qatar today february 2015

COVER STORY

32 OIL IN TURMOIL There seems to be more to it than what meets the eye as oil

prices plunged to its lowest in the last six years. Qatar Today talks to experts to know its impact on the GCC economies, particularly Qatar.

26 MEDICINE MAN Mark Arnoldy, CEO of Possible, attempts to connect the dots

between Qatar, healthcare in rural Nepal, and the thousands of its citizens who come here for work.

46 THE GRIDLOCK ABOVE The United Kingdom’s biggest air navigation service provider has

important lessons to share with the Middle East, if the region is willing to listen.

50 A PARADIGM SHIFT How Qataris became cycling’s newest fans

53 REJUVENATING OLD TRADE TIES The newly launched British Chamber of Commerce in Qatar has

a mandate to help SMEs in both the countries, says Peter Cook, the man at the helm of the project.

82 MEMORIES REBOOTED The Sheraton has been renovated to its 80s grandeur.

inside this issueFebruary 2015 / Vol. 41 / Issue 2

inside this issue

and regulars10 NEWS BITES

13 BANK NOTES

15 REALTY CHECK

16 O&G OVERVIEW

80 MARKET WATCH

90 DOHA DIARY

February 2015 / Vol. 41 / Issue 2

14 “THE FOCUS IS ON SMES” In an interview with Qatar Today, Hamad Hassan Al Jamali says that

lending to SMEs is a priority for QNB as the sector is witnessing an exponential growth in the recent years.

22 THE YEAR IN REVIEW Despite falling oil prices, the economy in Qatar maintained a

steady rate of expansion throughout 2014, with targets of even more robust growth this year, fuelled by the non-hydrocarbon sector.

42 HUNTING FOR TALENT Qatar Today talks to experts on how “crew change” is affecting the

oil and gas industry.

58 TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS WITH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ExxonMobil has partnered with Qatar Today in the second edition

of the Green Programme for Schools (GPS), an engaging initiative aimed at reaching, inspiring students towards sustainable living.

64 ONE TWEET AT A TIME CSR is old school. In Silicon Valley, companies believe in helping

people by teaching them to help themselves.

6 > QATAR TODAY > FEBRUARY 20156 > QATAR TODAY > FEBRUARY 2015

from the deskWe are truly living in a global world; and nowhere do you feel the impact of this more than in Qatar, sitting between hundreds of Tunisian handball fans at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall and standing with them as the Tunisian National song is aired and echoed by the loud rendition of the viewers and then cheering for the opposing Spanish team only because our hearts beat for the underdogs.

While we all reveled in the power of sports in bringing together nationalities under one Middle Eastern roof to celebrate a game that was never popular here, the later matches did not reflect similar inclusiveness. But that is an issue Qatar will have to take into account and correct, if it wishes to carry on the tradition of hosting successful international events. But we have reached this conclusion; handball is a game of breathtaking athleticism and surprising brutality, and Qa-tar is the place to be, at least when there are international games being played here. The organisers seem to have pulled out all stops in ensuring pure enter-tainment; Pharell Williams, Gwen Stefani and Jason Derulo have wowed the audience with Kylie Minogue and Taio Crux roped in for the closing day finale when Qatar will face off France. Now imagine World Cup 2022, seven years lat-er! To know more about how Qatar handled this sporting event, read our take inside.

The rest of the world and even the OPEC don’t seem to conform to such inclu-sive global sharing. At least not when the matter at hand is oil and it’s pricing. Oil has always been at the crux of major deals and the fiercest of wars have also been played out for this commodity. But what if there is a surplus of this commodity, with it being pumped out by the US, Russia, the OPEC countries, Venezuela? What if the prices go on a slide? What does all this mean to Qatar and its geo-politics? Does it affect its status quo of being the largest gas exporting country? How will it affect the economies of the Middle East nations particularly Qatar? What is the hidden agenda behind this glut? Read in detail our cover story on the games that the oligarchs are playing on the world stage.

While oil seems to bring out the worst in geopolitics, education and access to health care is a commitment that travels beyond borders. Qatar Today brings stories of WISE and Possible (Nyaya Health as it was known before); instances that make us feel proud of the new generation of leaders. Read our comprehen-sive stories inside to imbibe the values of a truly global world.

SINDHU NAIRMANAGING EDITOR


PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEFYOUSUF JASSEM AL DARWISH

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The efforts of Qatar Today in highlighting the achievements of Gen Y in 2014 are not only commendable but also refreshing. Let us wish them more successes in the coming years and also become a role model for more people to follow.

MOHAMMED IBRAHIM

The article on how cybercrime is spreading its tentacles around the world, including Qatar, is very interesting. We hope that the government will take appropriate steps to prevent and punish the hackers from creating havoc in Qatar.

HASSAN ABU BAKR

The remarks of the former Director General of Al Jazeera Network, Wadah Khanfar, that his journey from solitude during his childhood to the present day’s busy, mechanical and modern life are true to every word. Crass commercialisation has taken over the society and people have forgotten their past.

NIKHIL

The second edition of Green Programme for Schools is a laudable initiative, particularly for the hydrocarbon nations such as Qatar, as it reduces the green house gas effects on the planet. The programme should be held throughout the year to creates awareness among the future generations about the devastating impact of global warming.

JAMES SMITH

Qatar Today reserves the right to edit and publish correspondence. Views and opinions expressed in the published letters may not necessarily be the publication’s views and opinions.

Share your views about the magazine or any issue that affects you here in Qatar. One lucky reader will win an exquisite Montblanc writing instrument.

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affairs > local

CONDOLENCES

Saudi Press Agency released a picture of The Emir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arriving in the Saudi capital Riyadh to attend the funeral of King Abdullah.

The service will create an invaluable re-source for personalised medicine and also study the effects of lifestyle, envi-

ronment and genes on the population, Dr Hanan Al Kuwari, Managing Director of the Hamad Medical Corporation and Chair-person of Qatar Biobank, said at a press conference announcing the findings. It will also help develop treatments and prevent diseases. Obesity, hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases were found to

be prevalent in the sample group, largely stemming from a sedentary lifestyle.

The programme will ramp up in the com-ing months, going from about 12 partici-pants a day, who come in for the three-hour long procedure that involves interviews and sample collection, to 50 participants a month initially, who will be accommodated in their new, expanded facilities set to be unveiled in the coming months.

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QATAR BIOBANK RELEASESPILOT PHASE FINDINGSTwo years after it was first announced and after close to 2,000 samples collected voluntarily from citizens and long-term residents, Qatar Biobank has concluded its pilot phase and is ready to ramp up.

80%OF THE SAMPLE POPULATION REPORTED NO LEVEL OF MODERATE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PER WEEK

70%OF THE PARTICIPANTS WERE UNAWARE THAT THEY HAD A DISEASE

73%OF THE SAMPLE POPULATION WERE CLASSIFIED AS OVERWEIGHT (37% WERE OBESE)

76.6%OF THE MALE AND

70.4% OF THE FEMALE PARTICIPANTS ARE AT RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE DUE TO OBESITY

KEY FINDINGSBASED ON 1,200 SAMPLES

Mid-year opening for Medical City?The Prime Minister HE Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani has reportedly directed that the Hamad Bin Khalifa Medical City become completely operational by mid-2015.The project, which will house a Women’s Hospital, Ambulatory & Minimally Invasive Surgical Hospital and a Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Hospital, as well as a scientific centre for medical research and a biobank, was meant to be completed by the end of 2014.

QATAR TODAY > FEBRUARY 2015 > 13

The “multibillion-dollar, world-class petrochemicals project” which was announced in 2011 has been cancelled after Shell released a statement saying that the “high capital costs rendered it commercially unfeasible, particularly in the current economic cli-

mate prevailing in the energy industry.” The project, in which QP had an 80% stake, was to come up in the Ras Laffan by 2018 and was designed to produce an array of products, including mono-ethylene glycol, linear alpha olefins and oxo alcohols.

Located on an island near Hamad Inter-national Airport, Banana Island resort is a 20-minute boat ride away from the

Corniche. The 141 rooms include tradition-al hotel rooms, poolside villas and Mal-dives-style villas built above water on stilts. An 800-metre-long private beach, lagoon pool, surf pool, snorkeling, scuba diving and a nine-hole putting course are some of the offerings in addition to its seven eateries.

After a false start at the end of last year, the new Marsa Malaz Kempinski opened on its own secluded island at the Pearl. Show-casing European architecture blended with traditional Arabian elements, the 281-room property includes 69 suites, two Presiden-tial suites and two Royal suites in addition to 11 food and beverage outlets, private beach, water sports facilities, yacht jetty, tennis courts, etc.

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PLANS FOR AL KARAANA SCRAPPEDAl Karaana become the second large-scale project in Qatar to fall victim to the falling oil prices after Royal Dutch Shell and Qatar Petroleum called off plans for the petrochemical plant.

DOHA’S HOSPITALITY OFFERINGS EXPANDThe opening of Banana Island Resort by Anantara and the Marsa Malaz Kempinski at the Pearl last month is the first trickle in the oncoming flood of new hotels that are planned in Doha.

Qatar Airways bought 10% of the International Airlines Group that owns British Airways and Iberia for £1.15 billion (QR6.3 billion). Willie Walsh, Chief Executive of IAG, said he welcomed Qatar Airways as a "long-term supportive shareholder". The move is a great opportunity for the national carrier to furthur develop its Westwards strategy, according to CEO Akbar Al Baker

QATAR AIRWAYS ACQUIRES STAKE IN IAG

ISTANBUL-BOUND

Qatar Museums officially launched the Qatar Turkey 2015 Year of Culture, following the success of Qatar Brazil

2014, Qatar UK 2013 and Qatar Japan 2012. The year-long programme will explore the contemporary and traditional

cultures of both countries, feature world class exhibitions, festivals, performances, educational events and cultural

exchanges held across Qatar and Turkey.


affairs > local

After a near-flawless performance in the group games, where they lost only one out of the six matches (against current champions Spain), Qatar survived and thrived in the knock-out matches to face

France in the finals. It is a compelling achievement for the home team which has qualified for the world championships the very first time this year. In addition to that, Qatar has put together what has largely been considered a successful games, from the opening ceremony, star perfor-mances, world-class venues, and perfect organisation. Additionally all proceeds from the tickets sales will go towards the Education Above All initiative. HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, Chairman of the Or-ganising Committee of the IHF World Handball Championships, said during the opening ceremony, “We all endeavour to host this promi-nent sports event with opening of the Lusail Multipurpose Hall to keep this event in unforgettable memory in the history of handball.” And the promise seems to have been kept.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar and the US Embassy an-nounced the first annual Discover America USA Week Qatar to take place this February. Her Excellency Dana Shell Smith, the US ambassador to Qatar said,

“It’s the business relationship that we are celebrating today and that USA Week will be celebrating at its heart.” One of the goals of USA Week is for the American Chamber of Commerce Qatar to find out the sectors in which Qataris want to in-vest and then arrange trade missions to the US in these specialised markets, Rob-ert Hager, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce Qatar, said. Events will include talks and seminars targeting Qatar’s business community, a golf tournament, classic American movie screening and a chili cook-off.

USA WEEK ANNOUNCED FOR FEBRUARYThe first annual week-long event will celebrate the two countries’ partnership and encourage Qatari investments in the US.

2024 OLYMPICSTO BE OR NOT TO BE?

After the International Olympic Committee launched the bidding process for the 2024 Olympics, all eyes are on the Qatar Olympic Committee to see if they will enter a third bid for the prestigious games, after failing to land then in 2016 and 2020. “We don’t know if we are going to bid for ‘24,” Sheikh Saoud, Secretary General of the QOC was quoted as saying in an English daily, while also saying that they were keen on the Olympics, implying Qatar might sit this one out and try again for 2028 or 2032. Boston (United States) and Rime (Italy) have already confirmed their interest. Qatar has till the end of September this year to submit its bid.

HANDBALL CHEER FOR QATARHost Qatar drummed up support and drew massive crowds to the Handball Championship games due to its team's stunning progress into the finals.

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QTA’s Desert Caravan Challenge is backFor the second consecutive year, the Qatar Tourism Authority is hosting the Desert Caravan Challenge where 30 candidates will be selected for a 12-km endurance ride in Zekreet on February 6 and 7. The journey takes between four and five hours on camel back and participants can experience authentic Qatari hospitality in tents put up in the middle of the desert.

Italian Prime Minister MATTEO RENZI announces Rome's bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

QATAR TODAY > FEBRUARY 2015 > 15 QATAR TODAY > FEBRUARY 2015 > 15

business > bank notes“Qatar’s banking sector continues to grow at a double-digit rate on the strength of its rapid economic growth and large investment spending, and banking assets are projected to grow by 11% in 2015, driven by an increase in loans to finance Qatar’s large public and private projects currently underway.”JOANNES MONGARDINI, Head of Economics, Qatar National Bank Group

Qatari banksto fund Venezuela

Qatari banks are expected to fi-nance Venezuela which has been hard hit due to falling oil prices and a recession. “We are

firming up a financial alliance with import-ant banks in Qatar that are giving us suffi-cient oxygen to cover the fall in oil revenue. We are raising financing for several billion dollars, not only for 2015, but also for 2016,”

Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro said.Venezuela depends on oil for 96% of its

export revenue. Credit Suisse estimates Venezuela faces a foreign exchange financ-ing gap of some $33.9 billion (QR123.4 billion) should its oil basket average $50 (QR182) this year. The basket dropped to $42.44 (QR154.48) per barrel in the first week of January.

QATARI BANKSPOST PROFITS IN 2014

QATAR NATIONAL BANK

QATAR ISLAMIC BANK

DOHA BANK

QATAR ISLAMIC BANK

MASRAF AL RAYAN

AL KHALIJI BANK

Doha Bank supports five SMEsDemonstrating its long-term commitment to the Small and Medium Enterprises, Doha Bank has financed more than QR50 million for five new projects under Qatar Development Bank’s Al Dhameen guarantee programme. The units include a state-of-the-art auto battery factory, a dental clinic employing the most advanced equipment, welding electrodes, bitumen unit, and a tourism project.

QIB PLANSQR2 BILLION TIER 1 SUKUKQatar Islamic Bank (QIB) Board is planning to raise QR2 billion ($549.4 million) through a Basel III-compliant Tier 1 sukuk to increase its capital. This, however, will be subject to approvals from the regulator and shareholders. QIB’s total capital adequacy ratio, a combination of Tier 1 and Tier 2 capital – regarded as one of the key indicators of a bank’s health – stood at 14% at the end of 2014, against a 12.5% minimum prescribed by Qatar Central Bank.

QR 10.5BILLION

QR 1.6BILLION

QR 1.35BILLION

QR 601.3MILLION

QR 2BILLION

QR 563MILLION

QR 486BILLION

QR 96BILLION

QR 75.5BILLION

QR 31.38BILLION

QR 80BILLION

QR 51.2BILLION

QR 338BILLION

QR 60BILLION

QR 48.6BILLION

QR 26.9BILLION

QR 21.30BILLION

QR 14.9

QR 6.78

N/A

N/A

N/A

NET PROFIT

NET PROFIT

NET PROFIT

NET PROFIT

NET PROFIT

NET PROFIT

LOANS AND ADVANCES

LOANS AND ADVANCES

LOANS AND ADVANCES

LOANS AND ADVANCES

LOANS AND ADVANCES

TOTAL ASSETS

TOTAL ASSETS

TOTAL ASSETS

TOTAL ASSETS

TOTAL ASSETS

TOTAL ASSETS

EARNINGS PER SHARE

EARNINGS PER SHARE

EARNINGS PER SHARE

EARNINGS PER SHARE

EARNINGS PER SHARE


business > bank notes

SME lending as a percentage of banks' total lending has been low in the region due to massive loan requirements of the hydro-

carbon industry. Moreover, many SMEs have been set up by established families which need no funding,” explains Hamad Hassan Al Jamali, Acting Assistant Gen-eral Manager SME Banking at Qatar Na-tional Bank (QNB). In an interview with Qatar Today, Al Jamali says that lending to SMEs is a priority for QNB as the sec-tor has witnessed an exponential growth in recent years. With Qatar moving away from a hydrocarbon-based economy, the focus is now more on SMEs as they will be developing new sectors such as services.

