Qatar supplement

In the 90’s Qatar’s vision todevelop its natural gas in-

dustry was dismissed by manyas a dream. Today it is theworld’s largest producer of liq-uefied natural gas (LNG), andrevenues from its hydrocarbonresources have made it one ofthe world’s wealthiest coun-tries.This wealth has spurredtremendous and rapid devel-opment,giving many Qataris ataste – albeit a potentially pre-carious one,given that it is sole-ly based on the exploitation ofa non-renewable resource –of luxury.To counter this precarious-

ness,in 2008 His Highness TheEmir Sheikh Hamad bin KhalifaAl-Thani and his cabinet for-mulated a strategic growth planto ensure that revenues fromLNG are put to wise use forthe benefit of future genera-tions. Dubbed the QatarNational Vision 2030 (QNV),the plan is based on the pillarsof human,social,economic andenvironmental development.“It’s imperative that the speedof growth will not harm theeconomy,will not harm the ba-sic tenets of sustainable devel-opment, will not create socialproblems between different

groups and will not affect theenvironment,” explains DrIbrahim Ibrahim, SecretaryGeneral for Development andPlanning.One of the QNV’s main fo-cuses for human development,and the creation of a knowl-edge-based economy, is edu-cation.Allocating USD4.8 bil-lion for education for the2010/2011 fiscal year, the gov-ernment is building new schoolsand universities,many housedin Qatar Foundation’sEducation City, and attractingforeigners that can help es-tablish world-class schools and

at the same time pass on theirvaluable skills to local profes-sionals in the sector.Qatar must adapt its curricu-lum to prepare Qataris for em-ployment in the private sec-tor. Currently, 88 per cent ofemployed Qatari nationals arein the public sector.Meanwhile,the private sector comprisesmainly expats and unqualifiedimmigrants.Consequently,theQNV lays the groundwork forincentivising local workers toenter professional and man-agement roles in the business,health and education sectors.Along the same lines, anothermajor tenet of QNV is to re-duce the country’s reliance onhydrocarbons.While Qatar isliving its LNG heyday,the gov-ernment is preparing for a fu-ture in which the resourcesare depleted.“We must trans-form revenues and the tech-nology and the capacity build-ing from the oil and gas indus-tries to every sector of theeconomy,” says Dr IbrahimIbrahim.

QATARWEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2010

The nation’s dedication toexcellence takes the world stage

ISLAMIC FINANCE

Instilling confidence in investorsAmidst the global recession, Islamic Finance is becomingever more attractive to weakened economies PPAAGGEE 22

EDUCATION

15 years empowering future generationsQatar Foundation strives to develop the nation’s potentialthrough education, science and social initiatives PPAAGGEE 33

REAL ESTATE

The life you imaginedThe Pearl-Qatar, a freehold property, is becoming theMiddle East’s most glamorous address PPAAGGEE 44--55

From Qatarto the world

FACTS &FIGURES

Languages�Arabic (official), Englishcommonly used as asecond language

Capital�Doha

Location�Middle East, peninsulabordering the PersianGulf and Saudi Arabia

Climate�Arid; mild, pleasantwinters; very hot, humidsummers

Population�833,285 (July 2010 est.)

Naturalresources�Petroleum,natural gas, fish

GDP per capita�$121,400 [£77,060](2009 est.)

Source: CIA World Factbook

Qatar is converting itswealth from natural re-

sources into other, more last-ing kinds of riches: education,humanitarian aid and health. Inother words, Qatar is estab-lishing the hallmarks of sus-tainable development.

The country is becoming acasebook study of how anemerging market can speed upits economic growth and socialdevelopment whilst preservingits history,traditions and culture.And much of this is due to thevision of H H The Emir SheikhHamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani andhis wife, Sheikha Mozah bintNasser Al Missned.This royalcouple is using revenues fromQatar’s thriving natural gas in-dustry to meet UN MillenniumDevelopment Goals, raise hu-man capital and reach out toother countries in need.

One of the main drivers ofthese initiatives is QatarFoundation.Established in 1995by the Emir and chaired bySheikha Mozah, QatarFoundation works to develophuman potential under thethreefold mission of education,scientific research and com-munity development.

In 2002, Qatar Foundation officially inaugurated EducationCity.The expansive project is a1,000-hectare campus on theoutskirts of Doha,anchored byseven US universities as well asthe Qatar Faculty of IslamicStudies.This regional centre ofeducational excellence affordsQataris and international stu-dents access to a world-classeducation, thereby preparingthem for employment in theprivate sector – a sector pri-marily dominated today by ex-patriates due to the heretoforelack of local expertise.

Under Sheikha Mozah,QatarFoundation has also success-fully launched the WorldInnovation Summit forEducation (WISE) Initiative, aplatform for international,proactive collaboration in thefield of education.In the wordsof Her Highness,“WISE is basedon the practical awareness thatthe challenges in education areno longer bound by countries’political boundaries and,there-fore,its mandate is international.WISE recognises that the chal-lenges facing the world com-munity have never been greater– that we need innovative so-

lutions not achieved by tradi-tional approaches alone.WISEasserts that the desire to in-novate is, in fact, an innate hu-man need to shape and improveour environment."

A stalwart proponent of development, Sheikha Mozahregularly represents her coun-try at international conferencesand speaks at public events.Most recently,she attended the21 September MillenniumDevelopment Goals summit inNew York,where she explainedher motivation:“My passion iseducation for all, regardless ofgender, location or circum-stance.I am publicly involved ineducational issues so I have re-alised that without major re-form in Qatar we will never beable to achieve political and so-cial changes and ensure eco-nomic sustainability for ourcountry.”

Progress has indeed beenmade since 2000, when theMillennium Goals were set.According to a report preparedby the Qatar Statistics Authority,many goals have been achievedfive years before their 2015deadline. Literacy rates havetouched 99 per cent among

both males and females and thegender gap in education hasbeen bridged.

As an extension of its effortsto reach the Millennium Goalsand contribute to global de-velopment, Qatar has inaugu-rated its “Hope For” initiative.“Hope For” is a proposal to in-crease the effectiveness of mil-itary and civilian resources indisaster relief under the um-brella of the UN.

Qatar is truly moving its ideasfrom blueprints to reality, util-ising its windfall hydrocarbonrevenues for universally bene-ficial and lasting causes.

Qatar’s master planfor sustainability

Vision 2030

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Founded in January 2008by Her Highness Sheikha

Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned with broad supportfrom other international lead-ers and organisations,Silatechis an innovative socialenterprise that address-es the critical need tocreate job and econom-ic opportunities for theyouth of Qatar and theregion.

Silatech is playing anenormous role in bal-ancing the Arab world’sunprecedented eco-nomic growth with sur-prisingly high levels ofunemployment, under-employment and short-age of opportunitiesamong young people.By en-gaging the public and privatesectors to help this segmentof society take their places in

the region’s growing knowl-edge-based economies,Silatech contributes to over-coming the challenges thatnew wealth and a demo-graphic shift have brought

about.Wide GDP expansion,coupled with a growing youngpopulation, present a wholenew window of opportunity

for MENA countries, and ifproperly harnessed,can pavethe way for long-term, sus-tainable economic growth.

Silatech works across threecritical domains – thought

leadership, investmentand technology – bring-ing together leading re-searchers and institu-tions,large-scale invest-ment and innovativetechnologies for the sakeof youth empowerment.

Just five months afterit was created, Silatechparticipated at the DohaSummit, where it mus-tered help from morethan 200 participantswho joined in discus-sions to galvanise en-

trepreneurship and promotelarge-scale job creation aswell as access to capital andmarkets.

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Distributed with The Daily Telegraph. Produced by PM Communications who take full responsibility for and are solely liable for the content

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Qatar’s wealth from the oil and gas sector is beingreinvested into society for sustainable developmentand for the generations to come

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QATAR22 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2010

Qatar’s energy industry hassome of the highest op-

erational standards in the worldand Velosi plays a vital role insafeguarding the industry’s as-sets and resources. From de-sign analysis to project man-agement and ISO certification,Velosi is heavily involved in theindustry, taking its proactivequality assurance services toheavyweights such as QatarPetroleum (QP),Qatargas andRasGas.In August,QP extendedVelosi’s worldwide inspection,engineering,expediting and cer-tification contract by a furtherthree years, following a newtender process; this is Velosi’sfourth contract extension fromQP and reflects the confidencethe majors have in the company.

“Velosi caters for the needsof all the major oil companiesaround the world. When it

comes to specific projects inlocal countries, their needsmight be different.We knowthe needs,knowledge and ex-pertise of each country,and wehelp with the local expertise.We are good at that, and canserve a particular client in amore advantageous way thanother companies,” says PandraSudhir, regional manager(Middle East) of Velosi.

The company started out in1982 as a small inspection firmand has since diversified into awhole host of areas and is oncourse to be the global num-ber one for quality control.

“We offer solutions for qual-ity assurance and quality man-agement to a larger extent.Wecan show any organisation howto plan for quality in the wholemanufacturing process and de-fine the Key Performance

Indicators (KPIs) as well as asystem for them so that thereare almost zero defects,” saysMr Sudhir.“They will then beable to maintain their qualityand achieve what they havebeen aiming for.That is how we

help companies to establish aQuality Management system,and design and implement it.At the same time, in specificprojects we also offer qualitycontrol and assurance.Our ex-perts go there and get involvedin each step of the process.”

Demand for the group’sservices remains robust as itregistered 38% and 24%growth in its Australasian andEuropean revenues respec-tively,although the Middle Eastremains its largest market.

Wherever it operates,Velosibelieves in developing localknowledge and expertise.

“Whatever country wework for, we help them totrain locals.We pass on ourexpertise to the locals andtrain them and help them toexcel in their work,” says Mr.Sudhir.

