By Peter Alagos
Women in business have turned out to be major players in Qatar’s small and medium-sized entrepreneurship (SME) sector, the Qatar Business Incubation Centre (QBIC) said.
QBIC chief executive officer Aysha al-Mudahka told Gulf Times that the centre has been receiving many business applications from female Qatari entrepreneurs.
“In the application forms we received, we actually have the bigger number of applications coming from female entrepreneurs so it’s not really male-dominated anymore,” said al-Mudahka on the sidelines of a special forum for SMEs hosted by Doha Bank.
Al-Mudahka said at 60%, female entrepreneurs dominate the centre’s application list.
She said women have “a lot of opportunities” to start up their businesses in Qatar because they have the means, the time, and the financial capability.
“I think there is a great market; there is great opportunity that is untapped,” al-Mudahka noted.
She added that the QBIC usually receives applications from female entrepreneurs “from all types of businesses” such as those in the services sector and technology-based industries, among others.
Enterprise Qatar CEO Omran Hamad al-Kuwari said EQ receives an even ratio of applications from men and women. He added that age is also not a factor that prevents Qataris to pursue business opportunities.
According to al-Kuwari, some of the people that approach EQ from both genders are fresh graduates, while others are retired persons or employees who are looking forward to doing business once they reach retirement age.
“So, it’s actually very nice to see a pleasant mix of the society looking to start business with great ideas. There are great businesses already existing. You just need extra support to grow or to survive and we support both women and men,” al-Kuwari said.
When asked if gender is a factor for EQ in selecting business partners, al-Kuwari said, “We don’t see it [as a factor] and we try to make sure that it’s not. As much as possible we have a diverse workforce and we see people from both genders. Qatar is a progressive society and you see that reflected in the business community too.”
Both al-Kuwari and al-Mudahka were resource persons for a special forum hosted by Doha Bank entitled, “Empowering SMEs.” They were joined by other experts like Qatar Development Bank executive director of strategy and development Hamad Khamis al-Kubaisi, Qatar Exchange CEO Rashid al-Mansouri, and UK Trade and Investment’s Gareth O’Brien.
According to al-Kuwari, Qatar can learn from best practices from other advanced countries in order for Qatar’s SME industry to be as successful as the UK’s private sector.
“I think what Qatar can do is learn from the best practices around the world whether it’s Britain, Singapore, or Malaysia and adapt to the environment were in. We’re a very unique environment that’s very highly-dependent on oil and gas,” al-Kuwari said.