“However, the SME sector is relative-ly new for Qatar; hence there is a need for a greater focus on its growth from all members of the ecosystem,” he feels.

According to him, more and more en-trepreneurs have started setting up busi-nesses that do have a requirement for funding. “Our bank is uniquely positioned to assist these businesses and has experi-ence of many years within the sector,” he points out. Al Jamali also says many large firms started as SMEs initially and hence the potential of the SMEs should be sup-ported.

“In addition we have seen new technol-ogies and the creation of new industries

originating by SMEs that contribute di-rectly and significantly to the wellbeing of any nation. SMEs are also major employ-ers and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit within a country,” he says.

More and more multi-national firms have been switching their suppliers to lo-cal SMEs as this sector develops capabil-ities. SMEs that cater to the hydrocarbon industry also have substantial regional op-portunities which QNB supports through its extensive GCC network.

Leader in SME fundingQNB has maintained its dominant po-sition in the business sector by deliv-ering corporate financial services and value-added innovative products and ser-vices to meet the commercial objectives of its SME clients throughout Qatar.

“Our Commitment to SMEs is extended to all sectors, and underpinned by a num-ber of recent initiatives. Our ‘One-Stop Shop’ approach operates in collaboration with a number of partners,” he says.

The bank’s government-affiliated part-ners include Qatar Development Bank (QDB), Bedaya, Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Ministry of Energy and Industry and Chamber of Commerce (QCC). Besides government agencies, the bank is also partnering with Mannai and QBC in the

private sector for equipment finance with brands such as JCB and Hyundai.

This would help clients in getting a quick loan approval process and reli-able after- sales service. Al Jamali says the bank sees more potential in sectors such as manufacturing and has placed staff in all corporate branches to support SME businesses and sectors in which the demand is anticipated.

New schemesAl Jamali says the bank has introduced loan products with the fastest loan approv-al which can be within 24 hours. These, coupled with overdraft facilities, can pro-vide entrepreneurs with up to QR2 million based on the sector in which they operate or the monthly income of the sponsor. The latter can help startups access funds de-spite the lack of a track record. However, the product that is predominately focused on startups is Al Dhameen which was cre-ated by Qatar Development Bank. Al Dha-meen loans can be in the form of project financing loans for manufacturing, where the maximum tenor is eight years includ-ing a two-year grace period. Financing for services will have a maximum tenor of five years, including a one-year grace period. Loans of up to QR15 million can bene-fit from the Al Dhameen guarantees and QNB is the major Al Dhameen partner

THE FOCUS IS ON SMESSmall and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of every thriving economy but their story worldwide is not always an easy one. To become the large corporations of the future they need support and encouragement and the role of the banks in their development is pivotal.

“Our commitment to SMEs is extended to all sectors, and underpinned by a number of recent initiatives. Our ‘One-Stop Shop’ approach operates in collaboration with a number of partners.”

HAMAD HASSAN AL JAMALIActing Assistant General Manager, SME Banking Qatar National Bank


business > realty check

All four buildings – City Centre Hotel and Shangri La hotel (58 floors each), Merweb Hotel City Centre (51 floors) and

International Islamic Tower (46 floors) – were located in Doha city. Incidentally, Doha was ranked second (tied with Chongq-ing, Wuhan, and Wuxi, all in China) out of 54 cities that com-pleted a 200m+ building in 2014. While China retained the top place for the seventh successive year by completing 58 build-ings, it was followed by Philippines (5) and Qatar and the UAE sharing third place (4 each), the report adds.

“Qatar is less impacted by fluctuations in global currencies as market constraints are driving inflation and price movements. Investment in social infrastructure, economic diversification

investment and event-driven construction are three key trends positively influencing construction spend in the region.”

TERRY TOMMASONPartner and Head of Property, EC Harris

Realtydeals upby 24% Qatar’s real estate transactions witnessed a 24% jump in 2014 compared with the previous year. The total deals hit QR55.4 billion during the year. December registered the highest transactions of QR7.8 billion compared with QR3 billion during the corresponding month in 2013, according to a report in a local daily.

JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER

QR5.5 billion QR6.8 billion

QR1 billion QR1.9 billion




QR3 billion QR7.8 billion

JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE

QR2.8 billionQR4.8 billion





QR4.2 billion QR4 billion

2013 2014

Qatar completesfour 200m+ buildingsQatar finished tied with the UAE for third place out of 19 countries in the world that completed 200m+ buildings in 2014, according to a Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) report.

58 - China

5 - Phillippines

4 - Qatar

4 - UAE

3 - Canada

3 - Indonesia

3 - Japan

3 - United States

2 - Australia

2 - Saudi Arabia

2 - Turkey

Courtesy : Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

BUILDING MATERIAL DEMAND TO PEAKTwo Qatari firms – Qatar Primary Materials Company (QPMC) and Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company (QIMC) – have decided to increase production of construction material as the demand is expected to rise in the coming years. QPMC is planning to increase supply of washed sand to the market by 33,000 tonnes per day, while QIMC announced that its sand treatment plant will increase its production capacity up to 30,000 tonnes a day.


business > oil&gas

1. QATARSUPPLIED 77.4 MT OF LNG TO THE MARKET

2. MALAYSIASUPPLIED 23.1 MT OF LNG TO THE MARKET

3. AUSTRALIASUPPLIED 20.8 MT OF LNG TO THE MARKET

4. NIGERIASUPPLIED 20 MT OF LNG TO THE MARKET

5. INDONESIASUPPLIED 18.1 MT OF LNG TO THE MARKET

6. TRINIDADSUPPLIED 14.4 MT OF LNG TO THE MARKET

7. ALGERIASUPPLIED 11 MT OF LNG TO THE MARKET

8. RUSSIASUPPLIED 10.9 MT OF LNG TO THE MARKET

9. OMANSUPPLIED 8.1 MT OF LNG TO THE MARKET

10. BRUNEISUPPLIED 6.8 MT OF LNG TO THE MARKET

“Shale is toOPEC what the Apple II was to the IBM mainframe.”Philip Verleger, energy economist

RASGAS MEETS COMMITMENTRasGas Company Limited delivered the 1000th liquefied natural gas cargo to Petronet LNG Limited (Petronet), last month, under the Long Term Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA).

The 1000th LNG cargo delivered to Petronet was loaded on board the LNG vessel “Disha” at Ras Laffan Port on 22nd December, 2014. Coinciden-

tally, the same ship also loaded the inaugu-ral LNG cargo on 25 Jan 2004 under the same SPA on her maiden voyage from Ras Laffan port to Petronet LNG Dahej Termi-nal. “This successful delivery of the 1000th LNG cargo marks a significant milestone in our long-standing relationship with

Petronet and comes as a further testimony of RasGas being a safe and reliable supplier of LNG jointly with our partner Petronet for the Indian market.

As an important supplier of LNG to India, RasGas will continue to provide its support in meeting India’s growing economy and demand for cleaner energy in the form of LNG,” said Khalid Sultan R. Al Kuwari, RasGas’ Chief Marketing and Shipping Officer.

NOTHING CHANGES: SAUDI

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia said that veteran Oil Minister Ali Ibrahim Al Nuaimi (pictured) will continue to hold the same position in a message aimed at calming a jittery energy market, mindful of Nuaimi’s powerful role within the OPEC. In his first address to the nation King Salman vowed to maintain the same approach as his predecessors.

The 79-year-old Nuaimi has been a leading figure in the market for two decades and successfully argued in November that OPEC should hold output steady despite a sharp fall in oil prices in order to safeguard market share. That policy is unlikely to change under Salman, analysts say.“What is happening now is Kingdom policy, not just the King’s policy,” said analyst Yasser Elguindi of Medley Global Advisors. “The Kingdom will continue to make policy based solely on economic rather than political considerations. The oil weapon has long been defunct.”With Nuaimi to stay for now, analysts said the focus was on for how long, as his departure could impact Saudi policy, OPEC and oil prices generally.

Saudi oil minister Ali Al Naimi attends the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) oil ministers meeting in Kuwait city on September 11, 2014. Al Naimi played down the drop in oil prices saying this is not the first time crude prices slumped. AFP PHOTO / YASSER AL-ZAYYAT

THE TOP 10LNG EXPORTING COUNTRIESWho are the best exporters of LNG? Although Qatar is leading the market, several other countries are increasing their exports and the LNG supply diversity to the world. Here are the top 10 LNG exporting countries from the IGU (International Gas Union, 2013 Edition).


oil & gas > viewpoint

The hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment may have been the most high profile cyber attack in 2014 but

it was just one in a string of devastating attacks that have pushed cyber security to the very top of global

policy agenda.

How the energy industry can stop

cyber attacks


BY SEAN EVERSManaging PartnerGulf Intelligence

The hacker attack on Sony fol-lowed those on US retailers Home Depot Inc. and Target Corp., as well as US investment bank JP Morgan Chase earli-

er in the year, all of which caused signifi-cant costs in damage repair and severely undermined customer confidence.

It was against this backdrop that US President Barack Obama in January un-veiled tough new, if controversial, draft cyber security legislation aimed at build-ing up the country’s defences - coinciding with the theft of data from around 350,000 brokerage accounts at Morgan Stanley and the apparent hack of the US Central Com-mand’s social media sites by a hacker group claiming to back Islamic State.

Outside the US, South Korea in Decem-ber announced that non-critical data about its nuclear plants had been leaked by a hacker, raising concerns over the safety of the country’s atomic energy infrastructure. Less publicised internationally but equally worrying was the cyber attack on an un-identified German steel mill in late Decem-ber, in which hackers managed to manipu-late and disrupt industrial control systems, causing serious damage to the plant and wrecking one of its blast furnaces.

The incidents allude to a worrying trend: the world’s critical infrastructure, includ-ing energy systems that serve as the lifelines of global economies, are under constant threat and attack. BP’s CEO Bob Dudley in 2013 said the oil major suffered, on average, a staggering 50,000 cyber attacks every day from both domestic and foreign hackers.

Cyber attacks upAccording to a survey conducted by con-sulting firm PwC , the number of cyber se-curity incidents jumped 66% year-on-year in 2014 to 42.8 million. At the same time, 40% of all cyber attacks in the US have been against energy sector companies, data from the Willis Energy Market Review 2014 shows.

While the threat arising from cyber crime has been recognised for some time now in

the industry, the world’s growing intercon-nectivity and the ongoing convergence of previously independent IT and operation-al technology systems in industrial plants mean that vulnerabilities to cyber attacks are only going to increase – with poten-tially severe consequences for people, the environment and infrastructure.

As the number of cyber attacks on the energy sector keeps rising, the nature of the threat has begun to change.

Attacks have become more sophisticated and complex, often seeking to take charge of control systems. Today, the greatest threat to the energy industry’s operational systems arising from cyber attacks comes from breaches that seek to inflict dam-age to property and interrupt operations, as happened at the German steel mill in December.

One potentially devastating breach oc-curred last year when malware known as both ‘Energetic Bear’ and ‘Dragonfly’ in-fected computer systems of energy com-panies in the US and Europe, allowing the attackers to monitor and capture energy consumption data, and – potentially more worrying for the industry – to impact con-trol systems for wind turbines, valves, gas pipelines, and power plants.

“Industrial systems designed without any consideration of malware or cyber-at-tack are now being hooked up to the in-ternet and other business networks, and are now exposed to all the same IP-borne threats that Enterprise networks have been building defenses against for years,” BAE Systems Chief Technology Officer Dr David Bailey wrote in a paper on convergence in the oil and gas industry in 2014.

The ongoing convergence of IT and in-dustrial control systems in industries such as oil and gas is essentially driven by the need to create greater efficiencies and en-hance productivity at a time when the ex-traction of fossil fuels is becoming techni-cally more complex and demanding – and thus more expensive. Increased end-to-end connectivity in oil fields, often referred to as Digital Oil Fields (DOF), enables the

“In addition to putting in place the technological infrastructure to identify and stop the most damaging cyber attacks, companies will also have to place greater emphasis on training and raising staff awareness about the danger of malicious activities to create a more security-focused culture.”



harvesting of ever greater amounts of data in near or real time that in turn can be used to analyse and, subsequently, optimise operations.

Middle East too hitThe Middle East, which has entered the era of post-easy oil and nowadays has to spend more on extracting its hydrocarbon re-serves, is no exception to this development and the regional oil industry has begun migrating into the digital sphere in recent years. Indeed, the Middle East is going to be the world’s fastest-growing DOF market through to 2024, according to RnR Market Research, in turn raising its vulnerability to cyber attacks.

For a region that more than others de-pends on revenues generated from the export of hydrocarbons, safeguarding its critical energy infrastructure from cyber threats isn’t just important, it’s a matter of

national interest. And the threat is real.In 2013, a high-profile attack on Saudi

Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) infected as many as 30,000 of the state-run compa-ny’s machines with a destructive virus that caused major disruptions at the world’s largest oil producer. In the same year, Qa-tari liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer RasGas was attacked by a computer virus that crashed the company’s website and office computer systems. Three years ear-lier, Stuxnet, a computer virus, destroyed almost 20% of Iran’s uranium enrichment centrifuge capability in what was a targeted attack aimed at crippling the country’s nu-clear capabilities.

As more producers are being targeted in the Middle East, companies are stepping up their investments in fortifying their cyber security systems in order to protect their critical infrastructure. In addition to put-ting in place the technological infrastruc-ture to identify and stop the most damag-ing cyber attacks, companies will also have to place greater emphasis on training and raising staff awareness about the danger of malicious activities to create a more securi-ty-focused culture.

Need of the hourHowever, what’s most important in this cyber battle is for governments to take a lead in addressing the issue, in particular by adopting regulations that demand bet-ter security than the market does. In the UAE, the government has formed the fed-eral National Electronic Security Authority (NESA) to oversee the country’s cyberspace and coordinate with national stakeholders. Qatar has made cyber security one of three research priorities to develop experts and expertise. These are important initiatives. But ultimately, what’s needed is the clos-est possible collaboration and information sharing between all stakeholders in vital sectors such as energy - operators, vendors, manufacturers, governments and research institutes - to work jointly towards secur-ing critical infrastructure and help protect the broader cyber ecosystem from digital disruptions. This may not be easy as it will require a truly coordinated and open ap-proach across industries and national bor-ders. But without it, a major cyber attack with devastating consequences may be harder to avoid

The Middle East, which has entered the era of post-easy oil and nowadays has to spend more on extracting its hydrocarbon reserves, is no exception to the convergence of IT and industrial control systems and the regional oil industry has begun migrating into the digital sphere in recent years.


Qatar, the world’s largest ex-porter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and one of the smaller oil producing countries, es-timates that the non-hydro-

carbon share of GDP will overtake that of oil and gas in 2015. According to official fig-ures in December, GDP is forecast to grow by 7.7% in 2015, compared with a projected 6.3% in 2014. The Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics said that the overall fiscal balance is expected to stay in surplus in 2015, though it is set to narrow as public spending gathers pace. Domestic risks to the economy are centred around the scale

and complexity of Qatar’s planned infra-structure projects before it hosts the 2022 FIFA World Cup football tournament, the ministry said.