Global quality assurance from Velosi

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S e l e c tTransporta-tion Serviceshit the roadin late 2006

when two of the region’s ma-jor groups came together toprovide quality car leasing andrental services in Qatar.

The joint venture betweenQatar’s NBK Group and the AlMulla Group of Kuwait is backedby decades of experience andaccess to a meticulously main-tained fleet comprising 75%Mitsubishi vehicles,10% Honda,10% Nissan,and a 5% mix thatincludes Chevrolet automo-biles.Select’s edge over its com-petitors in the fledgling Qataricar leasing and rental industryis further sharpened by its part-ner’s (NBK Group) presence inthe iconic Mercedes brand, asalso in automotive ancillariessuch as Bosch,Ziebart,Michelin,Kawasaki and Harley-Davidson.It also offers cars for sale andfleet management services.

Global economic belt tight-ening has put the squeeze onmost services and industriesworldwide. Corporate ac-counts managers scour thebooks for financial fat to trim,changing their focus from longto short-term outlays in orderto target their strangulated cashflow into keeping the enter-prise alive.Therefore, it makesextra sense to shift away from

expensive car purchases to leas-ing and rentals.

“Banks probably used to callsomebody from the street tooffer loans and credit cards,”says Dipankar Kanjilal, generalmanager of Select Transporta-tion Solutions,albeit in a lightervein.“It was that much easierfrom a bank’s perspective be-cause they were all very keento expand their loan portfo-lios.Today it is the opposite. Itis a very knee-jerk reaction tothe whole so-called financialmeltdown. I am sure that thispart of the world has not beenaffected to the extent that theEuropean and US markets havebeen, but everyone has tight-ened their purse strings.As aresult it has become even moredifficult for an expat – who arethe primary clients for usedcars – to get a loan from thebank to buy a used car. In thatcase,the leasing of a vehicle ei-ther from us or any other op-erator offering quality servicecan be a very good idea.”

Instead of buying a new carwith a bank loan, Select offersthe chance to rent or lease acar for up to three years andgive it back with no charge,en-abling customers to drive a high-er quality of vehicle than oth-er options may afford them,and also the ability to changecars every one to three years.

A Select Lease Contract re-

quires no down payment, butbanks and finance companiesgenerally require a cash depositto generate equity in the car.

Major repairs are coveredby the manufacturer’s warran-ty and routine services are in-cluded as part of the agree-ment.Furthermore,at the endof the contract customers re-turn the car and can either takea new vehicle under a new con-tract or simply walk away.Unforeseen events like acci-dents are taken care of by pro-viding a loaner car and thus itensures that the user is neverwithout a vehicle for a single day.All that is required in such cas-es is a police report and the restis taken care of by Select.

The company has plans forexpansion into other niches.“I

would like to grow more in thecommercial segment especial-ly in terms of buses,like the 15-seater microbus or minibus,orthe 30-seater and large 66-seater buses,although that re-quires huge capital investment.For instance, a 66-seater air-conditioned bus would requirearound 300,000 rials (£51,840),which is about the same priceas six Lancers.Obviously giventhe fact that we are two biggroups, we have a lot more fi-nancial and borrowing power,”says Mr Kanjilal.“We are real-ly very keen on buses becauseI am convinced that there ismore revenue earning poten-tial. Our fleet is mainly gearedtowards the oil and gas con-struction industry and themovement of employees.Oncewe can build up a sizeable fleetof buses we can go into trans-portation of school children.We can definitely explore thatarea though.”

Select puts great stock onits quality customer service andattention to detail.“I think thatover time service and value willbe given more considerationand price will also be a factor,but not the key factor. Goodplayers will then be present inthe market and the mom andpop operations will be phasedout,” says Mr Kanjilal.

■ EExxppeerrttiissee aanndd qquuaalliittyy sseerrvviiccee aarree tthhee hhaallllmmaarrkkss ooff QQaattaarr’’ss pprreemmiiuumm ccaarr lleeaassiinngg aanndd rreennttaall ccoommppaannyy

Select the best in Qatari auto leasing

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QInvest instils confidence in investors

Islamic Finance experiencedexponential growth in the

1980s and is nowadays enjoy-ing another ‘rebirth’ as banksin Western countries begin of-fering more and more Shariah-compliant financial services.

Shariah-compliant invest-ment banks are in their hey-day as well, managing severalhundred billion pounds worthof assets around the world.Indeed,over the past decade,Islamic Finance has been grow-ing at twice the rate of con-ventional financing in theMiddle East.

Qatar’s leading investmentbank is QInvest,led by chairmanH E Sheikh Jassim bin Hamadbin Jaber Al Thani. Licensed inApril 2007 with a capital of onebillion US dollars and now paid-up capital of around USD750million,QInvest’s shareholdersinclude Qatar Islamic Bank(QIB) and other major institu-tional and prominent high networth investors from Qatarand the region.

According to the bank’sCEO,Shahzad Shahbaz,IslamicFinance has proved more ro-bust and has weathered the recession better than tradi-tional banks because of sev-eral fundamentals.“When youfinance someone,” he says,“there needs to be a clear pur-pose and an underlying assetthat you are financing.You donot finance for speculative purposes and there are limi-tations in Islamic Finance par-ticularly around how muchleverage you can provide,andwhat kind of leverage is ac-ceptable for a company toraise in terms of ratios.”

He says that much of theeconomic crisis is a conse-quence of speculation,exces-sive leverage,and “sometimesthere was no clear purposeas to what finance was beingprovided for.”

Ultimately,however, IslamicFinance can still be impactedby normal credit risk.“Whenyou read articles in the press

saying Sukuks are now run-ning into problems and whatis going to happen because ofthis or that default – it is nor-mal commercial risk at the endof the day,” claims Mr Shahbaz.

Though only three years old,QInvest has consolidated itsposition as a strong leaderacross the region, offering is-suer clients and investor clientsa very comprehensive andcomplete range of servicesalong four core business lines:investment management, in-vestment banking,wealth man-agement and brokerage,whichis currently being developed.

Recently, the bank has un-dertaken a growth planthrough strategic acquisitionsthat are helping QInvest togrow in terms of geographi-cal expansion and in areas ofexpertise.

In May of 2009, QInvest acquired a strategic 47 percent stake in PanmureGordon, a 130-year oldLondon-based brokerage firm.This investment will help expand the bank’s footprintboth in the UK and in the USthrough Panmure Gordon’ssubsidiary,Think-Equity.

Earlier this year,QInvest ac-quired 25 per cent in AmbitGroup in India, a market thebank’s clients have been itch-ing to enter. “Inevitably, India

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YYoouusseeff HHuussssaaiinn KKaammaall,, MMiinniisstteerr ooff FFiinnaannccee

‘You do not financefor speculative

purposes and thereare limitations on

how much leverageyou can provide’

and China are on everyone’sradar.To be able to partner andinvest in an entity like Ambitgives us very credible expert-ise on the ground in India tobasically help our clients,whether they are interestedin direct or portfolio invest-ment,” says Mr Shahbaz.

QInvest’s presence in dif-ferent countries and sectors,coupled with its expertise inidentifying investment oppor-tunities, is ultimately helpingQatar to diversify its owneconomy.It is also raising con-fidence among Qatari in-vestors to invest abroad,especially the UK.

The strength and quality ofthe platform is borne out bythe range of deals and trans-

actions that QInvest has exe-cuted.These include acting assole financial advisor on behalfof Qatari Diar to purchase theUS Embassy in London; finan-cial advisor on behalf of QatarIslamic Bank in the develop-ment of a multipurpose megamall that will be developed inpartnership with UAE-basedAl Futaim Group; and leadmanager and bookrunner onbehalf of QIB for a highly suc-cessful debut internationalSukuk,representing the first in-ternational Sukuk transactionfrom a Qatari financial institution.

Other ventures include the2009 joint venture with ABNAMRO,previously Fortis BankNederland.The first Shariah-

compliant shipping fund focused on mezzanine finance,the QInvest-Fortis BankNederland Shipping Fund hasafforded the Qatari bank apartner with expertise in anew sector as well as a solidplatform to give its clients.

On the investment man-agement side,QInvest has ac-quired a 40.8 per cent stakein Intercat and Butlers,one ofthe UAE’s leading outsourcedhospitality, dry cleaning andlaundry services companies.The investment will enableIntercat to continue to growits business in the UAE andexpand into other GCC mar-kets.

Additionally, the firm has developed sophisticated

wealth management offeringsled by a talented team of experts and supported by acutting edge technology.

QInvest has an enduringcommitment to supportingthe communities in which itoperates.The firm has devel-oped a programme of corpo-rate social responsibility activities including funding arange of charitable, educa-tional,social,cultural and sport-ing organisations and events.In addition,the company spon-sors conferences, seminarsand other initiatives which support the growth of Shariah-compliant financial services locally and across the region,and further enhance the status of the State of Qatar.

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After Qatar launched itsLNG programme in 1997

– in the midst of the oil pricecrash, ironically – it was alldownhill from there.The econ-omy skyrocketed, investmentpoured in and Qatar becamea regional economic power-house practically overnight.

Additionally,the governmenthad the long-term vision toprevent over-dependence onthe oil and gas industry, en-couraging other industries togrow using local feedstock,andimporting know-how from theeducation and health sectorsto ensure a sustainable futurefor Qataris.In May this year,the

Economist Intelligence Unitpredicted real GDP growth tosurge to more than 23 per cent,before slowing to 12.7 per centin 2011.However, in Octoberthese figures were revised,showing a more sustained lev-el of growth over the next year:whilst growth is expected toreach just 19.4 per cent thisyear, next year will see a verystrong 15.9 per cent.

