Qatar tops 2018 Global Entrepreneurship Index

Qatar topped the global entrepreneurship environment, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report featuring 54 countries.

The ranking came from a public opinion poll that included international experts in various fields on all indicators and detailed elements that affect the reality and future of this sector in the country.

The independent report identifies the realities of entrepreneurship in 54 countries around the world in line with global best practices, and sets the results for government and decision-makers to develop the entrepreneurial environment in each country.

Qatar Development Bank (QDB), a GEM member, said that the report showed that the local environment index for business entrepreneurship in Qatar registered about 6.7 points out of 10, and Qatar is ranked first among all countries participating in the 2018 report, followed respectively by Indonesia and the Netherlands by about 6.6 and 6.5 points.

The results of the report showed an overall improvement in all sub-indices of entrepreneurship among the population compared to 2017 and 2018. The results reflected the cohesion of the positive attitudes of the community towards entrepreneurship, as 68.2% of the population believe that entrepreneurship is a good professional option, and about 76.7% of the population sees high standing for entrepreneurs in the country.

In 2018, about 54.2% of the population saw good opportunities for launching projects in the coming months, compared to 45.6% in 2017, while 52.3% of respondents said they had entrepreneurial capacity, compared to 41.1% in 2017.

The number of "fear of failure" declined to only 32.6% in 2018 compared with 41.9% in 2017, while the percentage of those with entrepreneurial intentions doubled, with about 29.1% of respondents expressing positive intentions for launching a new local project, compared to only 15.7% in 2017.

The 2018 GEM report is co-authored by prestigious academic institutions such as Babson College in the US, the International Development Research Centre of Canada and other institutions.

QDB participated in the global report as a representative of Qatar. QDB compiles and analyses the country's entrepreneurship data, which is consistent with the Bank's efforts to monitor the development of small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurship in the country, which helps to identify the challenges of local entrepreneurship and the level of development from year to year.

This assessment reflects the efforts exerted by Qatar through its various institutions. These efforts have helped Qatar overcome various challenges due to a blockade imposed on the country more than a year-and-a-half ago.

Commenting on the report, QDB CEO Abdulaziz bin Nasser al-Khalifa said that Qatar's ranking as the world's Number 1 in the GEM report is an incentive for further efforts in this regard. He lauded the support enjoyed by the system of entrepreneurship by the authorities in the country.

Al-Khalifa pointed out that the global indicators outlined in the report showed that the entrepreneurial environment in Qatar is a golden opportunity to start entrepreneurship.

“We will continue to launch our diverse initiatives to promote entrepreneurship, develop small and medium-sized enterprises and Qatari entrepreneurs, and achieve Qatar National Vision 2030,” he added.