However, investors across the region have taken flight over a gloomy outlook for oil prices in 2015, with the Qatar Exchange slumping in the fourth quarter and early January after posting strong growth in the first three quarters of 2014.

Gas over oilQatar may feel less pain than most oth-er major producers due to its focus on gas over oil in terms of export commodities.

With much of its LNG exports locked in by long-term contracts, it is less vulnerable to market fluctuations; nonetheless, histori-cally gas prices lag oil prices by six months. An additional factor supporting earnings is that most of its LNG output is shipped to Asia, which is still expected to post solid growth in 2015, thereby maintaining de-mand for energy.

With the price of Brent crude plunging from a mid-year high of $115 (QR422) to below $50 (QR180) at the start of January, the finances of energy exporters around the world are under pressure. At the end of De-cember, credit ratings agency Moody’s put

Despite falling oil prices, the economy in Qatar maintained a steady rate of expansion throughout 2014, with targets of even more robust growth this

year, fueled by the non-hydrocarbon sector.

The Year in Review



BY OLIVER CORNOCKThe author is the Regional Editorof Oxford Business Group.

Qatar’s break-even oil price at $59 (QR216), one of the lowest of any major producer, while its budget this year is based on an as-sumed oil price of $65 (QR240).

In spite of the non-hydrocarbon sector being the primary driver of growth in re-cent years, hydrocarbon receipts generated about 86% of the government’s revenues in 2013 and have been largely responsible for Qatar’s fiscal surpluses, according to the report. Moody’s added that oil prices could become a key risk to the economic outlook if their slide continued, but noted that the wider economy was likely to be shielded by the strength of state finances.

Infrastructure boomOngoing investments in infrastructure are providing further stimulus. Some of these are related to hosting the 2022 World Cup, while others are being driven by increased spending on transport and logistics. Just under $27 billion (QR100 billion) worth of large-scale infrastructure projects were awarded in 2014, according to a Standard Chartered report, a figure that is set to rise to around $34 billion (QR125 billion) in the coming year as Qatar moves to meet its ex-panding social and economic needs.

While these investments will support growth in the construction sector, the growing pace of development is putting up-ward pressure on both building costs and the price of land, which was 73% higher year-on-year as of October 2014. Much of this increase in construction activity was due to the sharp rise in population during 2014, which expanded by some 10% - a re-sult of both natural growth and an influx of foreign workers to support new projects.

Although greater demand for housing and services, along with rising land and materials costs, will seep into the consum-er price index (CPI), inflation remained

steady in 2014, running at an annualised 3.6% at the end of the third quarter. Howev-er, this could rise, as increases in rental and accommodation costs, which have a signifi-cant weight in the CPI, have witnessed up-ward movement in the final months of the year.

Strong fiscal fundamentalsThe state is also taking steps to reduce borrowing and pay down debt. Public loan levels fell 6% in the year-to-date in early December, according to a Morgan Stanley report, while total system loans were up 9%, the slowest rate in nearly four years. Despite the slowing of public borrowing, the report forecast private loan growth to continue at a strong pace, in the 10-20% range, with corporate credit demand to re-main elevated. As of December, almost 60% of domestic loans held by Qatari banks were taken out by the private sector, up from 55% the year before.

Much of this private borrowing has been used to fund investments and growth in the non-oil and non-state sectors of the econ-omy. As of early December, private sector growth in 2014 was expected to top the 11% seen in 2013 and nearly double the rate of GDP expansion, according to the Prime Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani. Nonetheless, a recent report by the IMF noted that banks in the GCC will struggle to diversify their cred-it portfolios due to the dependence of the non-oil sector on the hydrocarbon segment, with banks’ net income highly correlated to oil-driven fiscal developments.

Higher domestic demand and relatively steadier energy earnings should see Qatar’s economy maintain solid growth into 2015, as private sector activity continues to ex-pand and state-funded investments broad-en the base of economic development

In spite of the non-hydrocarbon sector being the primary driver of growth in recent years, hydrocarbon receipts generated about 86% of the government’s revenues in 2013 and have been largely responsible for Qatar’s fiscal surpluses, according to a Moody's report.

affairs > arab snippets

R E ST I N P E AC E

Mourners gather around the grave of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah at the Al Oud cemetery in Riyadh on January 23 following his death in the early hours. Foreign leaders gathered in the Saudi capital for the funeral of the ruler of the world's top oil exporter and the spiritual home of Islam. King Salman assumed the throne in the conservative Islamic kingdom following the death of King Abdullah.

AFP PHOTO /MOHAMMED MASHHUR


development > listening post

Mark Arnoldy, CEO of Possible, attempts to connect the dots between Qatar, healthcare

in rural Nepal, and the thousands of its citizens who come here for work.

By Ayswarya Murthy

Medicine man


In November last year, Mark Arnoldy brought down to Qatar for three weeks a small portion of his New York-based team. They had rented out a quaint little office space in 7ayak Hub and Ar-

noldy was helping out by giving its young residents a crash course on the importance of an organisational structure. That’s how we first heard of Possible, an American NGO that was working towards making pri-mary healthcare accessible to those living in the most remote regions of Nepal. We were curious about the Qatar detour; Ar-noldy says he flies through Doha about six times a year but this time it was different. Finally, several weeks after we first con-tacted him, Arnoldy talks to us from New York about his world and how it is about to collide with Qatar.

InceptionThe story of Arnoldy in Nepal and Nyaya Health (Possible, as it was known before 2014) began with a potentially fatal allergic reaction during a countrywide shutdown.

An undergraduate on his first visit to Ne-pal, Arnoldy found himself in the throes of anaphylactic shock and no healthcare facility in sight. “Only a bottle of Benadryl stood between me and death,” he says mat-ter-of-factly. In hindsight, it was the semi-nal moment, a “moment of obligation that unfolded over a number of years”. For the first time in his young life, the American from the Midwest knew what it was like to be in desperate need and have no access to healthcare. “I soon learnt that Nepal has some really troubling health indicators. Eighty percent of Nepal’s 30 million peo-ple live in rural areas, often hard to reach. Delivering healthcare to these people was extremely challenging but nothing much was being done,” he says. Arnoldy, now a Harvard graduate and a Fulbright Fellow, found himself returning to the country several times.

In parallel, another story was unfolding. A Yale medical student and his Nepali doc-umentary filmmaker wife were travelling to Western Nepal to investigate the rampant

"I soon learnt that Nepal has some really troubling health indicators. In the region we are working in, there wasn't a single healthcare provider for a quarter million people. That’s like there being not a single hospital for the entire Qatari population."

Bringing primary healthcare to some of the

most remote villages in Western Nepal.


development > listening postHIV there brought on by migration. They were going to meet a few people and get some comments but when they got there the reality of the situation completely over-whelmed them. “There was a crisis bigger than the HIV problem - there wasn’t any functional healthcare system whatsoever. Not a single healthcare provider for a quar-ter million people. That’s like there being not a single hospital for the entire Qatari population,” says Arnoldy, putting things in perspective. The Yale student, along with two of his friends, started Nyaya Health and soon after, Arnoldy joined the nascent or-ganisation as its first full-time leader. And they had to start from scratch in one of the poorest nations in all of South Asia that was just coming out of a ten-year civil war. “It began out of moral compulsion more than

anything else; we couldn’t just turn away.”Six years hence, Arnoldy and the Possible

team now have a rapidly expanding health-care model, a sustainable partnership with the Nepali government, proof of tangible impact backed by hard data and, most im-portantly, an opportunity to demonstrate the adaptability of this kind of system in other poor, remote corners of the world. Their work now, he says, is at a unique stage. “It’s an exciting time.”

From the ground upFrom the very beginning, Arnoldy says, their model required a public-private part-nership. “Our work started in a humble way; we renovated and opened a clinic in what was previously the village’s grain shed. But even then we held out till we were sure that the government was invested in a mean-ingful way; we didn’t want to build a pri-vate parallel healthcare system.We wanted the government to participate with fund-ing and infrastructure while we worked on operations and service delivery. And it evolved a lot from there on. We now oper-ate a complete healthcare system based on a hub-and-spoke model. We run a hospital surrounded by a network of 13 clinics, fol-lowed by a tier of 164 women community health workers, delivering healthcare with-in the government’s existing infrastructure and getting paid based on performance.” Possible continues to work towards results better aligned with Nepal’s national health-care goal (“the right to health is enshrined in their constitution”) while successfully moving away from a fee-for-service model that doesn’t work for the poorest patient.

The community health workers are quite easily the backbone of their operations. Already part of a government network of volunteers, these workers are continually trained by Possible to deliver preventative care, education and, most importantly, re-ferral and follow-up care. They are the con-nectors of the healthcare system who can be approached by any of the villagers for immediate consultation.

Today, Possible is able to provide basic healthcare in the region it operates in for less than $4 (QR13) per person annually. “It’s this low for a variety of reasons. One, we are delivering pretty basic, primary care at this stage, so there is not much sophis-ticated technology involved. Two, we are trying to make it community driven, keep patients out of hospital and treat them at the lowest tier of care that is closest to their home. Third, our very incentive is to not provide excess care. In a lot of health-

"We want to find leaders within the contracting and construction industry here to work with us to raise the standards of how they interact with labourers and to build a financial reinvestment mechanism into their business model."

A majority of the Possible team is made up of Nepalis, local to the areas that it serves.


care systems around the world, the incen-tive is to provide more care than is needed, prescribe more medicines than is needed, more tests than is needed. And finally, the dollar goes much further in Nepal,” he says. But Arnoldy’s goal is to deliver a com-prehensive national system of health that spends at least about $20-25 per capita.

Though Arnoldy is excited by the possi-bilities of this model, aware of its relevance in many other places in the world where the poor are forced to rely on either the purely government or the fee-for-service private sector, his focus now is on scaling up their operations in Nepal. “Immediate-ly we want to move from our current size to two hospitals, 72 clinics and over 900

community health workers over the next two and a half years. That’s going to be in-structive of where we go next,” he says.

Qatar connectionIt was inevitable that his extensive work in Nepal would eventually bring him to Qatar – and not just in transit. “We recognised that there is a growing interdependent re-lationship between Qatar and Nepal. Every-one is aware of Nepali migrant labour that is involved in the building of Qatar. Through this mechanism we have an opportunity to build the country where these workers are coming from. We wanted to work connect-ing with government and private sector healthcare entities, individuals and leaders

interested in this endeavour,” he says. Even going by his short time here, Ar-

noldy says he is optimistic about “the op-portunity to build transformative partner-ships”. They have got the ball rolling almost immediately. At the World Innovation on Health Summit this month, Arnoldy and his work will be presented to the global delegates. In addition to trying to rope in the support of organisations like Qatar Airways, Possible will also propose part-nerships with Qatar Foundation and their Education Above All programme to “jointly deliver on education and healthcare results to transform the rural areas of Nepal”.

But perhaps the most ambitious of Ar-noldy’s plans in Qatar is his attempt to try and engage the private sector. “We want to find leaders within the contracting and construction industry to work with us to raise the standards of how they interact with labourers and to build a financial re-investment mechanism into their business model. Imagine if, for every employee, a small amount is invested back into their country’s healthcare system. We want to pioneer this. There is tremendous oppor-tunity for everything concerning labour to turn from being a sour spot to a solution,” he says. “It just needs the right kind of leadership.”

The hospital run by Possible in Western Nepal.

Community health workers undergoing training.

# W E WA N T P E AC E

People take part in a unity rally “Marche Republicaine” on January 11 at the Place de la Nation (Nation square) in Paris in tribute to the 17 victims of a three-day killing spree by homegrown Islamists. The killings began on January 7 with an assault on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris that saw two brothers massacre 12 people, including some of the country's best-known cartoonists, the killing of a policewoman and the storming of a kosher supermarket on the eastern fringes of the capital, which killed four local residents.AFP PHOTO / LOIC VENANCE

affairs > world view


COVER STORY

Oil Wars

The OilWars


There seems to be more to it than meets the eye as oil prices plunged to their lowest in the last six years. Qatar Today talks to experts to understand its impact on the GCC economies, particularly Qatar.By V L Srinivasan


COVER STORY

Oil Wars

Hitting several pockets of turbu-lence, oil prices have crashed by over 60% from $115 in June 2014 to $46 per barrel in the last week of January 2015 – and are likely

to plummet further to $40 in the not too distance future.

Saudi Arabia, one of the biggest oil ex-porters, has made it very clear that it was ready to face the consequences even if the price fell to $20 per barrel in the coming weeks. It is reported that the Kingdom will end up losing QR465.92 billion ($128 bil-lion) revenues if the oil prices are pegged at $50 per barrel for one year.

Several reports have been doing the rounds, after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) met in No-vember 2014 and refused to cut production. One theory has been that the decision was taken, at the behest of the US and its allies, to “hurt” the oil-centric state economies such as Russia and Iran. But the catch is that these declining prices will affect Saudi more than anyone else, since their economy is so intrinsically dependent on oil. Despite numerous initiatives and billions of dollars spent on efforts to diversify the Saudi econ-omy, oil proceeds continue to account for 90% of export earnings, approximately 80% percent of government revenues and about 40% of GDP.

Russia, which has already been hard-hit due to Western sanctions, has been strug-gling to insulate its economy from fur-ther collapses but the declining oil prices have reduced the value of its exports, put-ting downward pressure on its currency.

Pegging the oil price at $100 per barrel, the Russian Parliament has recently approved a three-year budget (2015-1017) but Mos-cow may experience deep recession and de-fault on its debts if the oil prices fail to rise in the coming months.

The development also hit Iran’s econo-my, which was limping back to near normal-cy. Sanctions over the years have brought down Iran’s oil exports considerably and its leaders are blaming fellow OPEC producers of colluding with the West to keep oil prices low.

While Europe is cut up with Russia for its support to Syria and also for precipitating the crisis in Ukraine, the US foreign policy is aimed at exerting pressure on Iran (which is also supporting the Syrian regime led by Bashar Al Assad), to limit its ambitions during the nuclear talks with the West.

Iran needs the oil price to be around $140 per barrel to balance its books and another OPEC member, Venezuela, needs $117 per barrel to avoid the ignominy of defaulting on its debts and also to meet its fiscal com-mitments.

Besides Iran and Russia, the two GCC countries - Saudi Arabia and Kuwait - are also likely to bear the brunt as oil sales ac-counted for 90% and 92%, respectively, in the overall budget income for these two countries in 2013.

On the other hand, Iraq too has warned that it has lost 50% of its oil revenues due to the price slump and had no money even to buy weapons to fight the Islamic State. In other words, Iraq has accused the GCC-based OPEC members of aggravating the crisis in the violence-hit Middle East.

The other version is that non-OPEC countries like the US and Canada have stepped up crude oil production to chal-lenge the hegemony of OPEC, and the latter

“We believe that gas has a strong advantage not only as a source of energy but as a source of cleaner energy. And gas demand is likely to be further augmented.”

HE Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada Minister for Energy and Industry

SHARE OF HYDROCARBONSIN GOVERNMENT REVENUES

Qatar UAE Kuwait Saudi

56.3%

43.7% 36.2%7.6% 10.5%

63.8%92.4% 89.5%

Hydrocarbon RevenuesNon-Hydrocarbon Revenues

Source: IMF, SAMA, UAE National Bureau of Statistics, QCB, CBK (Qatar Figures as per FY2013-14)


hit back by refusing to cut back oil produc-tion.

Whatever the case is, the intentions of the four GCC countries – Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE – are the same and they do not want to surrender their market share in the global oil market for years to come.

These four nations are of the view that they can survive the oil price slide as their production cost is less, while the US ener-gy industry cannot compete with them as it cannot afford to produce oil at a high price and sell cheaply.