The Minister of Finance,Yousef Hussain Kamal, notesthat these figures dependlargely on the price of oil.“Expectations for 2010, ac-cording to the IMF,” he says,“are actually higher.Now they

are talking about almost morethan 30 per cent. If you takethe price of oil today it will bevery close to that.”

Either way,Qatar has avoid-ed the worst of the global re-cession (in contrast to Dubaiand its real estate bubble,Qataroffers a commodity in constant,high demand), with the addedbonus of enjoying a current ac-count surplus of 15.7 per centof GDP in 2010.Five years ago,the government founded theQatar Investment Authority(QIA) as a sovereign wealthfund to employ its extra oil andnatural gas surpluses in long-term strategic investments.

Meanwhile, the Ministry ofFinance recently opened threesectors – ICT, distributionservices and consultative andtechnical work services – toallow full foreign ownership ina move to attract more in-vestment and encourage thedevelopment of capital-inten-sive support services for thehydrocarbon industry.

“The oil and gas industryneeds a lot of services suchas insurance, banking, trans-port, housing and telecoms,”explains Mr Hussain Kamal,adding that Qatar offers agood investment environmentand an easy tax regime, with

access to a market of morethan 200 million people.

Currently in the pipeline isthe establishment of a neworganisation within theMinistry of Business and Tradethat will encourage the par-ticipation of the public andprivate sectors in small andmedium industries. “I thinkthere are many opportunitiesfor farmers within these smalland medium sized industries,”says the Minister of Finance,“but I have to say that thisshould be capital-intensive,not labour-intensive. If it islabour-intensive,this is not forour economy.”

Investors wary of entering the Middle East can rest easy in the Qatari market

Qatar: open for business


QATAR 33WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2010

When it comes to prop-erty development in

Qatar, sustainability is thekeyword and sustainable de-sign practices are driving aninnovative development inthe heart of the capital.

Dohaland, a subsidiary ofthe Qatar Foundation andfounded in 2009,is behind thedevelopment of Musheireb,the world’s first sustainabledowntown regenerationproject, which will regener-ate 35 hectares of theMohammed bin JassimDistrict of Doha, symbioti-cally combining the cultural

architectural heritage ofQatar’s ancestors with thetechnology of tomorrow.

Under the philosophy ofthe Qatar Foundation –chaired by HH SheikhaMozah bint Nasser AlMissned – Dohaland’s de-velopment ethos is basedon five core principles: in-novation, heritage, environ-ment, sustainability and en-richment.

At an overall cost of QR20billion (£3.35 billion) andcompletion set for 2016,Musheireb is designed to re-spect the local climate and

norms of the region, draw-ing on the nation’s architec-tural heritage,maximising itsnatural resources and pro-moting community living.

After three years of col-laboration with internation-al institutions on how tomaximise the integration ofMusheireb into its environ-ment,Dohaland CEO Issa MAl Mohannadi is confidentthat this green city will be ablueprint for the future ofurban planning. “Peopleshould take this developmentand others which are ap-pearing now in Qatar as ex-

amples and standards for thefuture. The old neighbour-hoods of Qatar reflect thefundamental importance ofcommunity in architecturaldesign. These Fireejs, orneighbourhoods, encom-passed the culture,traditionsand values of a unified soci-ety and expressed in theirvery design, ideas like ex-tended families, kinship ties,societal activism, local econ-omy, collective identity anda high degree of environ-mental awareness.Skyscrapersand superhighways are notconducive to this.”

Musheireb has sustainabil-ity at its core. Its design aimsto eliminate some of the is-sues inherent in an expand-

ing metropolis,such as heavyreliance on cars to reach ba-sic amenities as well as so-cial, educational and healthcare facilities.

As with all projects of thisscale, a vast amount of man-power is required.On August10, 2010, Dohaland an-nounced 1,000,000 manhours worked without anylost time incidents.Mohammad Al Marri, proj-ect director of Dohaland,comments,“This milestone isa reflection of the strict lo-cal and international stan-dards that we have appliedthroughout the project andunderscores our commit-ment to the highest stan-dards of safety managementand the welfare of all our

workers,contractors and as-sociates on the project.”

Recent contracts with hos-pitality firms, such as theMandarin Oriental HotelGroup’s plans for 160 luxu-rious guestrooms in theMusheireb project and a dealwith Premier Inn for a 200-room budget hotel inEducation City, provide fur-ther testament to the com-pany’s ambition and inte-grated approach to devel-opment.

The Musheireb develop-ment will contain over 100buildings with a combinationof commercial and residen-tial properties, retail, cultur-al and entertainment as wellas an underground car park.The first phase, referred to

as the ‘Diwan Amiri Quarter’,currently under construc-tion, features a combinationof three major governmentbuildings,along with heritagesites, museum, cultural fo-rum and an Eid PrayerGround. The first phase isdue for completion in 2012.

“I see this project as thebeginning of a journey. It isthe start of something great.The idea is not to hold thisproject for ourselves, but tohave it as an example andone day,see technologies wehave developed exportedworldwide. We must shareour knowledge with every-body as this will undoubt-edly help our children flour-ish in the future,” says Mr AlMohannadi.

A dramatic new vision for community-based living in the capital citylays out a blueprint for city design with more than a touch of green

Dohaland

An outstanding achievement in urban planning blends traditionalQatari architecture with environmental and community innovation

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In common with other GCCcountries, Qatar has long

recognised the need to secureits future in a post-carbonworld, knowing that it can’trely on natural resources,whether pearls, oil or gas.

Unlike other GCC coun-tries,Qatar has chosen to doso by becoming a knowledgeeconomy:a cradle of innova-tion,based in the Middle East,but global in scope and im-pact.

Chaired by Her HighnessSheikha Mozah bint Nasser AlMissned, Qatar Foundationfor Education, Science andCommunity Development,recognises the shortage inthe skills and human capitalneeded for this economy,andhas made it its mandate to fos-ter the creativity,intellect andcritical thinking that are keyto a knowledge economy; to

‘unlock human potential’ inQatar and the world.

It began in 1995 as a high-quality K-12 school for Qatarinationals and expatriate resi-dents,and has grown into a 15million square metre campusthat educates 3,000 elemen-tary, secondary, undergradu-ate and graduate students frommore than 70 countries – andis home to the R&D labs ofsome of the world’s leadingmultinational firms.

Programmes at EducationCity are broad-ranging frombusiness administration tofashion design,from computerscience to international pol-itics, and from journalism tomedicine.

Education City also wel-comes postgraduate studentsthrough Hautes EtudesCommerciales (HEC) Paris’EMBA program. Its Qatar

Faculty of Islamic Studies,launched in 2007, strives toprovide modern and toler-ant interpretations of Islam,and which celebrated its firstgraduation last May.

One of the major advan-tages of Education City iscross-registration.A studentcan major in computer sci-ence at Carnegie MellonUniversity – the world’s num-ber one ranked computer sci-ence faculty – and changebuildings to listen to a lecturerat Georgetown and take aclass in fashion design at VCU.“There is a strong sense thatyou can get an education herethat you can’t get anywhereelse in the world,” says DeanG Richard Tucker fromCarnegie Mellon UniversityQatar.

Dr Fathy Saoud, theEgyptian-born president of

Qatar Foundation, says thatcoeducation of men andwomen was perhaps thebiggest change of all. “Themessage was clear from thebeginning: education is themost effective way to institutechange and Education City isthe most exciting project Ihave seen in my lifetime.”

But Education City offersstudents much more than ac-ademic degrees. It providesthem with a world-class ed-ucation, a global experienceand opportunities for real lifework experience and train-ing.Students can apply for in-ternships at Qatar Foundationmember organisations such asReach out to Asia,the USD7.9billion endowed Sidra Medicaland Research Centre, AlJazeera Children’s Channel,or work in Qatar’s first freetrade zone:the Qatar Scienceand Technology Park.

Qatar Foundation is alsohome to some of the mostunique initiatives in the Arabworld: unleashing the powerof words and opinion.Runninginto its seventh season,TheDoha Debates, which is tel-evised on the BBC WorldService,has been so successfulit has resulted in Qatar-Debate, a debating schoolwhere young Qataris canlearn to be independent andcritical thinkers.

Sheikha Mozah’s vision forthe future of Qatar parallelsthat of the Emir,her husband.Education, scientific advanceand healthcare are her primeconcerns, and in particularthe future of young people.As she puts it: “It is heart-ening to see the benefits of acoordinated approach to de-veloping this country’s great-est resource – the potentialof its people.”

Qatar Foundation strives to develop the nation’s potentialthrough education, science and social initiatives

Education City

Fifteen years of empoweringfuture generations

For thousands of years, pi-oneering technology has

long been a key element ofpower and control. Much asthe Roman Empire was ableto flourish thanks to its vastnetwork of roads, the worldhas become increasinglysmaller with many nationsand corporations poolingtheir resources in order to ad-vance technology for the ben-efit of mankind.

The Qatar Science &Technology Park (QSTP) isthe most recent developmentdesigned to attract the in-ternational community andentrepreneurs to develop andcommercialise their technol-ogy. Supported by the QatarFoundation, QSTP is one ofthe first initiatives to com-bine an industry-universitycollaboration.Based in Doha’sEducation City, it has beendesigned to attract some ofthe brightest minds to its in-stitutions and has already se-cured a number of blue-chipcompanies including Exxon-Mobil, Microsoft and Shell.

At an initial cost of USD655million (£416 million), QSTP

offers state-of-the-art officesand laboratories for its clientsas well as the option to tai-lor facilities to exacting spec-ification. Since opening itsdoors in March 2009, the fa-cility has become home toover 35 member organisa-tions crossing the energy,en-vironment, health sciencesand ICT sectors.

