(MENAFN- The Peninsula) joel johnson |
The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: According to the latest report by World Bank, Qatar's economy is expected to thrive by 3.4 percent in 2023, with several industries blooming in the country, especially technology. Experts, however, point out that the country is encouraging more tech-based startups with unique activities to further the growth.
During a panel talk held at the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Tower, officials including Marwan Mahmoud, DTA Founding Board Member and CEO of MOSECO Qatar, Jamal Bdeir, Small and Medium Business Lead at Microsoft Qatar, Aditya Sinha, Head of Fintech, QFC and Seung-Wook Lyeo, COO, Vesuvio Labs discussed on the cloud infrastructure support, Venture capital, business feasibility principles, go-to-market strategy and the significance of having mentors in an early stage business.
Speaking on the business that helps startups develop in the region, Microsoft official Jamal Bdier said:“Microsoft is an ecosystem platform provider and we believe in the power of the ecosystem. When you look at a startup, they automatically consider startup as a future potential partner for us that can help tame that solution which is usually startup to our customers, and then bring something new to the table.”
He further expounded that there are a few main things that are required for any start-up and they are access to technology, access to markets, and access to capital.
He continued by saying that“Access to technology can be conveniently received from Microsoft and other firms and that's easy. Microsoft makes a big difference in ecosystems and if I look at it we have been using it in the Middle East for over 25 years. For more than 20 years, we have worked closely with government bodies, private sectors, and industry leaders to raise the level of awareness of establishing technology. This takes time and cannot be done overnight. So it took us a long time to get to the market where we are today in the Middle East.”
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Aditya Sinha, Head of Fintech at QFC highlighted the vital roles being carried out in terms of partnership, ecosystem, collaborations, and co-creation among others. Sinha said“Currently we are focusing on how to co-create this ecosystem and how we can connect the dots in the journey of any fintech or startup that requires a lot of support.
Sinha also stressed that there are three main things to note in the country including“attracting the businesses here and abroad, developing by collaborating and building partnerships under the same umbrella so that it comes easier for them and also expand in terms of how we can help them scale here in Qatar as well as abroad.”