The good news, however, is that the Eu-ropean Central Bank’s quantitative eas-ing plans on January 22, to buy European bonds worth QR4.73 trillion ($1.3 trillion), is expected to push up oil prices in the coming months.

“Oil prices should be around $60 a bar-rel by the end of this year as demand from Europe increases because of the economic stimulus from the European Central Bank,” HE Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, the Minister of Economy and Commerce, said during the World Economic Forum summit at Davos in Switzerland last month.

As of now, there are no indications of an oil price rebound due to oversupply from the US and Canada, falling demand in the European Union besides the slowing of the Chinese economy. All these factors are likely to impact the global economy.

The US Energy Information Administra-tion (EIA), which estimates that the price plunge will result in a revenue loss of $257 billion (QR935.48 billion) to OPEC in 2015, says that further revisions to future budget plans may be required by many of its mem-bers, particularly Venezuela, Iraq and Ec-uador, because of lower oil prices and large uncertainty over future global economic growth and crude oil production levels.

The OPEC’s decision prompted the In-ternational Energy Agency (IEA) to remark that there was too much oil in the world and not enough buyers. “There are two mil-lion barrels per day of crude oil production that don’t have a home,” the Vienna-based organisation says.

According to the International Monetary Fund, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE, whose oil production represents 63% of their total exports, are estimated to have combined reserve assets of around $855 billion (QR3.11 trillion).

Among them, Saudi Arabia has amassed $794.38 billion (QR2.89 trillion) to see it through times of low oil prices. While these huge reserves can shield these countries for

a short time, the low oil prices will eat into their fiscal surpluses leaving them high and dry if continued for a long time.

The continuation of Ibrahim Ali Al Naimi as Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister, after the death of King Abdullah on January 23, confirms that the new King Salman bin Ab-dulaziz Al Saud will not deviate from the policy decisions of his predecessor on oil prices.

Al Naimi told the OPEC meeting last No-vember that it was not in OPEC’s interest to cut oil production as it aims at defend-ing market share rather than supporting price. Echoing similar views, PwC (Middle East) Energy, Utilities & Mining Leader Paul Navratil says that the decision of the large-producing countries in OPEC, specif-ically those with surplus budget reserves, is to "protect market share" rather than sole-ly shoulder the responsibility of reducing output at the gain of the marginal barrel producers.

“The other countries in OPEC, which are not awash in funds, need to maintain pro-duction as a means to generate much-need-ed government income, albeit lower due to the price, and cannot afford to have a dou-ble hit of lower volumes and lower prices,” he says.

Navratil also says that the GCC-based OPEC countries are likely to allow the oil price fluctuation to pursue its course of finding equilibrium and most government budgets this year, which have been set using higher oil prices in their estimations, will be utilising their financial reserves to weather this current volatility.

A lesson learnt from earlier oil gluts in 2008-09 is that significant cost savings can be realised by “staying the course” and re-negotiating prices with key suppliers who are keen to maintain their own order books, Navratil says.

“We expect the potential savings to be in the order of 20% to 30% in many instances, which is sufficient enough reason for the GCC to continue with its plans to build in-frastructure and further diversify their in-dustrial bases and economies - provided we all believe there will be a price recovery in the not too distant future,” he says.

Salam Awawdeh, Partner and Energy & Resources Consulting Leader at Deloitte Middle East, says that the oil producers have no intention to create an oil glut as the business is driven by “hard-headed com-mercial decision-making” rather than emo-tion but the decision-makers have become less unified than in the past.

There is an increasing divergence within

“We all have to get used to living in a more and more efficient way. Geo-politics are not de facto an offspring of oil, but like water moving down a hill it finds its way into every crevice.”

Sean EversManaging PartnerGulf Intelligence


COVER STORY

Oil WarsOPEC in decision-making between GCC and non-GCC members due to the individ-ual operating circumstances of each mem-ber (market share strategy, types of crude, technical difficulty of extraction, availabil-ity of infrastructure, ability to meet quotas, fiscal strength).

“It is no secret that the production cost is much lower for OPEC members in the GCC than others. Non-OPEC decision-mak-ing is, however, also less unified due to the emergence of major hydrocarbon produc-ers such as the US, whose operating condi-tions are certainly different from those of Russia,” he says.

Besides, the pricing ambitions of large commodities trading houses, many of whom hold physical stocks of oil (and increasingly, natural gas) can be dif-ferent from, if not the opposite of, the hydrocarbon- producing countries.

“If this fragmentation were not enough, we also have the increasing emergence of natural gas as a fossil fuel which is priced separately from oil. For example, here in Qatar, gas is far more strategically import-ant than oil due to Qatar’s leadership of the LNG community. Due to this, it is im-possible to foresee what the oil price will do and very few people have achieved this foresight,” Awawdeh points out.

Devastating effectThe signs of the shrinking footprint of in-vestments in the oil and gas industry were clearly visible with the oil tremors not only being felt by Iran and Russia but also in the GCC region, the US and in other oil produc-ing countries.

Venezuela, which is a member of OPEC, has landed in a financial mess following the oil price plunge and its president Nicolas Maduro sought help from Qatar and other countries to wriggle itself out of the crisis.

The worst fears that investments in the oil and gas sector would be hit were con-firmed with Shell and Qatar Petroleum scrapping the QR23.3 billion ($6.4 billion) Al Karaana Project as it was economically unfeasible.

“Qatar Petroleum and Shell have decided not to proceed with the proposed Al Karaa-na Petrochemicals Project. The decision came after a careful and thorough evalua-tion of commercial quotations from EPC (engineering, procurement and construc-tion) bidders, which showed high capital costs rendering it commercially unfeasi-ble, particularly in the current economic climate prevailing in the energy industry,” Shell said in a statement in mid-January.

Unconfirmed reports even suggest that

the prestigious QR43.68 billion ($12 bil-lion) Sharq Crossing Project in Doha may be delayed by a few years and the reason for this could be the falling oil prices.

Saudi Arabia also is forecast to cut its ex-penditure by 18% to QR833.56 billion ($229 billion) in 2015 compared with last year, according to reports.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic), one of the world’s largest petrochemicals groups, reported a 29% plunge in Q4 2014 net income and the company’s chief ex-ecutive, Mohamed Al Mady, says that his company’s outlook for 2015 depended on oil prices and was therefore unpredict-able. Sabic is among the GCC’s largest-list-ed companies and has earned $1.16 billion (QR5.82 billion) in the three months to December 31.

In the US, the oil industry pulled back from high-cost areas of operation, slash-ing jobs and spending as the companies cancelled drilling rig contracts in the Gulf Coast. More than 1,500 active drilling rigs have gone out of business by mid-January and the oil rig fall is said to be the biggest since 1991.

The efforts of the Narendra Modi gov-ernment in India, which was looking to re-duce the country’s fiscal deficit in the next financial year beginning in April by selling off shares in part in the profit-making Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) respective-ly, reportedly fell flat with investors having second thoughts in view of the develop-ments.

Despite these setbacks, Awawdeh sees light at the end of the tunnel.

“As far as controlling the oil price slide, one has to assume that the demand for hy-drocarbons will increase in the long term as emerging markets such as India, China and Africa become more developed, and that this demand will outstrip the decline in OECD countries due to environmental awareness and innovation as well as elevat-ed indirect taxation,” he says.

Another effect would be that non-fossil fuels and alternative energy will supplant fossil fuel consumption in those very coun-tries where demand growth is expected to be highest. It is interesting to note that China is aggressively pursuing the devel-opment of non-fossil fuel energy sources to tackle well-publicised environmental issues in some of its largest cities.

Shaken, but not stirredThe nose-diving oil prices have also im-pacted the global gas markets but LNG-ex-porting countries, including Qatar, feel that

“Although LNG prices are based on Japanese Crude Consortium driven formula, which is oil indexed, the drop in gas prices has not been as severe as oil prices and therefore, the impact on Qatar is not as high as in countries which depend only on oil.”

Gopal Balasubramaniam Head of Oil and Gas (Middle East and South Asia) and Partner and Head of AuditKPMG, Qatar


they are well-positioned to weather such developments.

The confidence of these countries stems from the fact that the LNG demand is grow-ing at a faster pace compared with that of oil as the IEA, in its report entitled “World En-ergy Outlook 2014,” says that the global gas demand would be around 5.4 Trillion Cubic Metres (TCM) in 2040.

The IEA report also says that gas draws level with coal as the second-largest fuel in the global energy mix, after oil. The main regions pushing global gas demand high-er are China, which will become a larger gas consumer than the European Union around 2030, and the Middle East.

The Minister for Energy and Industry, HE Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, admit-ted in December that the drop in oil prices has affected the price of natural gas as both markets were interconnected.

However, he said that both supply and demand for LNG are increasing. “We be-lieve that gas has a strong advantage not only as a source of energy but as a source of cleaner energy. And gas demand is likely to be further augmented,” the Minister adds.

Keeping in mind the projected demand and the positive outlook for natural gas, countries like Australia are pouring billions of dollars in to developing LNG projects to produce as much as 350 Million Metric Tonnes per Annum (MTPA). If they are completed on time, provided there is no up-ward revision in project costs, they would more than double the current capacity, which is less than 300 MTPA, by 2025.

The other reason that has been driving the demand for natural gas is the Fukushi-ma nuclear mishap in Japan in 2011, after

which Japan has shut down all other nucle-ar power stations and opted for LNG as fuel for power generation.

Besides Japan, the demand for gas has gone up considerably in Far East countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, and Qatar, as the world’s biggest LNG ex-porter, has benefited enormously from its status as a stable, long-term supplier to the high-value Asian market.

Another fact from which Qatar can take comfort is that most of the long-term agree-ments with the Asian buyers will not expire till 2021 and they are likely to extend the agreements as Qatar is the low-cost LNG supplier at present and is flexible as far as price negotiations are concerned.

This is not the first time Qatar has sur-vived a scare. When the shale gas boom crowded out expected LNG imports to the US, Qatar diverted its supplies to Asia and earned a reputation among its buyers for its reliability considering the uncertainties that may plague the upcoming and planned LNG projects.

On whether Qatar would be impacted, Awawdeh says it depends over what time frame oil price movements are measured, as well as the individual operating circum-stances of each OPEC country (types of crude, technical difficulty of extraction, availability of infrastructure, ability to meet quotas, fiscal strength) – Nigeria and Saudi Arabia are quite different.

“If there is a price correction towards the end of this year – which a number of commentators predict – then the effects on some (but not all) countries will be relative-ly small. If we are in for a permanently low oil price environment from now on, then it

“Oil prices should increase to an average of $60 a barrel by the end of this year as demand from Europe increases because of the economic stimulus from the European Central Bank.”

HE Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani Minister of Economy and Commerce

Global LNG: will new demand and new supply mean new pricing? 5

are removed in non-OECD markets. Global LNG demand by 2030 could, however, be almost double that of the estimated 2012 level of about 250 million metric tonnes.

Japan, South Korea and Taiwan (collectively, JKT) have been and are expected to remain the backbone of the global LNG market. Accounting for more than half of total global LNG demand in 2012, JKT are characterized as heavily industrialized countries with limited domestic energy options — i.e., they are seen as the “premium” LNG markets. However, the newer and growing LNG demand centers — China, India, the Middle East, Europe and South America — tend to have more available competitive energy options, including coal and oil, as well as other sources of natural gas — either from domestic production or pipeline imports. As a result, these new markets will generally be less likely to willingly pay supply security premiums and will be more price-sensitive.

More than 30 countries have proposed plans to build or add LNG

to the LNG market. By 2020, the number of countries with import capacity could double from the 25 countries at the end of 2011.

exceeds current/projected supply or demand and yet could rise by as much as 200 mtpa by 2020.4

China and India are expected to be the biggest sources of additional LNG demand. The latest Five-Year Plan to “gasify” the Chinese economy calls for the gas share of the energy mix to rise from ~4% in 2010 to 8% by 2015, with a longer-term goal of a 10% share by 2020.5 Beyond 2020, China’s potential gas demand is huge, considering that China’s coal market is seven times larger than the total global LNG market.6 China has considerable development ambitions for its shale gas resources as well as for

of imported LNG to meet demand. Importantly, with multiple supply options, China’s aggressive near-to-medium demand forecasts are seemingly well-covered by increasing domestic supply, increasing pipeline imports and signed LNG contracts.

Global LNG, 13 January 20125 OilPrice.com, “China Turns to Natural Gas to Fuel their Economic Growth,” 19 June 20126 Deutsche Bank Markets Research, Global LNG: Gorgon & the Global LNG Monster, 17 September 2012

0

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60020

00

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2025

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Mill

ion

tonn

es p

er y

ear

JKT Other Asia Americas Europe Other

Actual Projected

Source: EY assessments of data from multiple sources

Figure 1. Global LNG demand

Measures and conversion factors

Natural gas is most typically measured in volumetric terms, either in cubic feet (cf) or cubic meters (cm). For international consistency here, cubic meters are used with

1 cubic meter = 35.3 cubic feet

LNG, however, is typically measured in millions (metric) tonnes per year (mtpa — sometimes abbreviated as mmtpa). For purposes of this report, the following conversions are used:

1 million tonnes of LNG = 1.36 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas, or about 48 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas


COVER STORY

Oil Wars

is a question of the survival of the fittest,” he adds.

However, Doha Bank Group CEO Dr R Seetharaman says that the plummeting oil prices will have no impact on Qatar’s econo-my and on the ongoing infrastructure proj-ects in the country.

“The slide in oil prices will not affect or challenge the financial ability of Qatar as its economy has been diversified and invest-ments have been made in various non- hy-drocarbon sectors. This is evident from Qa-tar’s economic growth of 5.7% in Q2 of 2014 as robust non-oil activity outweighed a de-cline in the hydrocarbon sector,” he says.

He also dismisses reports that Qatari banks will be under pressure to finance megaprojects due to falling prices. “Market liquidity is not an issue and we can fund the projects. We can always borrow from in-ternational markets and then lend here. As long as Qatar is financially stable, the inter-national markets will be ready to lend to us. I don’t foresee any short-term pressure on account of oil price fluctuations,” he adds.

KPMG’s Head of Oil and Gas (Middle East and South Asia) and Partner and Head of Audit in Qatar, Gopal Balasubramani-am, says that Qatar is in a unique position amongst the OPEC countries, more so among the GCC economies where oil is the main contributor to their GDP. However, in Qatar, natural gas is the main contributor with LNG production at 77 MTPA. Qatar’s LNG is mainly sold on long-term sales and ,purchase agreements along with spot deals.

“Although LNG prices are based on the Japanese Crude Consortium driven for-mula, which is oil indexed, the drop in gas prices has not been as severe as oil prices and therefore, the impact on Qatar is not as high as in countries which depend only on

oil,” Balasubramaniam says.According to him, for more than a de-

cade, with the exception of a few months in 2008, every oil-producing country had a great run, with oil prices at $70-$80 up-wards, so a drop was definitely due - but not this drastic drop. For GCC oil-producing countries, production costs are low and to deal with the price drop, they only need to reduce the surplus they make to avoid los-ing at the current price or even if it goes down to $10 per barrel.

However, those countries where the cost of producing oil is upwards of $50 per bar-rel are incurring losses. “I think the OPEC countries want to avoid becoming margin-alised, having held the supremacy on crude for so long. So it is a question of waiting to see who can stick it out by producing the same levels, and for how long” Subramani-am says.

Very rare momentGulf Intelligence Managing Partner Sean Evers says that the world is witnessing a “very rare moment” where the oil market has been behaving like any other open com-petitive liberal market, be it bottled water or shampoo.