While many companieswould have expected exu-

berant premiums, the QatarFoundation is aware that suf-ficient financial incentives needto be implemented in orderto attract some of the world’slargest corporations.This be-ing the case, QSTP has beengiven the right to conductbusiness as a free-trade zone.Some of the key benefits in-clude the incorporation of alocal company (or operate asa branch of a foreign compa-

ny),100 per cent foreign own-ership (as opposed to thestandard 49 per cent), duty-free import of goods and serv-ices, and zero rate tax.

QSTP has a range of toolsthat deliver support for tech-nology development that aredesigned to create technol-ogy-based innovation andknowledge-related ventures.Available to small companies,corporations and research in-

stitutions, these tools are fo-cused on activities such asfunding new ventures, devel-oping intellectual property,technology management skillsand product developmentsupport.QSTP and its clientshave together committedover USD245 million (£155million) per annum to theseactivities.This will ensure thatQSTP remains not only ahome for technology devel-

opment, but also a sustain-able innovation eco-systemand be fundamental to deliv-ering its vision of achievingrecognition as an internationalhub for applied research, in-novation and entrepreneur-ship in Qatar.

Funding and technologyaside,the real core benefit ofthis scientific hub is the ac-cessibility to localised re-search institutes and with sev-en internationally renowneduniversities on its doorstep,QSTP provides unrivalled ac-cess across all fields, such asmedicine (Weill Cornell),computer science (CarnegieMellon) and mechanical,chemical and petroleum en-gineering (Texas A&M).

While the benefits of suchan initiative will be felt glob-ally, there is no doubt that itwill be a flagship enterprisefor Qatar’s post-carbon econ-omy, not only for its pio-neering developments butalso for its accumulating in-tellectual property,which willcontinue to support its owncivil development for manyyears to come.

QSTP offers cutting-edge research facilities, attracting top internationalcompanies to create a scientific HQ and innovation incubator

Qatar Science & Technology Park

Tech-based companies find ahome in the Middle East

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EEdduuccaattiioonn CCIIttyy ooffffeerrss aa bbrrooaadd rraannggee ooff pprrooggrraammmmeess,, rraannggiinngg ffrroomm iinntteerrnnaattiioonnaallppoolliittiiccss aanndd mmeeddiicciinnee ttoo ffaasshhiioonn ddeessiiggnn aanndd ccoommppuutteerr sscciieennccee

EADS, ExxonMobil,GE, Microsoft, Shelland Total are amongthe first blue-chipsto set up in QSTP

A nerve centre ofscientific activity,QSTP has seven

eminent universitieson its doorstep



Imagine an island emerg-ing from the warm, clear

blue waters of the ArabianGulf.Now picture luxuriousapartments, villas and hotelsrising up, complemented bythe world’s top boutiquesand restaurants, al l inserene colours that seam-lessly blend sky, sand, seaand the occasional oasis.

Now, visualise yourselfapproaching by yacht, dock-ing at a splendid state-of-the-art marina, and gettingoff to stretch your sea-legson a leisurely stroll downan endless waterfront pathunder the cool shade ofpalm trees.You might reacha white sand beach or youpossibly turn inland to finda street café, beckoning youwith an espresso at the ter-race of Les Deux Magotscafé from Paris, a dessertfrom New York’s ChocolateBar or any of your favouritedrinks. The perfect tran-quillity is only interruptedby occasional passer-bys orby a fish jumping out of wa-ter for a brief moment.Youcapture this moment inyour memory and think toyourself: ahh, this is the life.

Maybe you stay the weekin your own Island home,or perhaps you’re just vis-it ing overnight and wil lsleep on your boat or in aboutique hotel on theIsland.The important thingis that you are here, now.This moment is yours.ThePearl-Qatar is yours.

AAnn iinnvveessttoorr’’ss ddeessttiinnaattiioonn

The Pearl-Qatar is aunique destination in itselfand is proving to be a smartinvestment, as well.

A world-class develop-ment, built upon a solidrock foundation and usingland reclaimed from the sea,The Pearl-Qatar boastsover 24 miles of new coast-line, a mile-and-a-half longmarina walkway, and a ma-rina capable of berthingboats from ten metres upto 85 metres in size. ThePearl-Qatar is also hometo the world’s longest wa-terfront luxury retail walk-way, located in PortoArabia, a section opened tomuch acclaim in 2009.

The site selected for theman-made Island, which israpidly turning into theMiddle East’s most glam-

orous address, is also ide-al: it lies in West Bay justminutes from Doha andwith easy access to theNew Doha InternationalAirport, thus providing aquick getaway for peopleliving throughout the Gulfregion.

The mastermind behindthis unique and ambitiousproject is the UnitedDevelopment Company(UDC). Founded in 1999,today UDC is one ofQatar’s leading private sec-tor shareholding companieswhose mission is to “iden-tify and invest in long-termprojects contributing toQatar’s growth and pro-viding good shareholdervalue.”

From this endeavour, sev-

eral offshoot companieshave been formed (whichUDC either fully or par-tially owns along with pres-tigious partners) to dealwith various aspects, suchas dredging, cement, f i-nancing, hospitality, retail,district cooling, urban de-velopment, property con-sultancy and management,marina management,mediaand IT services.

Specifically, The Pearl for Management andOperations is the 100 percent UDC owned companycreated to address an aspectthat sets The Pearl-Qatarapart: it is the very first de-velopment in Qatar to of-fer foreigners freehold ti-tle ownership. Investors cantherefore choose among

the Island’s several resi-dential zones – each with itsunique characteristics andfeatures – and purchasetheir own piece of paradisein the shape of a luxuryapartment, a townhome, apenthouse or a villa.

IItt’’ss aallll aabboouutt tthhee lliiffeessttyyllee

No longer do residents inthe Middle East have to jetto Europe or beyond to findthe lifestyle elements theycan now find on The Pearl-Qatar.This Island is all aboutlifestyle: top brand names inhotels, hospitality and retailhold a prominent placehere.Moreover, the marinasare world-class and leavenothing to be desired.

One of the bold movesand trendsetting hotel proj-ects that UDC’s subsidiaryHospitality DevelopmentCompany (HDC) broughtin was Nikki Beach. Knownas “the trendiest place onearth,” Nikki Beach is botha beach club and a hotelcomprising 47 villas.

The two other boutiquehotels presently in thepipeline will offer com-pletely different settings:one will be a Venetian-styleurban resort,while the oth-er will be reminiscent ofthe Maldives. The FourSeasons Resort will be oneof the three large five-starhotels to open on ThePearl-Qatar. These hotelswill also provide the Island’sresidents with yet another

pleasant place to pass thetime, whether in the spa,the gym, the restaurant orthe bar.

As for hospitality, ThePearl-Qatar surpasses ex-pectations, having nearly ef-fortlessly attracted someof the biggest names in cui-sine, as well as some up-and-coming ones.

Last May, PlacidoDomingo and chef RichardSandoval, inaugurated theiraward-winning modernMexican restaurantPampano. From the otherside of the globe comes TseYang, one of the world’smost celebrated and ele-gant Chinese restaurants.Gordon Ramsay’s Maze isalso a wonderful diningchoice on the Island.

Shoppers are delightedwith the wide variety of topdesigners in the fashion in-dustry.

One of The Pearl-Qatar’sother ‘anchor’ activities isboating. UDC’s Ronauticahas introduced the nauti-cal lifestyle for the first timein Qatar, creating world-class, safe marinas and of-fering tailor-made services– everything from advisingon the best type of boat toshowing customers theropes and even providingcaptains and skippers.Aftera relaxing day yachting orshopping, boaters dockedat The Pearl-Qatar’s mari-nas can order food fromany of the restaurants andhave it brought and servedon board.

The Pearl-Qatar is becoming the Middle East’s most glamorous address as one of the few freehold properties in the country offeringall citylife services, lifestyle and opens possible residency to owners

The Pearl-Qatar

The life you imagined

TThhee PPeeaarrll--QQaattaarr aaffffoorrddss RRiivviieerraa ssttyyllee lliivviinngg wwiitthh ttoowwnnhhoommeess,, ppeenntthhoouusseess aanndd vviillllaass,, aass wweellll aass tthhrreeee mmaarriinnaass aanndd ffiivvee--ssttaarr hhootteellss

Since its inception, ThePearl-Qatar has had cut-

ting-edge technology at theheart of its conceptualisationas the world’s first smartIsland.Simple,elegant touch-screen panels belie a wealthof complex, future-prooftechnologies that offer resi-dents a secure, exclusiveIsland retreat connected toa full range of high-tech serv-ices and solutions.

One of the most techno-logically advanced urban de-velopment projects in theworld,The Pearl-Qatar boastsinnovative security measures,advanced building manage-ment systems, environmen-tally friendly energy controls,smart-card recognition tech-nology and of course the lat-est in user-friendly home en-tertainment systems, includ-ing an outstanding IPTV serv-ice that was launched inDecember 2009.

Residences can beequipped with as much tai-lor-made technology as is de-sired, from security camerasto ambience settings, de-pending on how ‘smart’ a res-

ident wishes it to be, and allwith the possibility of beingaccessed remotely.A tenantcan control the lights and dis-trict cooling of their homeeven from New York.

The Pearl-Qatar is set tobe one of the largest WiFinetworks in the world.“Thereis not going to be one spotwithout coverage,” says FabioBeccali,senior telecommuni-cations manager at UDC,ThePearl-Qatar. “If you have anIP or soft phone, you will beable to walk around whilestaying connected.”

UDC has worked hard to

strike a sensitive balance be-tween the highest of securi-ty standards and respect forindividual’s privacy. Smartcards control access pointsaround the Island.“Some ofour partners, like Cisco, useour project as a milestone topropose other customers tocome. Our solutions arestate-of-the-art,cutting edgeand working,” says Mr Beccali.

