{"id":39709,"date":"2011-09-07T15:21:00","date_gmt":"2011-09-07T15:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brookings.alley.test\/research\/nurturing-a-knowledge-economy-in-qatar\/"},"modified":"2022-09-09T08:06:59","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T08:06:59","slug":"nurturing-a-knowledge-economy-in-qatar","status":"publish","type":"research","link":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/research\/nurturing-a-knowledge-economy-in-qatar\/","title":{"rendered":"Nurturing a Knowledge Economy in Qatar"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Knowledge, as it is applied in entrepreneurship, research, and product design, is one of the key sources of sustained growth in the global economy. The advancement of a knowledge economy is a central feature of developed and developing countries alike. Innovation, along with rising investment in \u201cintangible\u201d assets, such as research and development (R&amp;D) and information and communication technologies, has become ever more important as a driver of growth. Zamila Bunglawala explores whether Qatar \u2013 a country highly dependent on its oil and gas revenues \u2013 can innovate, diversify, and ultimately reach its aim of creating a knowledge economy.<\/p>\n<p><em>Recommendations for the Qatari government and public institutions:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Looking to the Small Business Innovation<br \/>\nResearch program in the United States as a<br \/>\nmodel, the Qatari government should help<br \/>\nto generate demand for research that is then<br \/>\ntransformed into viable businesses through<br \/>\npublic procurement initiatives.<\/strong> The Small<br \/>\nBusiness Innovation Research program allocates<br \/>\n2.5 percent of the total research budgets<br \/>\nof all federal agencies with budgets over $100<br \/>\nmillion to contracts or grants for small businesses.<br \/>\nThe Qatari government could set a similar<br \/>\ntarget of funds from research budgets to be<br \/>\nallocated to small businesses.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prizes should be granted for business ventures<br \/>\nand innovations.<\/strong> The National Business<br \/>\nPlan \u201cAl Fikra\u201d competition offers a useful<br \/>\nmodel for incentivizing entrepreneurial<br \/>\nideas. The competition allows undergraduate<br \/>\nand graduate students, as well as professionals,<br \/>\nto present business plans to a consortium<br \/>\nof higher education institutions and business<br \/>\ndevelopment groups, who then help convert the<br \/>\nbest ideas into viable businesses by providing<br \/>\nadvice and funding.35 Public institutions, such<br \/>\nas the Ministry of Business and Trade, Enterprise<br \/>\nQatar, and the Ministry of Higher Education<br \/>\nshould now take similar action. In so doing,<br \/>\nrisk-taking behavior will be encouraged<br \/>\nand entrepreneurs rewarded early on in the innovation<br \/>\nprocess, encouraging them to continue<br \/>\ntaking risks. Additionally, national prizes would<br \/>\nadd to the prestige associated with innovation<br \/>\nand business development and therefore grant<br \/>\ngreater cultural acceptance. The National Business<br \/>\nPlan competition, launched in 2011, is the<br \/>\nfirst of its kind to seek to reward innovative ideas,<br \/>\nrather than only final products. Such projects<br \/>\nshould be emulated.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Enterprise Qatar should provide financial<br \/>\nincentives for Qatar\u2019s equity funds and venture<br \/>\ncapital entities to invest in and provide<br \/>\nfinancial support for SMEs.<\/strong> This will increase<br \/>\nsmall and fledgling businesses\u2019 access to funding,<br \/>\nthrough private or public-private equity<br \/>\nfunds, enabling entrepreneurs to advance their<br \/>\nprojects and ideas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Recommendations to Qatari schools and universities:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Schools and universities in Qatar can help<br \/>\nfoster a culture of business development and<br \/>\nrisk-taking by ensuring that these skills are<br \/>\ntaught as an integral part of the educational<br \/>\ncurriculum.<\/strong> This, in turn, will encourage more<br \/>\nstudents to become involved in business and<br \/>\neventually contribute to the transfer of knowledge.<br \/>\nBy adding such classes, a new generation<br \/>\nof Qataris will be more likely to venture into the<br \/>\nprivate sector, thus contributing to the development of a knowledge economy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Universities should expand the incubation<br \/>\nrole currently offered by QSTP for technology<br \/>\ninnovation, through which students<br \/>\ncan gain access to the support of Enterprise<br \/>\nQatar, Silatech, as well as QSTP.<\/strong> In this way,<br \/>\na stronger link can be forged between education<br \/>\nand business creation. Business incubation<br \/>\nby universities will help subsidize risk-taking,<br \/>\nthereby reducing risk aversion. It will also help<br \/>\nfoster an environment in which universities<br \/>\nand students are willing to adopt new ways of<br \/>\nlearning through a combination of research,<br \/>\neducation, and business creation. Universities<br \/>\nshould therefore provide institutional support<br \/>\nto young people with viable business ideas by<br \/>\nabsorbing the initial start-up costs and risks as<br \/>\nwell as providing infrastructure support. By<br \/>\ndoing so, institutions of higher education can<br \/>\nenable real projects to be designed and implemented<br \/>\nby students, within universities, in their<br \/>\nearly stages.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Qatar\u2019s education system, from the primary<br \/>\nschool to university level, needs to support<br \/>\nand meet the requirements of its economy<br \/>\nto ensure immediate and long-term stability<br \/>\nand growth.<\/strong> A comprehensive reform program<br \/>\nof how schools and universities in Qatar can<br \/>\nmeet the government\u2019s objectives for a knowledge<br \/>\neconomy, as outlined in the National<br \/>\nDevelopment Strategy and Qatar National Vision<br \/>\n2030, should be undertaken. Courses emphasizing<br \/>\ncognitive problem-solving, creative<br \/>\nthinking, and vocational and technical skills<br \/>\nshould be emphasized.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Recommendations for the private sector in Qatar: <\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Qatar\u2019s private sector can aid in the development<br \/>\nof the knowledge economy by<br \/>\nimproving access to finance.<\/strong> The QCCI and<br \/>\nQBA should lobby financial institutions in Qatar<br \/>\nto increase bank lending for local enterprises<br \/>\nfrom the current 0.5 percent to the current<br \/>\nnon-GCC level of 13 percent, and the World<br \/>\nBank target rate of 21 percent for SMEs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The QCCI and QBA, working in conjunction<br \/>\nwith Enterprise Qatar and similar organizations,<br \/>\nshould draw up a new regulatory<br \/>\nframework to increase transparency and<br \/>\nbanking competitiveness in financial lending<br \/>\nto SMEs.<\/strong> In this way, subsidized bank lending<br \/>\ncan be effectively monitored and evaluated<br \/>\nto ensure that it facilitates the establishment of<br \/>\nnew businesses and new growth for existing<br \/>\nones.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Recommendations for international organizations: <\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Drawing from the Tunis Declaration, the<br \/>\nWorld Bank, through its Education for<br \/>\nKnowledge Economy program, can provide<br \/>\nQatar with direct support, guidance, and<br \/>\nexpertise to advise on improving the Qatari<br \/>\neducation system.<\/strong> The Bank and similar organizations<br \/>\ncan also help ensure that networks<br \/>\nof innovation and knowledge economy experts<br \/>\nare made known and available to Qatar. This<br \/>\nsupport will help Qatar further advance its<br \/>\nknowledge economy by increasing the skills<br \/>\nlevels of the workforce, guiding local businesses,<br \/>\nand ensuring positive movement toward<br \/>\nmeeting the World Bank target of 21 percent<br \/>\nbank lending for SMEs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":465189,"template":"","class_list":["post-39709","research","type-research","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research\/39709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/research"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}