The prices will continue to slide down-wards until there is a crystal clear indica-tion that supply may become tight, and there could be multiple triggers from Known Knowns, and Unknown Unknowns - black swans to good old-fashioned robust global economic growth.

“Or perhaps, contrary to current sound bites, OPEC will in due course, i.e. June, re-turn to its historic role as the swing produc-er and curtail production,” Evers says.

He says that the US was once the world’s largest oil producer, then they almost

“The slide in oil prices will not affect or challenge the financial ability of Qatar as its economy has been diversified and investments have been made in various non-hydrocarbon sectors. This is evident from Qatar’s economic growth of 5.7% in Q2 of 2014 as robust non-oil activity outweighed a decline in the hydrocarbon sector.”

Dr R SeetharamanGroup Chief Executive OfficerDoha Bank

Source: EIA


“It is no secret that the production cost is much lower for OPEC members in the GCC than others. Non-OPEC decision-making is, however, also less unified due to the emergence of major hydrocarbon producers such as the US, whose operating conditions are certainly different from those of Russia.”

Salam AwawdehPartner and Energy & Resources Consulting LeaderDeloitte Middle East

dropped out of the top 10, and now they are back again due to innovation and technol-ogy, but he will not bet against them one day returning back to their anonymity as a junior oil producer. And the cycle will prob-ably continue over the coming decades with more and more volatility.

“But oil isn’t losing any of its gold shiny top-kid-in-the-energy-class luster any-time soon. It is here to stay for probably the remainder of the 21st century. So, like the mother-in-law, we all have to get used to living with her in a more and more effi-cient way. Geo-politics are not de facto an offspring of oil, but like water moving down a hill it finds its way into every crevice,” he says.

Evers says that at current prices, the oil revenues of the Gulf States could be QR1.45 trillion ($400 billion) less in 2015 than in 2014 and by any measure that is going to sting. “But thinking of it on a personal level - how would it affect you if your salary was suddenly cut in half - you would probably dig into your bank account savings if you had any (Saudi, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait), but if you don’t have any savings (Venezue-la, Nigeria, Iran) then you are going to be in deep pain and making rapid and deep cuts to government expenditure,” he points out.

He also feels that OPEC need not cut pro-duction. “Why should they? Acting as the world’s oil price controller has seen their global market share rapidly decline over the last decade from 40% to 30% – as the saying goes, don’t keep banging your head against the wall and expect a different result. Some-times you have to try something different to get the result you desire,” Evers adds.

Future perfectHong Kong-based Bernstein Research says

that the oil industry is facing a challenge in a generation in 2015, although prices are expected to recover and capital expendi-ture cuts are likely to be smaller in Asia Pa-cific than elsewhere around the globe.

Bernstein expects oil prices to recover later this year as supply and demand out-side OPEC re-balances, but the analysts are not ruling out a near-term fall toward the historical cyclic bottom, which they say is the marginal cash cost of $50 per barrel.

Bernstein estimates a recovery would require non-OPEC supply growth to drop below 1% and global demand growth to re-cover to more than 1.5%. Although there are signs of re-balancing, with double digit capex cuts and rising SUV sales in North America, evidence of a tightening of supply and demand remain ambiguous, Bernstein adds.

Navratil says that the oil price will find its floor – a combination of supply/demand economics and the momentum created by the active players in the traded global oil market.

“Once this happens, it is widely thought that the oil price will return to a level that is more reflective of the true cost of the marginal barrel. That point will largely be influenced by the amount of production which does not get developed, is moth-balled or shut in, and is financially strand-ed as a result of the current price environ-ment. The more production is affected, the more upwardly skewed the price recovery will be,” he says.

Subramaniam is also of the view that small-time oil producers with high pro-duction costs will eventually exit as they cannot continue to incur cash losses, and this will result in a gradual increase in prices

“The decision of the large- producing countries in OPEC, specifically those with surplus budget reserves, is to protect market share rather than solely shoulder the responsibility of reducing output at the gain of the marginal barrel producers.”

Paul NavratilEnergy, Utilities & Mining Leader PwC Middle East


With its successful bid for the FIFA World Cup 2022 and the dramatic increase in the number of projects undertaken in the country, Qatar has embarked on an ambitious programme of infrastructure investments and more jobs are expected to be created in the next few years in order to keep up with the projected growth rate.

Job Trendsto Watch in 2015

business > bottomline


T he Bayt.com Middle East Job Index Survey, July/August 2014, shows that the Qatar job market is indeed expect-ed to open up considerably in the next 3-12 months, with

62% of companies in Qatar offering up to 10 jobs. Most of these jobs will be with large or multinational private companies, present-ing exciting opportunities for professionals across the industry and career level spec-trums. In fact, the survey reveals that the majority of jobs in Qatar will be for junior executives (45%), executives (26%) and managers (25%). A large number of Qatar companies are also looking for coordina-tors (19%) and senior executives (15%).

When it comes to qualifications, Qatar employers are especially keen on candi-dates with engineering degrees (34%). Good communication skills are of top ap-peal to 56% of Qatar employers. In terms of experience, employers are looking for candidates with a background in manage-ment (33%), engineering and mid-level experience (3-7 years), both at 32%.

The same survey also shows that 51% of professionals in Qatar believe that their current industry is more attractive than any other. In terms of attracting and retain-ing top talent in Qatar, the construction in-dustry is considered by 60% to be the most popular. Oil, gas and petrochemicals (44%) and banking and finance (27%) are also per-ceived as extremely popular industries in Qatar.

Qatar residents are keen on the local job prospects, with 66% stating that the coun-try is more attractive than other countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, such as the UAE or Saudi Arabia.

In terms of salary packages, Doha is considered to have the most competitive salaries in the region according to 44% of respondents in the Bayt.com Top Cities in the Middle East and North Africa Survey, July 2013.

On the other hand, the Bayt.com 2014 MENA Salary Survey has revealed that

six out of 10 (64%) professionals in Qatar feel that their current salary is lower than that of other companies in the same in-dustry, with only 5% stating a high level of satisfaction with their current pay.

According to this survey, a third (34%) of Qatar professionals save up to 15% of their monthly personal income; four in 10 (43%) repatriate 16% or more. 24% state that women in Qatar are paid on par with their male colleagues, while 62% prefer a 100% fixed-pay structure as opposed to 34% who would opt for a partially-fixed structure with a variable pay for commissions.

When asked whether salaries are in-creasing or decreasing in their country of residence, 42% of Qatar respondents said that they are increasing slightly, with an additional 23% stating they are increasing moderately. 14% state that salaries in Qatar are staying the same.

Factors causing Qatar salaries to increase are considered to be the rising cost of living (59%), the economic growth (42%), and the intense competition for attracting and re-taining top talent among companies in Qa-tar (22%). Reasons for salaries not increas-ing are mainly seen to be employer-friendly laws (33%).

Half of Qatar professionals (55%) plan to look for a better job in the same industry in the next 12 months, while 30% will look for a better job in a different industry. 38% of them will look to other Middle Eastern countries for better jobs; maybe as a result of the feeling that there is an excess sup-ply of talent in Qatar (according to 20% of respondents).

In terms of employment opportunities, 30% of Qatar respondents state that there are plenty of jobs available across various industries, and 21% believe that there are plenty of jobs available but only across few industries. According to the Bayt.com Con-sumer Confidence Index Survey, March 2014, almost 60% of all Qatar respondents expect an increase in the number of jobs in Qatar in the next few months. Only 15% expect the situation to remain the same.

Bayt.com is the #1 job site in the Middle East with more than 40,000 employers and over 18,250,000 registered job seekers from across the Middle East, North Africa and the globe, representing all industries, nationalities and career levels.

ABOUT BAYT.COM

In terms of salary packages, Doha is considered to have the most competitive salaries in the region according to 44% of respondents in the Bayt.com Top Cities in the Middle East and North Africa Survey, July 2013.


development > bottomline

Huntingfor

talent

Qatar Today talks to expertson how “crew change” is affecting

Qatar’s oil and gas industry.

By V L Srinivasan


Retirement across the sec-tor and people leaving the industry to move into al-ternative fields are said to be the main reasons for the shortage of experienced

staff, which in turn could slow down the industry’s growth in the coming years.

The Qatari government is taking steps to tackle the issue, including increasing salaries of Qatari nationals working in the public sector, in order to lure more locals to join and stay with state-run businesses. However, salary packages across the indus-try are becoming more lucrative. Interest-ingly, Qatar’s oil and gas sector provides the highest allowances to its employees com-pared with similar industries in the GCC region.

The government has also been encour-aging students to take up science, technol-ogy, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses in schools and colleges on a large scale, with the aim of them becoming the future workforce in ongoing projects which are likely to be completed in the next few

years.A survey entitled “2014

global talent crisis sur-vey,” undertaken by global

consultancy firm KPMG re-vealed that the number one

concern of the energy industry worldwide has been the gap between a retiring work-force and the short-

age of experienced,

qualified people within the sector to re-place them. The research also showed that only 32% of companies had detailed strate-gic workforce plans and two out of three did not have succession plans. “By focusing on strategic requirements and taking a global view of talent management, oil and chem-ical companies in Qatar can ensure that they attract and retain the best talent,” the findings said.

Investing in HROne of the four pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030 is development of human re-sources. Qatar, which has a high number of expats in the oil and gas workforce, is tak-ing action by diversifying economic activity and investing in harnessing local talent to support the nation’s growth.

“Talent shortage in the oil and gas sec-tor is not unique to Qatar. There is increas-ing competition for people with the same skills from other geographies such as North America and the “crew change” issue is also affecting many employers, i.e. people ap-proaching retirement without experienced people to fill their roles,” says Bolton.

According to him, Qatari companies are addressing the challenge and making real progress. However, the danger is that ini-tiatives can be piecemeal and the real chal-lenge is to redesign the total “Em-ployee Value Proposition” (EVP) in a holistic way, i.e. thinking about all the things that make up the deal between employee and employer and configuring them as an integrated proposition.

“Too few companies, not just in Qatar, are addressing the holistic EVP

and making sure it is relevant for all generations. One size does not fit all; what works for a baby boomer

is not necessarily going to motivate Generation Y.”

ROBERT BOLTONGlobal Head of Talent Management, KPMG

“Absolutely, there is a shortage of engineers and that too in thousands. It is particularly very pressing in the oil and gas industry as many people are going to retire and they have to be replaced. In addition, there is a need for well-qualified engineers to fuel Qatar’s growth in the next ten years.” DR MARK WEICHOLD Dean and CEOTeaxs A&M University Qatar


development > bottomline

This is not just about pay and bonuses but also about educational opportunities, career paths, mentoring and the environ-ment at work, among others. “Too few companies, not just in Qatar, are address-ing the holistic EVP and making sure it is relevant for all generations. One size does not fit all: what works for a baby boomer is not necessarily going to motivate the gen-eration Y,” he says. To attract more women to the sector, Bolton says that companies need to provide a combination of education and skill-building opportunities. “Perhaps, set up an Oil and Gas Skills Academy for potential woman recruits. The employee value proposition should also be looked at specifically from a woman’s point of view,” Bolton says.

Increased competitionThere are a number of drivers that are forc-ing the need for change with employers. Businesses are facing increasing competi-tion and cost pressures requiring greater productivity from their workforce. This linked with an ageing workforce, a drop in the number of students choosing to study alternative industries, increased mobility and high employee expectations, means that employers need to take action.

Bolton feels that there are several key areas that companies should focus on. Changing the approach to recruitment is

“Before leaping into recruitment, organisations should consider needs, risks, evaluation and investment. Once the foundations are in place, recruitment methods, talent development and engagement are the keys to ensuring that qualified, experienced people stay with the company.” HILDA MULOCK HOUWERPartner and Global Head of Advisory, Energy and Natural Resources, KPMG

crucial and HR teams should look to imple-ment global recruitment strategies and ex-amine the way that they build and maintain talent pools.

“HR teams should also focus on aligning with the business - ensuring that all peo-ple activities are driven by clear business needs. Governance and infrastructure also play a part. Having the right data on talent and requirements and operating the right systems will provide valuable input. Estab-lishing clear roles and structure within the talent management team and creating the right processes is essential,” he says.

Bolton says that STEM literacy will defi-nitely help but there is a lead time involved before people “come on stream” which still needs to be taken into consideration. And the courses will also highlight other indus-tries which students may be attracted to such as technology, he adds.

KPMG Partner and Global Head of Advi-sory, Energy and Natural Resources, Hilda Mulock Houwer, says that it is important to develop a framework for managing talent.

“Before leaping in to recruitment, or-ganisations should consider needs, risks, evaluation and investment. Once the foun-dations are in place, recruitment methods, talent development and engagement are the keys to ensuring that qualified, experi-enced people stay with the company,” she adds


The United Kingdom’s biggest air navigation service provider has important lessons to share with the Middle East, if the region is willing to listen. By Ayswarya Murthy

TheGridlock Above

Source: NATS

development > tag this


We arrive late for our meeting with John Swift, Director of NATS for MENA, and his col-league Ben Kiff, the regional Client Advocate. Swift sym-pathises when he finds out that we had been trapped in traffic. And he promises that it won’t be long before we see similar gridlocks in the skies.

The GCC states are expected to receive 450 million passengers annually by 2020. Air traffic movements in the Gulf airspace are predicted to double between now and 2030. Which is why this UK-based air traffic man-agement company is finding its hands full with Middle Eastern clients in recent years and has had to set up its regional headquarters in Dubai, where they were first commissioned in 2006 to design the air space around Al Mak-toum International airport, and other regional offices in Muscat and Doha.

NATS is a major player in the ATC sector in its home country where it services 15 airports and all the on-route or area controllers with-in the borders, which essentially join the dots along the flight path. That’s 2.3 million flights a year, Swift says. “We are now in 30 countries, providing consultancy, engineering and train-ing services to airports and airlines and other ATC organisations to improve efficiency,” he says. While they operate under a central regu-latory body (most often the national aviation authority) and adhere to the standards set by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organiza-tion, a UN body), ATCs have diversified from the traditional government-owned and oper-ated models of two decades ago. “Realistically, there are now a number of models along the continuum of fully government-controlled to fully outsourced, depending on the ambitions of government and its appetite for risk, invest-ment and responsibility in managing the ATC assets. There even are not-for-profit ATCs,” he says.

And this shift is a good thing, according to Swift. “There is no de-nying that the efficiency and performance focus associated with the private sector has its benefits. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who owns what assets. It’s about getting the most out of them. “There is a lot of invisible infrastructure that supports air-port operations. Air space is a vital resource; as important as the hydrocarbons underground,” Swift says.

An integrated Gulf air spaceNATS began operations in the Middle East in 2006 when it was en-gaged help out with the “startling growth that was happening and

new capabilities that were required”. Since then the company has worked with customers in UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait. “Helping individual states address their individual problems has provided a buffer for more immediate growth but the only solu-tion going forward is integration and finding ways to work with the neighbours,” Swift says firmly. "What we are doing now is the equiv-alent of spending a lot of money to build a six-lane highway to the border and then all the cars having to queue to get on to the single lane on the other side."

Swift is disappointed to find that at the recent GCC foreign min-isters’ meet air traffic management is not on the agenda. “I see the GCC rail project but no equivalent air project,” he says. That there

is little political will towards finding a joint solution to this has been echoed by many in-dustry leaders in the past, from Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker to senior executives from Boeing. The conversations stop even before they begin because of questions over national sovereignty, according to him. “People are still concerned when they hear about a central Gulf or Arab control. But it’s not about someone taking over your airspace; it’s about an interna-tional network that supports growth in the re-gion by identifying amendments in route struc-ture that’ll solve a problem somewhere else and offers guidance to national authorities because of its holistic view of growth plans, projects and investments across the boundaries. That’s a re-alistic way of talking about what could happen and ensure that it doesn’t get shot down due to the politics,” he says.