Built on reclaimed land,in-novation is literally built intothe fabric of The Pearl-Qatar.Rae’d Mahfouz of UDC’s par-tially owned subsidiary MED-CO, the dredging company

responsible for reclaiming 400hectares of land for the proj-ect, says,“We are expandingland where no more land isavailable. It’s becoming verystrategic to create land forhuge developments,whetherfor industrial or expansionprojects, especially if the ex-isting space offers no moreroom to expand among citiesand towns. Especially forheavy industrial complexes,it’s smart to create land awayfrom any neighbourhoodcommunities, and the bestway to do this is throughreclamation.”

■ UUDDCC iiss ccrreeaattiinngg aanneeww ddeessttiinnaattiioonn wwhheerreerreessiiddeennttss aanndd vviissiittoorrssccaann eennjjooyy aaMMeeddiitteerrrraanneeaann lliiffeessttyylleeoonn tthhee wwoorrlldd’’ss ssmmaarrtteessttssuussttaaiinnaabbllee mmaann--mmaaddeeiissllaanndd

Welcome to the future

UUDDCC aanndd VVooddaaffoonnee QQaattaarr llaauunncchheedd bbrrooaaddbbaanndd iinntteerrnneett iinn JJuunnee ccoovveerriinngg tthhee wwhhoollee IIssllaanndd

If one word could sum up theenvironmental state of affairs

at The Pearl-Qatar, it wouldundoubtedly be ‘pristine’.Pristine streets, pavements,beaches and even seabeds.

Thanks to the intensely in-depth environmental impactstudy conducted before con-struction of the Island,the lo-cation chosen, the dredgingtechniques employed and theongoing monitoring pro-grammes,The Pearl-Qatar isnot only an eco-friendly de-velopment, it has in fact ben-efited the environment.Theresult: a man-made Islandwhere neither luxury nor eco-systems are compromised.

According to Rae’d AMahfouz,deputy general man-ager of Middle East DredgingCompany (MEDCO),the sub-sidiary of UDC entrusted withthe land reclamation for ThePearl-Qatar, the dredging ac-tually left behind a large,deeparea in the sea where fish arethriving.

“It’s like a shelter and deep

haven with nice cool water.Before it was very shallowand you know fish will die inthe heat in shallow waters,”he says. Furthermore, thecompany heeded the resultsof an environmental study re-port and the InternationalEnvironmental Laws to dredgein areas to where absolutelyno harm would come.

The waters and beachesare kept clean thanks to theban on non-degradable plas-tic bags and fishing, as well asthe Envac system, a clevernetwork of undergroundpipes where waste is sucked

down from special bins atstreet level and propelled at70 km/h to a central wastecollection point.

UDC’s EnvironmentalAffairs Department conductsa thorough twice-yearly eco-logical survey to ensure thequality of the seawater and theflora and fauna populations.Every two weeks,they test thewater for hydrocarbons andbacteria. On land, the de-partment tests noise levels,dust and exhaust emissions.

Positive results for the sur-veys and the maintenance ofa pristine environment,how-

ever, are ultimately in thehands of The Pearl-Qatar residents, contractors andworkers. Therefore, theEnvironmental AffairsDepartment puts great em-phasis on its awareness pro-grammes.Targeting everyonefrom small school-age chil-dren and all the way up to topmanagement, these pro-grammes aim to teach peo-ple about the importance ofrecycling, proper waste dis-posal and any other daily en-vironmentally positive actionsthey can take or negativehabits they can change.

■ UUDDCC’’ssEEnnvviirroonnmmeennttaall AAffffaaiirrssDDeeppaarrttmmeenntt mmaaiinnttaaiinnsshhiigghh ssttaannddaarrddss oonn tthheeIIssllaanndd,, tthhrroouugghh ssttrriiccttmmoonniittoorriinngg aannddrreeccyycclliinngg pprrooggrraammmmeess,,aanndd bbyy ccrreeaattiinnggaawwaarreenneessss tthhrroouugghhttrraaiinniinngg aanndd eevveennttss

Creating eco awareness

DDeessppiittee tthhee ddeesseerrtt llooccaattiioonn,, bbuuiillddiinnggss aarree kkeepptt ccooooll tthhrroouugghh aa DDiissttrriicctt CCoooolliinngg ssyysstteemm

The Pearl-Qataroffers unique

freehold investmentopportunities in a

safe, relaxed,friendly and

exclusiveenvironment

Visitors andresidents alike can

enjoy the twomillion square

metres ofinternational retail,

restaurants andentertainment



Strolling along a cafe andshop-lined street at The

Pearl-Qatar, a person may beunaware of the gigantic effortsthat went on behind the scenesto create such a pleasant andcarefree atmosphere. The

Pearl-Qatar, one of modernmankind’s most ambitious en-gineering projects to date, istruly outstanding from a tech-nical and construction stand-point.

“The Pearl-Qatar embodiesvery well the reforms and vi-sion set by His Highness TheEmir,Sheikh Hamad bin KhalifaAl-Thani,to make Qatar a des-

tination of choice for business,tourism,sports,education andhealthcare” explains Khalil PSholy, managing director andpresident of UDC.

Looking out over Doha’sWest Bay a decade ago, any-one would have only seen wa-ter. Not so in Qatar. UnitedDevelopment Company visu-alised an entire new piece ofland upon which the world’smost exclusive names wouldvie to establish their boutiquesand restaurants,or build theirvillas, apartments and hotels.

Although the 400 hectaresof man-made Island came at aprincely cost of USD14 bil-lion, partners and sharehold-ers in UDC’s flagship projecthave enjoyed good returns.Even over the past two years,UDC and its several subsidiarycompanies – many of whichwere created specifically toaddress the various needs theIsland created – have not on-ly stayed afloat, but have alsoturned a profit.

“Despite the global economiccrisis of the past two years,wehave been able to successfullycontinue the upward trend ofpast years.In 2009,the revenueincreased by more than 40 per

cent to over QR1.492 billion,and profits increased by morethan 73 per cent to QR515million,” says Mr Sholy.Moreover, in the first half of2010,UDC already reported anet profit of QR353 million.While last year witnessed a 62per cent increase in earnings pershare compared to the previ-ous year, in the first 6 monthsof 2010, earnings per sharereached QR2.54.

Qatar Cool, one of UDC’ssubsidiaries,is creating value forboth shareholders and the en-vironment, while dealing witha major and inevitable factor:the heat.

District cooling entails the

production and circulation ofchilled potable water to multi-ple buildings through a networkof insulated underground pipes.Qatar Cool’s district coolingplants in Doha include two op-erational plants with a capaci-ty of 67,000 tons of refrigera-tion.The company is building theworld’s largest district coolingplant at the Island, capable ofsupplying up to 130,000 tonsof refrigeration to around41,000 residents. Qatar Coolsaves 40-60 per cent on elec-tricity usage compared to con-ventional air conditioning.Usingrefrigerated water,district cool-ing is the most eco-friendlyform of air-conditioning.

■ FFrroomm ddaayy oonnee UUnniitteedd DDeevveellooppmmeenntt CCoommppaannyy’’ss ((UUDDCC)) mmiissssiioonn hhaass bbeeeenn ttoo bbeeccoommee aa ccoorrnneerrssttoonneeiinn tthhee ddeevveellooppmmeennttss ooff QQaattaarr aanndd tthhee rreeggiioonn,, ccrreeaattiinngg llaassttiinngg vvaalluueess,, aanndd mmaaxxiimmiissiinngg rreettuurrnnss ffoorrppaarrttnneerrss aanndd sshhaarreehhoollddeerrss

Turning vision into value

Doha today,the worldtomorrow

BBuussiinneessss ooppppoorrttuunniittiieess iinncclluuddee rreettaaiill,, hhoossppiittaalliittyy,, sscchhoooollss aanndd mmaarriinnaass

In building The Pearl-Qatar(TPQ), UDC has created a

strong holding of diversified ac-tivities. Rather than outsourcetasks, in several cases UDC,which has enjoyed success eversince its foundation in 1999,chose to establish its own com-panies that could cover theseneeds and then go on to workon other national and region-al projects.

Once TPQ’s blueprints wereready, UDC needed its newIsland to materialise. This iswhen Middle East DredgingCompany (MEDCO) was cre-ated as a strategic partnershipbetween UDC, Belgian com-pany Dredging,Environmentaland Marine Engineering(DEME) and the Qatari gov-ernment.DEME brought to thetable its international expert-

ise in hydraulic,offshore and en-vironmental engineering.MED-CO began dredging and landreclamation in 2004 and fin-ished by 2007.A project of thismagnitude was anything butunnoticed, and soon after, thecompany was awarded variousnew projects,such as the NewDoha International Airport,theQatar-Bahrain Causeway andthe Ruwais Refinery expansionproject in the UAE.

The Island in place, con-struction could now begin.Looking once again to Belgianexpertise,UDC formed UnitedReady Mix in 2006,along withBESIX (Belgium’s largest con-struction group),Six ConstructLtd (a subsidiary of BESIX) andprivate Qatari investors.UnitedReady Mix is one of the largestsuppliers of cement to ThePearl-Qatar,and like MEDCO,has gone on to do projectsoutside the Island. Today, ap-proximately 40 per cent of thecement company’s overall out-put supplies other develop-ment projects in and aroundDoha.

Now, the canvas is ready tobe painted.Various other TPQ-related subsidiaries were cre-ated to deal with some of thefiner details,such as real estate,

IT,hospitality,marina,media, fi-nancing and district cooling.

Two of the Island’s principleareas are fully owned by UDC:Medina Centrale,which will bethe main hub for amenities andfacilities – a kind of city-centre,and Abraj Quartier,a mixed-usedevelopment comprising sev-en Mediterranean-style resi-dential towers for more than30,000 people.

