INVEStING morE IN yoUr

PEoPlE aNd tHEIr IdEaS. yoU EN-

GENdEr loyalty, GoodWIll,

PaSSIoN aNd ProGrESS By NUrtUr-

ING loCal CrEatIVIty. aNd IF WE

NEEd to CroSS-FErtIlISE WItH

INtErNatIoNal CrEatIVE talENt,

tHEN lEt tHEm INVESt IN oFFICESaNd SEt UP HErE, HIrING loCally-

BaSEd dESIGNErS aNd CommIttING

to traINING aNd EdUCatIoN,

Documents

Selling Brand Q