And considering the kind of growth project-ed in the region and the importance this space holds for other international airlines ferrying cargo and passengers between Asia-Pacific, Africa and Europe, this conversation has to happen sooner rather than later. What little ef-forts that were started in this direction, like the Middle East Airspace Enhancement Plan, are not progressing nearly quick enough. “A lot of work needs to be done and it can’t wait till con-

gestion becomes unbearable. It needs considerable time, forward planning and deliberation,” Swift says. Designing just the Qatari air space took close to two years.

Paving roads in the skyAir space design is the cornerstone to determine how a country best utilises this resource. “There are two basic types of air space design – the ones that go in and out of an airport and the on-route sectors (which is basically the highway network in the sky),” explains Kiff. So while the designer has to be creative, efficiency is paramount. Ultimately every stakeholder - be it the airports, airlines or the passengers - want the same thing: the shortest possible distance and efficiency in fuel consumption (savings from which airlines

That there is little political will towards

finding a joint solution to the

region's air traffic gridlock

has been echoed by

many industry leaders in the

past, from Qatar Airways

Group CEO Akbar Al Baker

to senior executives

from Boeing.


hopefully would pass on). But for air space designers, these are underlined by other concerns, like not compromising control-ler workload and allocating and keeping out of military air space (which, in some Gulf countries, is as much as 50% of the total available space). It has to be designed around these conflicts, simulated and test-ed with all the stakeholders before being validated and introduced, Kipp says. It’s a painstaking process even when you are not necessarily starting from scratch.

“NATS had a permanent five-member team based in Qatar specialising in project management, airspace design, transition planning, training and (ATC) procedure design who worked since 2011 overhauling ATC from the ground up for the Hamad In-ternational Airport,” Swift points out. Spe-cialist resources from the UK supplement-ed this team on an ad-hoc basis, including Fast Time and Real Time simulation ex-perts, ATC instructors, procedure design-ers, cartographers and data publication specialists. A significant part of this was “designing the charts and the maps to be used by controllers and air crews, helping train the controllers till they were comfort-able with the new procedures and interact-ing with Qatar Airways and the Emiri Air Force so that they were aware of the route and the structure of the airspace”.

Technology has now made it possible to plot the most optimal route according to

aircraft specifications. “Earlier we had a one-size-fits-all solution but choosing the average (for example the angle of climb during take-off ) is not always the best,” Kiff says. Ultimately the design should call for minimal controller intervention. “ATCs were very hands on earlier but ideally in the future they will only need to plan against performance, identify problems and inter-vene early. Our vision is that a decade or two from now, when a lot more automation and tools will be available, ATCs will be able to identify a congestion that would occur four hours into the flight and correct it even before takeoff,” he says.

Building out inefficiencyThese kinds of innovations will be the only solutions available to us as air traffic con-gestion grows. One example is the time based-separation system that is currently on trial at Heathrow. “Traditionally, air-craft are separated by distance,” Kipp says. “But strong headwinds could mean that by the time they are close to landing, they are more or less separated than when they started out. So our solution is to separate them by time, allowing for the effects of the wind to be calculated.” The concept should deliver a 50% reduction in delay caused by strong headwinds, saving 80,000 minutes a year.

Another natural extension of ATC oper-ations is cross-border arrival management.

Stress test

T hat suicide among air traffic controllers is high is one of those urban legends per-petuated by sources as varied as Arthur Hailey and The Big Bang Theory. But Swift assures us that he has never seen any figures to validate this. “I have heard of it, of course, and it's being said about different professions too,” he says. But it’s defi-

nitely one of those high-stress jobs, as any online list worth its page rank will tell you. “It is a high-pressure job, yes, and people work very hard but stress itself is brought about by the environment; through mismanagement or being overwhelmed with work. Our controllers are trained to a high standard and they have fixed shifts and retirement ages. And no one has to take their work home. We have dedicated a lot of efforts over the last two decades to study human factors involved in ATC and make sure that people don’t get overwhelmed.”

“There is a lot of invisible infrastructure that supports airport operations. And air space is a vital resource, as important as the hydrocarbons underground.” John SwiftDirector, MENANATS

development > tag this


“In the past, systems were straightforward; you identify a craft through radar and use the radio to communicate directly with it. There was not a lot of data processing in-volved,” Swift, an ex-air traffic controller remembers.

“But now we use data to be able to advise on potential future conflicts and provide warning alerts.” The key is information sharing. “The industry is rich in terms of data but we don’t share enough of it, even within state boundaries,” Kipp laments. “Traditionally, you start managing the air-craft once it becomes part of the national boundary. But if you could share informa-tion about it even before that, you could be more effective in managing the traffic in your air space. If you know there is a de-lay at the airport, you can slow the aircraft

down while it’s still 2,000 miles away. Just a 5% reduction in speed could mean the air-craft arrives 10 minutes later at the airport, saving it the time and fuel it wastes in hold-ing time, waiting for a runway to get free,” he says. There is an inherent inefficiency in the system and a big-scale coordination effort can reduce this. But in terms of in-ternational travel, this coordination is a challenge.

“Take a flight that is flying across the GCC,” Swift says. “In a short time, it flies through Omani, Emirati and Bahraini air space which are currently being managed as three separate networks.” But what if all these air spaces operated as a single network? It’s a possibility that demands nothing but our closest and most urgent attention

Checking all the boxes

There’ll be future challenges that the growth of Doha will create and it’s import-ant for air traffic management to be recognised as an enabler to the economic engine of an economy, Swift says, talking the talk that Qatar loves to hear – “in line with the Qatar National Vision”. “And we support the human pillar through

our model, which is not to just ship over a lot of British controllers to do the job but train nationals to be part of the ecosystem. Also, as the first in the world to set ourselves environmental targets, we satisfy the environmental pillar too.”

And it is important for NATS to have these kinds of drivers because Qatar is going to be an important market in the days to come. A country manager is due to be appointed and Swift feels this will give stakeholders in the country – airport, airlines, ATC organisations, aviation colleges, the military and even the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy someone to engage with to know what experience they can bring to the table. “The work we did to facilitate the operations around the London Olympics will be relevant here in the coming years. It was the biggest airborne security operation over London since the Second World War. The integrated military and civilian air space was optimally used without dis-rupting operations. It didn’t happen by accident and took a lot of planning. We have been asked to advise the Brazilians for their World Cup and the upcoming Olympics and Japan has sought our expertise as well,” he says.

“The air traffic management industry is rich in terms of data, but we don’t share enough of it, even within state boundaries.” Ben KiffClient AdvocateNATS


health & wellness > tag this

On a January morning, 80 cyclists, ranging from competitive rac-ers to children wheeling next to their parents, sped down the Corniche in a ride organised by the Qatar Cycling Federation

and the Qatar Sports Club. Doha’s skyline in the background, the riders made a state-ment: cyclists, not just Land Cruisers and buses, are part of Qatar’s roads.

Cycling has embedded itself not just in streets but in the lifestyle of Doha’s resi-dents. Expats, especially those from Eu-rope, North America and the Philippines, have been active cyclists for years. They have formed dozens of groups including Qatar Chain Reaction, Pinoy Roadies Qatar and the Qatar Cycling Community. Recent-ly the sport’s popularity has grown so much that cycling routes are packed, groups’ memberships have increased and Qatar’s first specialty bike stores opened within a month of each other at the end of 2014.

But scattered among the European, North American and Filipino expats on the Corniche that Friday morning was a new group of cycling fans: Qataris.

“It’s booming, it’s not just growing,” says Dr Mohammed Al Kuwari, a consultant bariatric surgeon at Hamad Medical Cor-poration. Al Kuwari founded the Qatari cy-cling group, Qatar Cyclists, in 2012. At the time there were only three members. The group has since grown to 60.

While there are no formal statistics to show how many Qataris cycle, Andrej Fil-ip, technical secretary at the Qatar Cycling Federation, cites increased attendance at time trials, races and rides, and the rapidly growing membership of Qatar Cyclists as evidence that Qataris are increasingly opt-ing for the cycling lifestyle.

It’s an active lifestyle with the potential to address Qatar’s high obesity rates and related health problems such as diabetes. A 2013 study in the medical journal The

A Paradigm ShiftHow Qataris became cycling’s newest fans

Content and photography By Margaret Kadifa

More than 80 cyclists, which included many Qataris, participated in a ride organised by Qatar Cycling Federation and Qatar Sports Club


Lancet found that the majority of Qatar’s adult men and women are overweight or obese, and Qatar’s 2014 diabetes rate of 16.3% was well above the world average. The Supreme Council of Health advocates exercise on its web site as a way to decrease the 70% of Qatari deaths in 2013 that it says were due to preventable causes. Serious cy-clists have made it how they exercise year-around, riding as early as 4:30 a.m. in the summer to avoid scorching temperatures.

For Qatari cyclist Haya Al Ghanim, bicy-cle rides have slowly replaced coffee chats as a way to keep up with friends. It’s a so-cial sport, concludes Dan Crowley, an Irish expat and an avid cyclist with the group Qatar Chain Reaction. Participation often includes weekly rides ranging from about 40 kilometres to over 100 kilometres with other cyclists, the decision to spend time outdoors instead of in a car or at the gym and the ability to push yourself to go faster and farther.

“The beauty of cycling is that you can challenge yourself and achieve huge dis-tances,” Al Kuwari says. “If you told me two years ago that I would be able to ride 150 kilometres, I would say ‘that’s impossible’.”

The sport also involves splurging on a few too many bicycles. “It started as a hob-by and it became a passion,” says Dr Ab-dulaziz Al Kuwari, an orthopaedic spine surgeon and Mohammed Al Kuwari’s twin brother who currently runs Qatar Cyclists. He has been cycling for three years and has

invested in five bikes.Qatari cyclist Marouf Mahmoud says

he wants to inspire and attract people to cycling, especially other Qataris. He is the captain and a co-founder of the charity cycling group Qatar Sandstormers, which started in 2012, and, with partners Wajee-ha Al Husseini and Mohamed Al Sada, he opened the Doha bike shop Carbon Wheels in December 2014.

“We’re really bringing out the glamour in the sport,” Mahmoud says, sitting in an armchair near the front window of Carbon Wheels just after sunset on a Wednesday. The normally busy store had mostly emp-tied, but a few customers stopped in for a quick purchase or chat. Carbon Wheels offers custom bike fittings and it and the other new bike shop, Flash Bike Shop, lo-cated in Mesaeed, are stocking brands and providing maintenance services that were previously unavailable in Qatar. They offer the guidance and variety that helps get new cyclists started, says Crowley.

To encourage conservative cyclists, in-cluding conservative Qataris, to start cy-cling Al Husseini says Carbon Wheels is looking to stock more modest clothing lines. This could encourage more Qa-tari women to get involved with cycling, Al Ghanim says.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports made Qatar Cyclists the first amateur cycling club to be sponsored by Qatar and appoint-ed Abdulaziz Al Kuwari manager of a new

"A 2013 study in the medical journal The Lancet found that the majority of Qatar’s adult men and women are overweight or obese, and Qatar’s 2014 diabetes rate of 16.3% was well above the world average."

Dan Crowley (second from left) and Saad Ferzam (second from right) pose for a picture along with friends at the Qatar Sports Club after completing their ride down the Corniche.


health & wellness > tag this

cycling centre. The centre has already or-ganised rides and will have its own team with support vehicles and staff, says Abdulaziz Al Kuwari.

But for cycling’s popularity to continue to grow, the government needs to provide the necessary infrastructure, and fast, says Filip. Right now, Qatar’s roads, dominat-ed by Land Cruisers, are dangerous for cyclists. There has been a 14% increase in vehicle accidents between 1995 and 2013, according to a study presented this year by the Qatar Road Safety Studies Center at Qatar University. Most cyclists ride early on Friday mornings in groups to stay safe, says Crowley, but this does not entirely avoid accidents. On arguably the most popular road among cyclists, Ceremonial Road, cars swerve into the bike lane to cut ahead of traffic, Filip says.

“They ride their cars in the cycling lanes at like 80 kilometres an hour,” Filip says. “I’m afraid something bad will happen soon because you see more and more riders going out and it’s just not safe.”

The Qatari government is in the process

of diversifying its roads, adding pedestrian walkways, a train system and bike lanes, says Dr Eyad Masad, an executive associate dean and professor in the Mechanical Engi-neering Programme at Texas A&M at Qatar. In most of the expressway and local road projects, Ashghal builds bike lanes, says Noura Zreik, an Ashghal spokeswoman.

Cyclists have taken advantage of some of the new bike lanes, including ones near the new airport, says Mon Muñoz, a cy-clist with the Filipino cycling group Pinoy Roadies Qatar. However, most bike lanes being built in Doha are conducive to com-muting, the feasibility of which experts and cyclists have mixed opinions [link to old article], not for the long-distance training required for the competitive road cycling that is taking off among Qataris. Cycling as a sport demands wide, interrupted roads, says Mahmoud. Filip points to new high-ways being build outside of Doha as possi-ble locations for cyclists to train, such as an expressway currently under construction that will link the Doha Golf Club to Al Khor and Ras Laffan, as long as the bike lanes are wide enough for groups or the vehicles accommodate cyclists.

To fit the needs of today’s cyclists, there should be a velodrome, a good bike share programme and more sports clubs that supply bicycles to their members, says Saad Ferzam, an avid cyclist and the husband of the owner of Flash Bike Shop.

Filip hints that a velodrome is on its way. In the meantime, the Qatar Cycling Federation will continue to host local and international events to raise awareness of the sport, including the annual Men’s and Women’s Tour of Qatar in February and the Road World Championships in 2016. Qatar Cyclists and Qatar Sandstormers are also planning a 45-kilometer ride for Sports Day, this February 11, says Mahmoud. Like the previous Friday ride, this route will include the Corniche.

Abdulaziz Al Kuwari will be participating in this ride to “show everybody that there are Qataris who are cycling,” he says. “And to show cars that bicycles are part of the street,” Mohammed Al Kuwari adds. “We believe in promoting this culture.”

Mahmoud says he hopes to see increased Qatari viewership of the upcoming races, and that one day cycling in Qatar will be so popular that, like in Europe, people will line the streets to watch a cycling race.

“People outside of their houses in their own neighbourhoods watching and cheering,” Mahmoud says. “I think that is something that will happen.”

Abdulaziz Al Kuwari participated in this ride to “show everybody that there are Qataris who are cycling,” he says. “And to show cars that bicycles are part of the street.”

Members of the Pinoy Roadies Qatar

Marouf Mahmoud warms up before heading out for a second ride.


REJUVENATING OLD TRADE TIESThe newly launched British Chamber of Commerce in Qatar has a mandate to help SMEs in both countries, says Peter Cook, the man at the helm of the project.

A few days before the Lord Mayor of the City of Lon-don Alderman Alan Yar-row is due in Doha to officially inaugurate the British Chamber of Com-

merce (BCC), we had a sit down with Ga-reth O’Brien, the Director of Trade and Investment at the British Embassy in

Qatar, and Peter Cook, charged with head-ing the new entity. Considering the deep and historic ties between the United King-dom and Qatar, a British Chamber of Com-merce is one of those things you assume Qa-tar has until you hear otherwise. Peter Cook nods. A career diplomat who was posted to Doha 24 years ago, he is back to head this long- overdue institution and embark on an

business > tag this


“important new adventure.” Working closely with the embassy and

UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) (which will also be initially funding it till it can be self-sustaining), the Chamber has a mandate to “support business, bring them together and in the process facilitate dia-logue on trade, investment and technology exchange between the two countries”. This was something set in motion by British Prime Minister David Cameron a couple of years ago, Cook says. “He recognised that BCCs all around the world must be strengthened for better overall trade per-formance; in many countries where cham-bers already existed, they were a a bit out of date and needed fresh energy, and in other countries, like Qatar, there wasn’t one to begin with and we had to start from scratch.” The BCC in Qatar is part of broad-er political ambition to have a stronger network of institutions around the world helping British companies penetrate new

markets. Forty one new chambers are due to open soon, we are told. In the region, the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, along with Qatar, will be part of first wave.