Asteco,a UDC joint venturewith Commercial Bank ofQatar, Qatar InsuranceCompany and Dubai-basedAsteco Property Management,offers property management,sales,leasing,research and con-sultancy services. To diversifyits activities,in addition to serv-ing as sales and leasing agentsfor TPQ’s two residential tow-ers located in the Porto Arabiaand Viva Bahriya districts,AstecoQatar also works in mainlandDoha,providing sales and leas-ing services to exclusive resi-dential development projects.

As a ‘smart’ Island,advancedtechnologies play a huge rolein crafting TPQ’s futuristic andenvironmentally friendly at-mosphere. UDC establishedPragmatech in 2009 to deliverinnovative IT services,softwareengineering and internet-basedAI solutions. Pragmatech is aunique company,as it is the firstin its industry in the MENA re-gion to form an R&D team fo-cused on developing advancedbusiness solutions in the fieldof computer science.On a sim-ilar note,GEKKO,another start-up company, was instituted byUDC and Commercial Bank ofQatar to design and implement‘smart’ technologically advancedpayment products and facilities.

One of UDC’s most signifi-cant contributions to Qatar –in terms of sustainable devel-opment – is the district cool-ing systems it has introducedin both TPQ’s and Doha’s grow-ing commercial and residentialdevelopments.Built and oper-ated by Qatar Cool, a part-nership of UDC, NationalCentral Cooling Company andprivate Qatari investors, theworld’s largest district coolingplant provides reliable,cost-ef-fective and more environmen-tally friendly cooling for all theareas built on the Island.

In yet another move inUDC’s diversification strategywe find SCOOP.This wholly-owned subsidiary manages media and advertising space onThe Pearl-Qatar, an industrywith vast potential.

■ IInn tthhee mmaakkiinngg ooff TThhee PPeeaarrll--QQaattaarr,, aa wwoorrlldd iinniittsseellff iinn mmaannyy wwaayyss,, UUDDCC hhaass ccrreeaatteedd sseevveerraall nneewwccoommppaanniieess wwiitthh ppootteennttiiaall ttoo ttrraannssffeerr tthheeiirrooppeerraattiioonnss bbeeyyoonndd tthhee IIssllaanndd

High investmentvalue stems fromUDC’s various

subsidiaries that helpmake The Pearl-

Qatar the unique andfascinating place

it is today

KKhhaalliill PP SShhoollyy,, PPrreessiiddeenntt aanndd MMaannaaggiinnggDDiirreeccttoorr ooff UUDDCC



Khalifa Al-Sowaidi, themanaging director of

QAFCO, shares his viewson the company’s role inQatari economic diversifi-cation; the main and po-tential markets for urea,ammonia and ferti l iser ;plans for future projectsand growth, and QAFCO’sefforts at Qatarisation.

QQAAFFCCOO hhaass sseeeenn ssttaagg--ggeerriinngg ggrroowwtthh ssiinnccee iittwwaass eessttaabblliisshheedd 4400 yyeeaarrssaaggoo.. WWhhaatt hhaavvee bbeeeenntthhee kkeeyy ccoommppoonneennttss ttooiittss ccoonnttiinnuueedd ggrroowwtthhaanndd ssuucccceessss??

Every time we have anopening for a new train orplant we meet His Highnessthe Emir and he asks whenthe next one will start. Heis a great support to us andwe also get a lot of supportfrom the Deputy PrimeMinister in terms of allo-cating resources to contin-ue to expand the fertiliserbusiness.

PPlleeaassee tteellll uuss aabboouuttQQAAFFCCOO’’ss rroollee aass tthheeffiirrsstt iinniittiiaattiivvee ttoo ddiivveerr--ssiiffyy wwiitthhiinn tthhee eenneerrggyysseeccttoorr..

QAFCO is the pioneerof al l joint ventures inQatar. It was established in1969 and production start-ed in 1973. At that time itwas using the associatedgas with oil (which was be-ing burnt at that time) tomake fertiliser. QAFCO asa joint venture was alsoused as a model for the sub-sequent joint venture inpetrochemical and LNG and

so on. It is also used as anexample to attract otherinvestors.

In terms of diversifica-tion,we are part of gas sell-ing activities. You can sellgas which is used for pow-er; you can sell it as LNGand also as energy for elec-tricity.Another way of sell-ing energy is through food,and fertiliser is basicallyfood. People without fooddo not have energy, and to-day about 95 per cent offood production dependson mineral fertilisers. Wetake nitrogen from the airand hydrogen from the nat-ural gas to make ammoniaand nitrogen nutrients andthen introduce this to theground where it is absorbedby plants and so on, and itgoes into food for people.

It is much easier to trans-port gas as urea and it ischeaper to transport drycargo than LNG.We are ex-panding as much as we can.An LNG train for exampleconsumes 20 times as muchgas as we do.

OOnnccee tthhee QQAAFFCCOO 66ppllaanntt iiss ccoommpplleetteedd iinn22001122,, ddooeess QQaattaarr hhaavveetthhee rreessoouurrcceess ttoo ccoonn--ttiinnuuee wwiitthh QQAAFFCCOO 77??

If we get allocated newgas and we get the go-aheadto expand, we will expandwith QAFCO 7 and 8 andwe will never stop. Rightnow we have so many thingsto take in with QAFCO 5and 6 for example, so I thinkwe will wait another yearor so before we start talk-ing about our future plans.

IIss QQaattaarr ccoonncceerrnneeddaabboouutt iittss ssaalleess ddeeppeenndd--eennccyy oonn IInnddiiaa?? FFoorr eexx--aammppllee llaasstt yyeeaarr tthhee mmaa--jjoorriittyy ooff aammmmoonniiaa eexx--ppoorrttss wweenntt ttoo IInnddiiaa aannddtthhee rreellaattiioonnsshhiippss yyoouuhhaavvee aarree wwiitthh IInnddiiaannccoommppaanniieess..

Naturally we go to India,and we would be worriedif we did not have the ma-jority of our clients therebecause India is the closestmarket to us geographical-ly, so shipping costs arecheaper.As a result we max-imise our profit by going toIndia.We can go to any mar-ket, but we are going to themarkets that are closest tous to maximise our net-back.Also this is the cheap-est product that our cus-tomers can buy, so it is awin-win situation.

AAccccoorrddiinngg ttoo kkeeyy ffoorree--ccaasstteerrss,, tthhee uurreeaa ffiinnaann--cciiaall sspprreeaadd iinn tthhee UUKKffrroomm JJuunnee ttiillll DDeecceemmbbeerriinn tthhee UUKK rraannggeess ffrroommUUSSDD224400--331100 ppeerr mmeett--rriicc ttoonnnnee aanndd iinn 22000099yyoouu ssoolldd uurreeaa ffoorr aann aavv--eerraaggee ooff UUSSDD226677.. MMaannyyooff oouurr rreeaaddeerrss,, ppaarrttiiccuu--llaarrllyy tthhoossee iinn tthhee aaggrrii--ccuullttuurraall ccoommmmuunniittyywwoouulldd bbee iinntteerreesstteedd ttookknnooww wwhheetthheerr yyoouu wwiillllbbee aabbllee ttoo ooffffeerr mmoorreeccoommppeettiittiivvee pprriicceess aassyyoouurr eeccoonnoommiieess ooff ssccaalleeiinnccrreeaassee..

We are following theworld markets. Since thebeginning of 2009 priceshave been in the range ofUSD200 and USD270 and

right now in the fourthquarter prices are hittingaround USD350.The priceof urea is increasing, and itis a cyclical thing.

We go to the UK some-times, but we face certainproblems.The UK is part ofthe EU and the EU has de-cided to put a 6.5 per centimport duty on gulf fer-tiliser products and petro-chemicals and this is unjus-

ti f ied and unfair. TheEuropean producers im-posed this, and this isagainst any European lawrelated to fertilisers be-cause it is hurting theEuropean consumer.We aretrying to fight this throughthe Chamber of Commerceand the GCC (GulfCooperation Council).They

are breaking their ownrules, because anything re-lated to food should nothave any import duties.

This means that NorthAfrican and Russian urea goto Europe without any du-ties.We have to pay a SuezCanal fee as well as the 6.5per cent duty so it is not agood market for us, hencewe have concentrated ondifferent markets. This re-

duces competition, but ofcourse this means thatsome European producerscan survive by chargingEuropeans higher prices.

QQaattaarr hhaass iinnvveesstteedd iinnllaanndd iinn ddiiffffeerreenntt ccoouunn--ttrriieess aanndd tthhiiss llaanndd iiss ggoo--iinngg ttoo bbee ccuullttiivvaatteedd..HHooww ddoo yyoouu sseeee yyoouurrsseellff

eenntteerriinngg tthhee ffoooodd sseeccuu--rriittyy pprrooggrraamm aanndd wwhhaattddooeess tthhiiss mmeeaann ffoorrQQaattaarr??

Qatar has a small popu-lation right now but whatwe produce from urea inQAFCO and sell outsidethe country contributes tofood for around five to sixmillion people.As the pop-ulation increases, the de-mand for urea increases by

around 3.5 per cent eachyear, so if nobody buildsplants there could be short-ages and high prices of agri-cultural products. Becauseof the lack of energy, all thenitrogen fertiliser producedis concentrated in areasclose to the gas available.

WWhhaatt eeffffoorrttss hhaass QQAAFF--

CCOO mmaaddee iinn tteerrmmss ooff ggeettttiinngg iinnvvoollvveedd iinn aalltteerrnnaattiivvee eenneerrggyy ssuucchhaass ssoollaarr aanndd wwiinndd,, aanndd iinn rreedduucciinngg hhaarrmmffuulleemmiissssiioonnss ffrroomm iinndduuss--ttrryy??

In the future we will playa very important role interms of the environment inthe country.The solution toreducing nitrogen oxideemissions is to use ammo-nia or urea.We started thisin QAFCO because we haveto set an example, and wewill be supplying two of thenew power stations withaqueous ammonia to reducenitrogen oxide. Hopefullyby 2030 we will supply ourammonia and urea solutionto all the industry in Qatar.That is our aim.When youuse ammonia in exhaust, thegas is burned and you havenitrogen oxide,and then youconvert the harmful nitro-gen oxide into nitrogen andwater vapour. This will in-crease our sale of ammonialocally as well.

WWhhaatt mmeessssaaggee wwoouullddyyoouu lliikkee ttoo sseenndd ttoo tthheerreeaaddeerrss ooff tthhee DailyTelegraph aabboouutt QQaattaarraass aa nnaattiioonn??

By 2012 we will be pro-ducing 5.6 million tonnes ofurea, which is 15 per centof the world urea trade.Wehope to be in the UK mar-ket and show the Britishthat we have very compet-itive and quality urea. It isalso secure. We are verywell known for our com-mitment, and anybody canask our clients.

Interview with Khalifa Al-Sowaidi, managing director of Qatar Fertiliser Company (QAFCO)

QQAAFFCCOO,, aa ssuubbssiiddiiaarryy ccoommppaannyy ooff IInndduussttrriieess QQaattaarr aanndd YYaarraa IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall,, iiss tthhee wwoorrlldd’’ss llaarrggeesstt ssiinnggllee--ssiittee pprroodduucceerr ooff bbootthh aammmmoonniiaa aanndd uurreeaa

Through scientificstrategic plans and integration

of the besttechnologies,QAFCO has

steadily developed over the years,

in terms ofnameplate capacity,

productionquantities, quality and

competitiveness of products

Fertilising growth in Qatar and beyond Facts &figures

Qatar Fertiliser Company(QAFCO), was foundedin 1969.The company isnow owned by IndustriesQatar (IQ) as 75 per centshareholder and YaraInternational as 25 percent shareholder. At present QAFCO com-plex comprises four completely integratedtrains: QAFCO-1 (1973),QAFCO-2 (1979), QAF-CO-3 (1997) and QAF-CO-4 (2004). Each ofthese production linesconsists of an ammoniaplant and a urea plant.The overall annual pro-duction capacity of thefour plants is two milliontonnes of ammonia andthree million tonnes ofurea.

The QAFCO-5 expan-sion project, which will becompleted in early 2011,will raise QAFCO’s annu-al production capacity to3.8 million MT of ammo-nia and 4.3 million MT ofurea making QAFCO theworld’s largest single-siteproducer of both ammo-nia and urea.Thus far,QAFCO has become theworld’s largest single siteurea producer after theinauguration of its fourthexpansion (QAFCO-4) inApril 2004.

The QAFCO-6 projectwill increase the compa-ny’s annual production capacity of urea to 5.6million MT. Consequentlythe project will strength-en the company’s positionas a key player in theglobal fertiliser market.

KKhhaalliiffaa AAll--SSoowwaaiiddii,, MMaannaaggiinngg DDiirreeccttoorr ooff QQAAFFCCOO

From diversification to world expansionQAFCO spearheaded Qatar’s energy sector diversification and is growing every year to supply the world with much needed fertiliser

Once upon a time,Qatarwas a small emirate

whose economy was basedon fishing and pearl hunting.When the Japanese masteredthe art of culturing pearls inthe 1930s, this segment ofthe economy waned only tobe replaced about a decadelater by a much more lucra-tive product: oil. Qatar’seconomy was completelytransformed and the nationalincome skyrocketed.

Not much later, in the late1960s, a visit from a handfulof Norsk Hydro represen-tatives would result in yetanother transformation;thistime involving the first stepof the diversification ofQatar’s hydrocarbon sector.At this moment, however,what would later be called agroundbreaking step wasmerely considered a busi-ness decision based on prof-it and exports.

During this 1969 meetingbetween the Norwegians andthe Qatari Ministry ofFinance and Petroleum,whatwas discussed was the utili-sation of the associated gas:instead of flaring it, theNorwegians proposed usingit to produce ammonia and

urea. A partnership wasformed between the Stateof Qatar, Norsk Hydro(which would later de-mergeas Yara International, spe-cialists in fertilisers), DavyPowergas and HambrosBank, and the new companywas named Qatar FertiliserCompany, or QAFCO. To-day, QAFCO is owned byIndustries Qatar (IQ) as 75per cent shareholder, withthe remaining quarter heldby Yara International.

By 1973,the first plant,cap-turing gas from the Dukhanfield in the west, was inau-gurated with a daily capacityof 900 tonnes of ammoniaand 1,000 tonnes of urea.While QAFCO’s main mar-ket initially was India, thecompany soon penetratedmarkets further east.Whenit entered China, prospectswere so huge that QAFCO’smanagement deemed pro-duction to be too small anda new plant was built. QAF-CO 2 was finished in 1979,followed by QAFCO 3 in1997 and QAFCO 4 in 2004.

QAFCO 5 is currently un-der construction and is ex-pected to be up and runningin the first quarter of 2011.

Once ready,QAFCO will bethe largest urea fertiliser pro-ducer in the world, with anannual capacity of 4.3 milliontonnes of urea and 3.8mil-lion tonnes of ammonia.Come 2012, however, QAF-CO 6 will raise the compa-ny’s volume even higher,to 5.6million tonnes of urea.

QAFCO now exportsaround the world, including

to such places as Korea, thePhilippines, Thailand, theUnited States, Australia,Jordan,India and several LatinAmerican and Europeancountries. With a constantdemand for melamine (whichuses urea) products, the in-ternational market has be-come QAFCO’s main con-centration.

Presently, QAFCO is fur-

ther diversifying its produc-tion. For example, in 2006 itestablished Qatar MelamineCompany (QMC) along withQatar Intermediate Indus-tries Holding Company, awholly owned subsidiary ofQatar Petroleum, in a 60:40joint venture.

The £220 million state-of-the-art plant, the largest ofits kind in the Middle East,

has been completed this yearin the Mesaieed IndustrialCity and will annually pro-duce 60,000 tonnes ofmelamine – an amount largeenough to meet about fiveper cent of the global de-mand for this chemical com-pound.Used in construction,wood processing, automo-tive and dinnerware indus-tries, among others,

melamine’s uses vary fromFormica counter tops, highresistant concrete and gluesto flame retardants, fertilis-ers and textile treatments.

In May of this year, QAF-CO signed an agreement withGerman company Helm AGto export 18,000 metrictonnes of melamine fromQMC,thereby marking a newmilestone for future businessrelationships with Europe, aregion QAFCO’s marketingstrategy has targeted for fur-ther penetration.

The chairman of the fer-tiliser company, also senioradvisor to the Minister ofEnergy, is a key player in yetanother of Qatar’s industries:aluminium. As chairman ofQatalum (a second joint ven-ture with Norsk Hydro), MrSalatt heads one of the largestsmelters in the world, andone of Qatar’s most suc-cessful flagship ventures insustainable,economic diver-sification.

Today, 41 years after thefirst joint venture wasformed between Qatar andNorsk Hydro, the MiddleEastern nation’s energy sec-tor is more diversified andpowerful than ever, thanks

in part to its state-of-the-artaluminium and fertiliserplants.

With so many thriving in-dustries deriving from orbenefiting from the hydro-carbons sector,Qatar will bean ideal host country for oneof the most important glob-al gatherings of leading au-thorities in oil and gas.The20th World PetroleumCongress will be held fromthe 4th through the 8th ofDecember in Doha,markingthe first time this event isheld in the Middle East.TheWPC welcomes both OPECand non-OPEC countries aswell as both national and in-dependent oil companies.

Hosted by Qatar Petro-leum, WPC 2011 will set anew standard for this con-gress. It will be the largestWPC exhibition in history,covering 35,000 square me-tres in the soon to be openedQatar National ConventionCentre.This venue – the firstever to be built to the goldcertification of the US GreenBuilding Council’s Leadershipin Energy and EnvironmentDesign – will boast an icon-ic design and cutting-edge facilities.

AAmmmmoonniiaa uusseess nnaattuurraall ggaass aass tthhee mmaaiinn ffeeeeddssttoocckk aanndd iiss tthheenn iinn ttuurrnn uusseedd aass ffeeeeddssttoocckk ffoorr QQAAFFCCOO’’ss uurreeaa ppllaannttss



Qatar Petroleum Inter-national, a subsidiary of

the state owned corporation,Qatar Petroleum, has beencarefully diversifying its port-folio of operations and in turnhas become a major contrib-utor to the country’s seem-ingly exponential GDP.

Established to make strate-gic commercial investmentsacross the global energy mar-kets, QPI’s core business isbased around internationalupstream/downstream, op-erations, petrochemicals re-fining as well as gas and pow-er. Dealing solely with thebiggest companies in the en-ergy market, it has become aserious player in both acqui-sitions and development.Recent major investments include a 20 per cent stakewith Total E&P for explorationin Mauritania as well as ma-

jority holdings in some of theworld’s newest and largestLNG terminals in the UnitedStates, United Kingdom andItaly.

With a 67.5 per cent share-holding in the largest LNGterminal in Europe, SouthHook LNG is testament tothe importance of a strategicpartnership between the UKand Qatar.The Milford Havenbased terminal has createdover 2,000 jobs as well as as-sist the UK’s security and di-versity by taking the strainaway from the increasingly de-pleted supplies in the NorthSea.While the shares currentlybelong to Qatar Petroleum,the transition is in progress tofall into the QPI portfolioshortly. Further LNG termi-nal investments include a 70per cent stake in Texas-basedGolden Pass LNG,who has re-

ceived its initial cargo fromRas Laffan Industrial City inQatar earlier this month.Theterminal will be a welcomedasset to the region, given theUS natural gas demand is ex-pected to increase by over 20per cent in the next 20 years.Once fully operational, it willbe able to supply over tenmillion American homes withnatural gas.