The BCC in Qatar has its eyes set on the SME players. O’Brien’s team of 11 trade and investment professionals at the embassy deals with all manner of British compa-nies looking to make inroads in Qatar. But the need was felt for a better focus on the “thousands of small and medium business-es who approach the UKTI every year,” according to him. In the months to come, many of these companies will find them-selves working closely with the BCC. “The larger companies might work closely with the embassy because the needs of the com-pany would require that level of support,” Cook says, “The relationship between us [BCC and UKTI] is good so we can deliver services across a wide range of companies. Our work will be complementary so that no one is left behind.”

This spotlight on SMEs couldn’t have come at a better time, both for the BCC and the Qatar government. “Qatar is mak-ing a big push for expanding the country’s SME sector,” O’Brien points out. “We’d like to help with that by working with them to drum up business, develop contacts in Brit-ish companies and create stronger links between the two country’s SMEs.” This will include showing Qatari companies the opportunities that exist in the UK for them and the partnerships that they can make to advance their business interests. “Qataris are very familiar with London. But there are other parts to the UK that they don’t know so much about. We want to introduce them to businesses and industries there (there are 52 local chambers of commerce in the UK alone) and give them the relevant information on regulation and a platform for networking,” Cook says.

Talking about the other side, while Brit-ish SMEs continue to show interest in the traditional sectors like energy, infra-structure, construction & contracting and communications, Cook’s ambition is to go beyond that and stimulate interest in new sectors. “We are very excited about building up areas where Qatar hasn’t been tradition-ally strong by bringing in new expertise. The UK has a diverse economy, is strong in many sectors, and so we can help Qatar pull ahead in these sectors.” Which is, again, ex-actly the direction that Qatar wants to go in.

Cook and his small team will almost immediately start laying the groundwork

"What the media coverage in the UK about Qatar, good or otherwise, has done is raise awareness about the country's potential." GARETH O'BRIENDirector of Trade and InvestmentBritish Embassy, Qatar

business > tag this


Lord Mayor of the City of London Alderman Alan Yarrow at the British Embassy in Qatar to inaugurate the new British Chamber of Commerce.

"We are very excited about building up areas where Qatar hasn’t been traditionally strong by bringing in new expertise." PETER COOKManaging DirectorBritish Chamber of Commerce, Qatar

for these big dreams. Speaking about the range of services the BCC will be rolling out shortly, he says, “Any businessman coming to Qatar knows it takes a while to set up the company. They might find it daunting – a different language, culture and business processes. So part of our service is to make that as smooth, easy and quick as possible. Also, there is a lack of understanding of the opportunities that exist here. So another service we’d like to develop is advertising these opportunities to companies across the UK and raising Qatar’s profile there so that it is accurate and closer to the picture of what’s happening down here.” In the long term, the BCC will work towards self-fi-nancing its operations through its services and investing profits in assets that could further support new projects and ventures.

The challenge for SMEs will be to balance their long-term vision with the short-term reality. “Though some SMEs tend to look to the future, most have to concern them-selves with short-term survival. They’d love to be here doing business in ten years, but for them it’s more about next month. So we have to convince them of both the long and short-term prospects. Yes, there is a bright future here for British companies but they have to take steps to prepare themselves for that by investing sensibly, making the right

partnerships in the sectors and building up their businesses to be well placed for the future,” says Cook, pointing out that his emphasis is to persuade companies that short and medium are just as good as the long term, but the long term is why they are making the investment today.

When asked whether the recent bout of negative press in Qatar may influence Brit-ish companies looking to do business here, O’Brien says, “What the coverage in the UK, good or otherwise, has done is raise the awareness about Qatar. We are now getting more enquiries from British companies than ever. They don’t just look at the head-lines but dig down for the details and see the potential. There is a huge interest, espe-cially around the FIFA World Cup and the related infrastructure, and there is enough business for everyone.”


education > tag this

Empowering the next generation

By Abigail Mathias “I am a refugee from South Sudan and for me this experience has been life changing.” This is Chol Yaak Akoi speaking at the WISE (World Innovation

Summit for Education) learners round ta-ble at the Qatar National Convention Cen-tre. Akoi’s words come with conviction. He is one of many international students selected for the year-long programme. The 2014-15 learners, aged 18-25, collective-ly represent 25 countries and will benefit from the expertise of the WISE team and global education specialists including fac-ulty from Yale University and Babson Col-lege.

Thirty four young learners from around the world, including six Qataris, gathered for an intensive, ten-day residential ses-sion in Doha. The residential session seeks to provide the learners with a foundational understanding of key concepts and evolv-ing trends in education as well as to deliv-er expert training in leadership and com-munication skills. The focus on education, leadership and communication is designed

to support the participants as they research and develop a variety of innovative educa-tion projects throughout the year-long pro-gramme.

Akoi is the only representative from his country. He explains: “This programme has changed my perspective of the world. I learnt a lot from the diverse participants and professional mentors that shared their success journey. As a student, I learnt that education or rather learning is not only confined to a classroom but it’s a lifelong experience. I also discovered that my con-tribution toward changing the world for the better is not only my responsibility, but also my obligation.”

Akoi looks at the journalists gathered across the round table, and says that it is often the media that creates stereotypes. “Education is the only tool to fight all forms of social injustices, hunger, conflict, ste-reotypes, among others. Investing in youth education pays off as youth are the next big-gest tribe of the world. I come from South Sudan, where over 70% of the population is illiterate and this could explain the vicious cycle of tribal and civil conflict. Education

Chol Yaak Akoi speaks to journalists about the WISE Learners programme.


toward global citizenship will make the world a harmonious and better place to be,” he says.

Akoi’s perceptions were altered after his first visit to Doha. “I thought Qatar is a country that does not care about education, but that changed when I witnessed how the country is investing heavily in education, infrastructure and sport. I admire their re-lentless effort in education.”

“The idea behind the Learners’ Voice Programme is to provide learners with a voice in the field of education and give them an opportunity to interact with different people, including the decision-makers in the field of education and different sectors,” said Ali Al Mahmoud, Head of Operations at WISE. He adds that this years’ group of learners are all overachievers. He explains that they are so full of optimism and eager to learn, which has validated the increase in the number of applicants every year.

Dana Ahmad Al Marri is a math teacher from Qatar and explains that she can apply what she learns by passing on the informa-tion to her students. Sharing the same table as Bonnie Lei, a Chinese-American student from Harvard, offers Al Marris a chance to exchange perspectives from the other side of the globe. “I used to live in a vacuum. Even though I am a teacher, my under-standing of education was limited before. I believe we come to this programme not just for education, but also empowerment,” says Al Marris.

Bonnie explains: “Though I have worked in education in the past, the programme gives you the resources and stretches ed-ucation beyond text books.” She reminds us that we are only meeting six of the 34 learners today. “There are so many individ-uals with diverse backgrounds whom I am learning from.”

Sherif Elgindi, an Egyptian-American student who is differently-abled speaks

passionately about his cause to promote education, especially to those who are dis-advantaged. “I may be wrong but I haven’t seen enough initiatives in Qatar or in this region for people like me and I hope that through my findings we can highlight this,” says Sherif. The former student of George-town University explains: “Even interna-tional schools don’t have enough integra-tion. I believe that education is a door to opportunity and I want to open that door for others.”

Shree Raj Shrestha, a student from Ne-pal, says: “I am proud to represent my

country which is the second largest migrant population in Qatar.” Having spent most of his life either in the US or Nepal, he says his first visit to Qatar has changed the impres-sion he had of the Middle East. “My world view of Islam has changed after the experi-ence. Living together with my friends from all over the MENA region and many others from diverse religions around the world, I have learnt we do not have the right to judge anyone for the actions of extremists. ”

He says, “In Nepal people are not educat-ed and it is just a matter of reading through a contract that sometimes causes them to put their lives in jeopardy. It is my humble effort to empower those voices.”

Shree Raj hopes to apply the lessons learnt back in his home country. “As cir-

cumstances allow, I will definitely apply the experience learnt during the programme back in my home country. We learnt soft skills in communication and leadership in the first residential session that will defi-nitely be with us on every leadership role we assume in the future.”

He doesn’t have any misconceptions about the future. “My future plans are un-certain and setting expectations, both high or low, right now would be unfair to me in the future. Nevertheless, I will keep up my attempts to make this world a better place.”

The learners will soon participate in a second residential session taking place in Madrid in June this year. Selected projects will be presented at the 2015 WISE Summit in Doha on November 3-5, 2015.

Akoi knows the road ahead is not an easy one. “I will be embarking on access to ed-ucation in emergency areas, especially in the context of South Sudan and other con-flict areas, where education is inaccessible. Education is a fundamental right and all children, indeed all people, must be given equitable and quality education despite the circumstances. I am working on this project to explore innovative ways to reach children through multi-channels. This in-cludes offering emergency education pack-ages alongside other relief items like food and medical aid. I believe a child does not only need food to sustain himself, but also education to make him a better person in the future.”

“I am proud to represent my country which is the second largest migrant population in Qatar.” Shree Raj Shrestha

Thirty four young learners from around the world, including six Qataris, gathered for an intensive, ten-day residential session in Doha.


development > green scene

Technology partnerswith community engagement

ExxonMobil has partnered with Qatar Today in the second edition of the Green

Programme for Schools (GPS), an engaging

initiative aimed at reaching, inspiring

students towards sustainable living.

With an active role in community d e v e l o p m e n t programmes and green initiatives, ExxonMobil con-tributes to the National Vision

2030 through the energy of its people, technology and operational excellence, ac-cording to Dr Jennifer Dupont, Research Director of ExxonMobil Research Qatar (EMRQ). Dr Dupont speaks about the tech-nological advancements spearheaded by ExxonMobil and its commitment to the community.

What are the current greenhouse gas challenges in Qatar? What role is

ExxonMobil playing in carbon capture and storage to bring down the carbon footprint?The future holds tremendous promise for Qatar, and the key to continued world-class performance is not just implementing op-erational best practices, but also investing in sound scientific research and collabo-ration. Qatar aims at preserving the en-vironment by seeking a balance between development needs and environmental protection. ExxonMobil is committed to addressing this challenge of sustainability – balancing economic growth, social de-velopment, and environmental protection so that future generations are not compro-mised by actions taken today.

Through our work at ExxonMobil Re-search Qatar (EMRQ) and our valuable


partnerships, we are committed to devel-oping key technologies that will benefit the oil and gas industry in Qatar and around the world.

EMRQ, located at the Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP), is conducting re-search in areas of common interest to Qatar and ExxonMobil, including environmental management, water reuse, LNG safety and coastal carbonates. This research will be increasingly important as Qatar continues to develop the world’s largest integrated gas processing and liquefaction facilities.

ExxonMobil and its valued partners play an important leadership role in tackling challenging issues like GHGs (greenhouse gas), which can initially be addressed in three simple ways: identifying sources of GHGs; accurately measuring and monitor-ing GHGs; and proactively mitigating and reducing GHG emissions.

For example, EMRQ’s research, devel-opment, and application of IntelliRedTM Remote Gas Detection technology allows us to deliver infrared cameras that can quickly and safely identify hydrocarbon leaks at production and processing facili-ties. Continued research and development allow researchers to expand the initial detection capabilities of the technology to quantification and measurement. The results from this technology can then be used to inform engineers and operations

personnel responsible for designing, operat-ing and maintaining facilities to reduce GHG emissions in Qatar.

How imperative is the link between energy and the environment for Exx-onMobil in Doha? How is the link strengthened here?Like no other commodity, energy touches every aspect of modern life, providing tre-mendous benefits to individuals and busi-nesses around the world.

Global energy demand is projected to rise by about 35% from 2010 to 2040. At the same time, efficiency will work to offset demand growth. On their own, population and GDP through 2040 could have caused global energy demand to rise by more than 100%, but much of that increase will

"As a reliable, abundant and cleaner

burning source of energy, natural gas can help support a

growing population and increased

standards of living, while reducing

the environmental impacts of energy

use."DR JENNIFER DUPONT

Research DirectorExxonMobil Research Qatar


be avoided because of advances in energy efficiency.

The challenge that Qatar, along with so-ciety as a whole, faces in the coming years is extremely complex when you consider the global population growing to nine bil-lion people over the next 30 years, the con-current growth in energy demand and the need to manage risks associated with cli-mate change. When you consider economic prosperity and poverty alleviation, it is ul-timately dependent on economic growth, which in turn, is dependent on energy supply. This is an enormous challenge and responsibility for our industry.

The link between energy and the envi-ronment is inextricable and perhaps best illustrated by looking at natural gas pro-jections. By 2040, we see natural gas go-ing from the third most demanded energy resource to the second, displacing coal. Natural gas, whether produced from con-ventional reservoirs or shale deposits, can play an important role in helping address the energy challenge. As a reliable, abun-dant and cleaner burning source of energy, natural gas can help support a growing pop-ulation and increased standards of living, while reducing the environmental impacts of energy use. Qatar, with its 77 million tonnes per year of LNG export capacity, is leading the way in supplying cleaner energy to the world.

ExxonMobil’s role in Qatar, and around the world, is to create the technologies and techniques to help develop and supply en-ergy to growing populations and economies – in a safe, secure and environmentally responsible manner.

How strongly is ExxonMobil involved with the community in the country?Our presence in Qatar dates back several decades to when Mobil Oil, a predecessor of ExxonMobil, established an affiliation with the State of Qatar. We proudly maintain this long-term commitment, focused on the four pillars of development put forth in the Qatar National Vision 2030: economic, environmental, human, and social.

In Qatar, ExxonMobil aims at playing a key role in community programmes and activities by supporting various sectors of community development. Our community relationships are an essential element of our global business, and that is especially true in Qatar. The quality of the relation-ships we develop with Qatari communities has a direct impact on the long-term suc-cess of our partnerships in Qatar.

As part of ExxonMobil’s commitment

to Qatar, we are proud to contribute to the National Vision 2030 through the energy of our people, our advanced technology and our operational excellence. For example, we partner in and support a number of ed-ucation programmes that address the need to build human capacity in Qatar, especial-ly in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). These programmes cover primary education through to professional development of Qataris working in Exxon-Mobil, Qatar Petroleum and our joint-ven-ture operating companies. We partner with schools, universities and non-profit orga-nizations, providing financial and human resources.

ExxonMobil is contributing to the coun-try’s growing energy industry in a safe and environmentally responsible manner with equal emphasis on supporting its way of life. We feel we are a part of the community and proud of the trusting relationship we have developed at all levels of society.

Tell us more about the research proj-ects of EMRQ? At what stage are they and how will they help the community?At ExxonMobil, we share Qatar’s view that advancements in technology will play a critical role in meeting the energy demands and challenges of the future. Established in 2009, EMRQ was one of the first anchor tenants in Qatar Science and Technology Park committed to conducting research in areas of common interest to the State of Qatar and ExxonMobil.

EMRQ continues its research and devel-opment efforts with local and international partners in support of Qatar Foundation’s goal of advancing science and technology through a number of projects in the areas of environmental management, water reuse, LNG safety and coastal geology.