“The Golden Pass LNGterminal is an important in-vestment for Qatar Petro-leum International in the USA.This terminal will further ex-pand Qatar’s global reach andprovide a diverse and secureenergy supply for the US market,” commented HisExcellency Abdulla bin HamadAl-Attyiah,Minister of Energyand Industry and chairmanand managing director ofQatar Petroleum.

According to the Inter-national Energy Agency,Chinahas superseded the UnitedStates as the world’s largestenergy consumer so no smallwonder that QPI has signeda Memorandum of Under-standing with Sinopec for con-struction of an ethylene plantcapable of producing between700,000 to 800,000 tonnesof ethylene per year. Oncepolymerised, ethylene – thelargest produced organiccompound in the world – goestoward making packaging,car-rier bags and bin liners and isin severe demand within theAsian markets. And, withChina producing less than halfof its national demand, theplant will undoubtedly be thebeginning of further venturesbetween Qatar and the FarEast. Talks have already be-gun with Itochu Corporation,

Vietnam Oil and Gas Group(Petrovietnam) and a con-sortium of Thai companies toconstruct a four billion USdollar plant, aimed for com-pletion in 2015.

Further trading and invest-ment has continued withSingapore,who became an im-porter of Qatari LNG in theface of rising prices from itsmain sources: Indonesia andMalaysia.

“Singapore is a key petro-chemicals hub and securing aposition here has been a keystrategic objective,” observesQPI’s CEO, Nasser Al-Jaidah.“Extending our reach furtherinto petrochemicals in the cru-

cial Asia-Pacific region will helpus achieve our ambitious glob-al goals,” he adds.

In 2009 QPI was able tobuy a stake in two petro-chemical ventures held byRoyal Dutch Shell Plc inSingapore and furthermorereached an agreement to sellto China National OffshoreOil Corp,facilitating a furtherorder of 3.8 million tonnesper annum in feedstock fromQatar.

“I think there are still a lotof opportunities in the valuechain that need to be identi-fied through alliances withother parties and where oth-er parties want to join us due

to security of supply.We mustnot miss this opportunity,”claims Mr Nasser Al-Jaidah.“From 2010 onwards, the fo-cus will be on upstream.Thequestion is how to do it –through an acquisition,a merg-er or organic growth, for ex-ample.These are debatable.”

What is certain is that Asiaand Africa are the areas thathold the key to expandingQPI’s upstream activities, andQPI means business.There isno doubt that in order for di-versified downstream venturesto maintain profitability,QPI’spriority to invest in upstreambusiness will be key in orderto maintain equilibrium.

“Thanks to the far-sightedvision of and the firm com-

mitment from His Highnessthe Emir, and the continuoussupport of H H Sheikh Tamimbin Hamad Al-Thani,the HeirApparent,the country is nowat the forefront of the world’sLNG industry. This unparal-leled achievement would nothave been possible,also with-out the strenuous efforts ofcountless numbers of peopleinvolved in every stage of ourambitious LNG projects.”

These are the words ofpraise that Qatar’s Ministerof Energy and Industry,Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah,offered at the launch-ing of the ’77 Task Force’ onAugust 30 2010.

When Qatargas’s sixth andseventh production trains goonline on December 13,Qatarwill celebrate the moment its

liquefied natural gas (LNG)production capacity reaches77 million tonnes per annum.

In the 1990s, the ministerchampioned the vision to turnQatar into an LNG export-ing nation, an idea dismissedby many as an ‘economicpipedream’.However,his per-severance paid off:in the spanof less than 20 years, Qatarhas jumped from zero pro-duction to this world record-breaking amount of LNG, orone-third of the world’s totalproduction.

This alone is quite an ac-complishment for a countryof its size,yet the success sto-ry does not end here. Qatarhas also harnessed its securesupply of energy and, com-bining it with a strong dose ofinnovation and partnershipswith leading international play-ers, has managed to diversify

the energy sector – whichbenefits from the local inex-pensive natural gas feedstock– and boost industries with aview to establish a more sus-tainable economic base.

“Qatar is the biggest LNGand gas-to-liquids producer,”notes Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Minister of Energyand Industry and chairmanand managing director ofQatar Petroleum (QP). “Wewill be one of the biggest liq-uefied biogas (LBG) and con-densate producers. In petro-chemicals and downstream,Qatar is approaching its tar-get to reach over 20 milliontonnes in a few years fromnow. Qatar will become oneof the most important petro-chemical producers in theworld.

“We are one of the biggestproducers of fertiliser,

methanol, methyl tert-butylether (MTBE) and other var-ious products.We are com-missioning the biggest alu-minium smelter in the world,Qatalum.We’re also big steelproducers. If you see our ex-port map for all these prod-ucts,we already export to 85countries.”

These basic industries ofsteel, aluminium and energyare an excellent foundationfor the growth and develop-ment of other industries, es-pecially in the private sector.“Today we are producing thebasic while trying to help theprivate sector.We want to in-vest in small and medium-sized industries to take ad-vantage of the basic industry,”says the minister.

While Qatar’s cost-effec-tive production and transportof LNG is allowing the United

States and Europe to meetthe Kyoto Protocol and cuttheir emissions, it’s alsoemerged as the answer toRussian domination inEurope’s gas supply.

“We are changing the en-tire map in the classical LNGproduction,” explains Mr Al-Attiyah.“We are not only be-coming a producer, but weare also becoming an innova-tor.We were the first coun-try to adopt the biggest LNGtrains in the world at 7.8mt-pa,which had never been builtbefore.We’ve also introducedthe biggest ships in the world:the Q-Max and the Q-Flex,upto 266,000 cubic metres.The

biggest conventional one usedto be 165,000 cubic metres.

“This is how we use thebest of the State of Qatar andinnovation in reducing costs,unit costs by mass produc-tion,bigger trades and biggerships.We are very proud thatour LNG reaches the entireworld, from Asia to Europe,North Africa and even SouthAfrica.Some of our cargo haseven now already reachedArgentina,Chile,Canada andMexico,” he adds.

As for competition,the min-ister does not see Russia orAlgeria or any country for thatmatter as a rival of Qatar.Instead,he believes that inde-

pendence and security of sup-ply is for the benefit of theentire world.“The world needsmore suppliers to feel safe andI think the market is very wide.It can accommodate all pro-ducers and I also think con-sumers need different suppli-ers,” asserts Mr Al-Attiyah.

Qatar has also fully verticallyintegrated its chain of naturalgas production to include up-stream, downstream, trans-port and even regasification.The country is involved inthree major regasification proj-ects – in the UK,Italy and Texas– in partnership with otherglobal heavyweights such asExxonMobil and Conoco-

The world’s largest producer of LNG is paving the way for thecreation of more industries and greater private sector growth asit reaches 77 mtpa capacity this December

As many countries cautiously analyse what to do with their naturalresources, albeit to meet environmental targets, or simply to sustainwhat resources they have remaining, Qatar’s government has beenstrategically reinvesting the profits from their resources in order tosecure a sustainable future for the next generation

Industry & Energy

Milestone production andinnovation in natural gas

AAbbdduullllaahh bbiinn HHaammaadd AAll--AAttttiiyyaahh,, DDeeppuuttyy PPMM,, MMiinniisstteerr ooff EEnneerrggyy && IInndduussttrryy aanndd CChhaaiirrmmaann ooff QQPP

Philips.The plant in the UK isconsidered the largest regasi-fication terminal in all ofEurope, with a capacity for16.3 million tonnes, whereasthe plant in Italy is the very firstfloating regasification plant inthe world.

“This full chain will giveQatar the most flexible sup-ply to the whole world,” ex-plains the minister.

Aside from ConocoPhilipsand ExxonMobil, Qatar alsoworks closely with Royal DutchShell,who is building Pearl GTL,the world’s largest gas to liq-uids (GTL) plant in a joint ven-ture with Qatar Petroleum(QP). In addition,Shell holds a30 per cent stake in QatargasTrain 7 – one of the afore-mentioned trains that will reaf-firm Qatar’s position as thelargest exporter of LNG.Otherinternational companies whohave a stake in various Qatariventures include France’s Totaland Japan’s Idemitsu,Mitsui andMarubeni.For the government,it is imperative that the rela-tionships between national en-ergy sector companies andtheir international partners arebased on long-term goals tosustainably exploit Qatar’s re-sources rather than on short-term ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes.

Long-term, sustainable re-lationships based on the coun-try’s natural resources todayshould blossom into friend-ships founded on mutual trustand exchange of ideas in thefuture.

NNaasssseerr AAll--JJaaiiddaahh,, CCEEOO ooff QQaattaarr PPeettrroolleeuumm IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall

QPI has the added benefitof following the winning for-mula of its parent companyand therefore continue fol-lowing the business modelthat has proven successful timeand time again.

“We should identify an op-portunity and know who weare working with, becausewhen it comes to choosing apartner, we try to do thingsexactly the same way, and Iwould say that we are privi-leged to be part of those poli-cies,” says the CEO.

“When we select a partner,they have to be strong in termsof technology and its financialcapabilities and its ability toopen a market… QPI’s strat-egy in the forthcoming yearsis to add more and larger up-stream activities to its port-folio, eventually having 50 percent upstream and the other50 per cent downstream.Launching more upstreamprojects means entering the‘big league’ and dealing with themajor multinationals. As theworld’s top exporter of LNGand the tenth biggest produc-er, Qatar is more than readyto step up to bat.”

There is no doubt thatQatar Petroleum Internationalwill continue to diversify its in-vestments in order to firmlycement itself as one of the in-dustry leaders, not only forits strategic diversification butalso for ensuring that the lastdecades of prevalent fossil fu-el consumption are used aswisely as possible.

Investing today for tomorrow


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