The research emanating from QSTP and ExxonMobil is part of the solution to devel-op economically and environmentally via-ble energy sources and is aligned with the Environmental Development Pillar of the Qatar National Vision.

EMRQ’s environmental research focuses on the marine environment and seeks to scientifically understand the impacts that industrial activities might have on the qual-ity of water near the Qatari coast and the nearby marine ecosystems.

In terms of environmental management, EMRQ is enhancing scientific knowledge concerning environmental risks from in-dustrial activities specific to the Gulf region, and continues to develop new technologies to improve environmental management

development > green scene


capabilities. EMRQ scientists use state-of-the-art research labs, field studies and computer modeling to understand, assess and predict the potential impacts of Qatar’s industrial activities on local marine organ-isms.

ExxonMobil Research Qatar launched the Water Reuse Research Program in 2010 in recognition of the challenges of water re-source management in an arid region, and the desire for more efficient treatment and reuse options for industrial wastewater.

This programme is investigating water treatment technologies that allow for the beneficial reuse of treated industrial waste-water, with an initial focus on engineered wetlands technology using native plant life to naturally clean water from industrial fa-cilities. Treated wastewater could then be reused in non-potable applications, such as park or green-space irrigation. Ultimately, the programme’s goal is to develop tech-nologies that will utilise industrial waste-water in ways that are beneficial for the country: technologies that are particularly important to the industries and people of Qatar, where water is a scarce and precious resource.

How will GPS provide the right link to the community? Has ExxonMobil planned for GPS during the year? What are the additional events that you will be involved in?At ExxonMobil, we welcome the oppor-tunity to teach Qatar’s youth about envi-ronmental protection through green pro-grammes in schools, as they are considered one of the most effective ways to instill sustainable habits at a young age. With a reach of more than 25,000 young people, GPS is an engaging education and aware-ness programme in Qatar, which is meant to reach, inspire and reward students and schools, provide permanent and consis-tent branding points, and engage youth in a meaningful way that builds the concept of sustainability. ExxonMobil Qatar is pleased to participate in the second annual GPS, which will include parallel workshops, pre-sentations in schools, and feature a fun GPS mascot to help spread awareness.

As an important link between ExxonMo-bil and the community, GPS is an ideal part-ner to help communicate the concept of sustainability. By emphasising its commit-ment to environmental health, safety excel-lence and education through its underlying support for the Qatar National Vision, GPS creates a perfect opportunity for Exxon-Mobil Qatar to help reach young people in a

meaningful way that informs, educates and inspires.

We’re proud to support GPS because we recognise the need for a creative plan to keep children engaged and interested in caring for the environment. GPS en-gages youth in eco-friendly practices and builds a green equity in their minds. This is achieved by strategically placing pledge boards, suggestion boxes and creative stick-ers around campuses, which constantly remind and encourage students to utilise resources carefully.

Through this initiative, ExxonMobil will continue to align itself with Qatar’s Na-tional Vision 2030 – to achieve a balance between development and conservation through an environmentally aware popula-tion that values the preservation of the nat-ural heritage of Qatar and its neighbouring states.

How is ExxonMobil creating aware-ness about environmental conservation among students in schools and colleges?As a leading oil and gas company, ExxonMo-bil takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously across its global activities. In Qatar, we not only work continuously with our partners to produce energy responsibly and mitigate environmental risks, but we remain deeply committed to the education of future generations as well.

We believe that in order to develop the leaders of tomorrow, we must be a part of our children’s education starting at a young age, and continue supporting them as they grow into active contributors to society and prepare to join the workforce. We do this by making science and math more acces-sible to young learners, giving high school students the opportunity to run a business, and providing scholarships to university students. Human capability is a corner-stone to building a prosperous future.

Throughout our history in Qatar, we have supported educational and training pro-grammes with high schools and universi-ties. Some of these opportunities include: summer programmes and internships for high school and university students; Life is Engineering – a Qatar University pro-gramme that introduces dozens of young Qataris to engineering and emphasises the need for more engineers to propel the country’s continued development; and the Qatar Petroleum Environment Fair geared towards raising awareness on environmen-tal protection, water conservation and best practices for using natural resources re-sponsibly among youth

"We believe that in order to develop the leaders of tomorrow, we must be a part of our children’s education starting at a young age, and continue supporting them as they grow into active contributors to society and prepare to join the workforce."


BY V L SRINIVASAN

ONETWEETAT A TIMECSR is old school. In Silicon Valley, companies believe in helping people by teaching them to help themselves. And they call it Social Innovation. We learn more from the person who is at the forefront of this new movement.

By Ayswarya Murthy

development > tech talk


Claire Diaz-Ortiz is the kind of person you don’t forget easily. Prolific blogger, public speaker and Social Innovation Head at Twitter, she is best known for be-ing the woman who got the Pope

on Twitter and also for live-tweeting the birth of her daughter recently. When we meet her in per-son at WISE, she is everything we expect her to be – casual, curious and sincere.

An anthropologist by education, we wondered aloud about her entry into the tech world. The story began, believe it or not, in Africa. “I was travelling through Kenya a few years back and had arranged for a cheap accommodation for a night in what I thought was a hostel.” As it turned out, it wasn’t a hostel at all but an orphanage that would occasionally take in boarders. Something clicked for Diaz-Ortiz and she ended up staying much longer than the one night she intended to. Long enough to start Hope Runs, an NGO which worked to bring in sporting programmes like running in various orphanages, many catering to HIV-AIDS infected children in the country. “The idea was development through sports.

This way we figured the kids would have some extracurricular activity to focus on and plan their study habits around that. We also provide scholarships for the students who finish school,” she says. Though currently, due to the lack of time, the running of the NGO has been left to her friends and partners, Diaz-Ortiz was deeply in-volved in this creation and operation during its early years. In fact, this is when she first encoun-tered Twitter.

“We had no money of our own to fund the pro-grammes but managed to raise much of it online, mainly because I had a very popular blog at that time – a personal memoir of my travels and daily life,” she remembers. Serendipitously, the same people who had founded and developed her blog-ging platform were working on something else – a social media platform that allowed users to communicate in 140 characters or less. The team invited her to try out Twitter. “Initially I didn’t know what it was and what it could do. I just treated it like an extension of my blog, sending a mix of personal messages and tweets about the NGO. But I then realised how I could use the plat-form to raise awareness about Hope Runs, fund projects, raise appeals and talk about out work, though back in 2006, not many were tweeting and certainly not in Kenya,” she says.

But things turned on their head within a few short years. Her experience with NGOs helped

shape much of Twitter’s social innovation strat-egy. With programmes like Ads for Good, where Twitter donates ad space to charities or specific campaigns, Diaz-Ortiz tries to anticipate and cater to the needs of small NGOs and help them maximise the potential of the platform. But much of her work involves getting influencers and ce-lebrities to use Twitter and “use it better”. This is where her academic experience comes into play. “Anthropology, at the heart of it, is about studying how and why people do things they do and tech-nology is very much about that. My work is a lot about understanding human behaviour - zeroing in on the motivations of certain types of users and making Twitter a positive experience for them and their followers,” she says.

Giving back to society Of course, her coup de grâce was helping the pa-pacy in the Vatican get on the platform and start conversing with the millions of young Catholics online. “It was one of my biggest projects; it was innovative and exciting work teaming with the Vatican to set up Twitter accounts (eight, to be exact, in different languages) for Pope Benedict. After him Pope Francis has taken the Holy See’s tweets to new heights. They are more personal, off the cuff, often funny and political; he and his team are using Twitter exactly how it is meant to be used,” she says happily.

Interestingly, many celebrities and influenc-ers join Twitter to talk about their pet causes and charities, according to her. “We worked with Warren Buffet when he was thinking to join the platform and did a live tweeting event with him. And he wanted to do it mainly to talk about his philanthropic work and social issues.

In fact, one of his first tweets was about women in business.” Diaz-Ortiz has more examples, par-ticularly because for many Hollywood celebrities too, this is the main driver. “Ben Affleck, for ex-ample, joined Twitter to spread the word about his charity. And though Matt Damon doesn’t have a personal account, he regularly tweets through Water.org, his pet project.”

And the art of giving (and innovation) starts at home. Diaz-Ortiz says that at Twitter there is a keen focus on getting employees to volunteer time for interesting projects.

“Even in the early days, we encouraged people who wanted to give back to the community and we continue to stress on this extra-curricular work. Employees are allowed to devote a signifi-cant portion of their time to find projects, outside their daily jobs, that inspire them,” she says.

“We had no money of our own to fund the programmes at our NGO but managed to raise much of it online, mainly because I had a very popular blog at that time – a personal memoir of my travels and daily life.”CLAIRE DIAZ-ORTIZSocial Innovation HeadTwitter


In the extended discussion we had after that with company representa-tives, Qatar Today came away with some excit-ing insights into what’s

ahead for mobile broadband. Here’s the meat, minus all the trimmings. With Adnan Kureshy, Head of Marketing and Commu-nications, MENA; and Joachim Wuilmet, Head of Customer Marketing, Middle East

Looking Ahead

1 Nokia Networks broke its own speed record by demonstrating a mobile network that can deliver 4.1 Gbps. It

was achieved by aggregating 10 carriers. Commercially, the best we can do right now is the aggregation of two frequency bands. This is called LTE-A in the industry.

And even this feat is something only 20 operators in the whole world can boast of being able to do. These kinds of speeds and capacity will be necessary for the realisa-tion of the Internet of Things. The 50 billion devices which will supposedly be connect-ed by 2025 will need this kind of advance technology to handle traffic throughput.

2 While it’s hard to predict the future, moments like these serve to give you

a glimpse. It’s not just a concept anymore, it’s a reality. The tech is there but com-mercialisation needs to catch up. And why would anyone even want need these kinds of speeds on their mobile phones?

People in advanced economies use, on an average, 2-3 GB of mobile data per month right now. Within a few years, this will in-crease to 1 GB a day, with the main driver being video traffic. South Korea is one the world’s biggest markets where video is consumed on mobile handsets. The second largest, incidentally, is Saudi Arabia.

3 This explosive rate of data usage is exactly with the flat rate of pricing by telecom operators is not sustainable.

Because operators now generate more rev-enue from data than traditional telecom services like voice or texts. In some extreme cases, this is as high as 75% of the total rev-enue. The challenge for operators now is to address driving the right pricing model for data. Also people are more willing to pay more for data, because it is increasingly be-ing consumed as entertainment rather than means of communication (and people don’t mind paying more for entertainment).

4 The world is going data. Even voice is becoming a data application. Nokia Networks have previously demon-

strated VoLTE (Voice of LTE) and have even started their first deployment globally. It has proved to be very beneficial in terms of spectrum efficiency, voice quality, call setup time, etc.

5 We are still only in the beginning stag-es of commericalising LTE-A but its current adoption rate is even faster

than that of 3G and 2G during their time. This will further accelerate as the combined effect of network evolution, more spectrum allocation, increased user demand and de-vice availability. The latter is one of the rea-sons why networks Japan and South Korea are a bit more advanced in LTE-A technol-ogy because often handsets that have the specific capability are available in these markets before they are deployed globally.

An introspection

6 After Nokia sold its handsets business to Microsoft last year, it has concen-trated its focus on three key verticals

– Nokia Networks, HERE and Nokia Tech-nologies which is involved in intellectual

Nokia Networks gave those congregated at the ITU Telecom World in Doha a taste of the future.

15 things we learnt from Nokia


"Right now people in advanced economies use, on an average, 2-3 GB of mobile data per month. Within a few years, this will increase to 1 GB a day."Joachim Wuilmet,Head of Customer Marketing, Middle East, Nokia Networks

property and innovation. While their com-petitors are trying to be “everything for ev-erybody”, they are working towards solidi-fying their position as a mobile broadband specialist.

7 Their timing couldn’t have been more perfect with the world moving faster towards mobile broadband era. This

allows for more things to be done through their networks than what was possible before thanks to higher throughputs and more bandwidth than fixed line businesses.

8 Though Nokia is no longer consumer facing, it has always been about peo-ple and continues to do so. They are

expanding the possibilities of the connect-ed world, keeping people at the centre so that human aspirations can be served more effectively by technology.

9 Since last year, Nokia has purchased a number of small companies working in specific technological areas that

will make the company more efficient and innovation.

One example of this is a company that deals with predictive operations. With the rapid proliferation of 4G and the inevita-ble advent of 5G, networks will become in-creasingly more difficult to manage.

The company is working on analysing big data using machine intelligence to learn to predict patterns (in traffic, for ex-ample) that will allow them to manage the networks more effectively in addition to predicting failure and proactively fixing it.

One region, many needs

10 While Nokia Networks helped Oore-doo rollout the state-of-the-art

LTE-A network in Qatar, it is also involved in deploying 3G in Iraq in partnership with Zain Iraq. Nothing could be more indicative of the diversity in the region.

11 There are still networks in MENA that haven’t gone 3G. But bypassing

3G and jumping directly to 4G isn’t the right option either. Among the many things we must consider, is that 3G devices can be bought at a more affordable price.

“There is nothing wrong with 3G. Every-one needs to go to at their own pace, de-pending on requirement.” In the region, the market is diverse. From the highest ARPU to lowest. The challenges are the same - ev-eryone wants connectivity. And we want to connect the unconnected world in the most efficient, faster and cost effective way.

12 Iraq is a particularly hostile envi-ronment by Nokia says it is keen

to support their customers in all kinds of challenging circumstances. And helping countries like Iraq develop their mobile broadband capabilities is doubly important considering the effect it can have on edu-cation, health, information sharing, etc. So Iraq’s new 3G network (which is pending regulatory approval and is likely to be de-ployed in January) is a fantastic step, When the right time comes, devices attain the right scale and the price erosion continues, the move to 4G will happen.

5G, cloud and more

13 5G is the next era of things to come that will connect devices in scale that

is not possible with 4G. When it is defined and commercialised, it’ll bring innovation and serve the ecosystem of the wealthi-est and most advanced economies to rural communities that are difficult to connect.

14 Work hasn’t started seriously on 5G yet. A lot a framework needs to come

together before that, debated and discussed by all the stakeholders - the ITU, country regulators, manufacturers like Nokia Net-works, operators, vendors and device man-ufacturers. We need 10 times more spec-trum that is available currently to drive this growth and regulators have to start allocat-ing this. Once the standards are defined and ready (which might not be before 2020), the R&D can start. The pre-standard, pre-com-mercial version of 5G should be available for the 2018 Korean Winter Olympics. For Qatar 2022 World Cup, the 5G as an indus-try will be commercially ready.

15 Currently we have dedicated hard-ware and software for operate the

network. But the industry is moving to-wards using standarised platforms with specialised software running on top of that. The future of telecom is a programmable world, run by software. That allows oper-ators to be a lot more flexible. This means that if a network needs 1000 times more capacity, you wouldn’t have to spend 1000 times more money. They can adapt and change network configuration without having to change the hardware. It’s today’s static capacity vs tomorrow’s liquid capaci-ty. For example, if there is a concert in a sta-dium, the capacity can be increased for that short duration to handle the thousands of people who will be uploading pictures and videos. Cloud telecom will help us put the capacity where there it is needed

"The pre-standard, pre-commercial version of 5G should be available for the 2018 Korean Winter Olympics. For Qatar 2022 World Cup, the 5G as an industry will likely be commercially ready." Adnan Kureshy, Head of Marketing and Communications, MENA, Nokia Networks


Every year thousands of exhibitors, retailers and tech enthusiasts descend on Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show

(CES). This annual digital pilgrimage is a chance to enjoy an advance preview of cutting-edge products before they hit the market, as well as an opportunity to identify the next big consumer trends before they happen.

By Damian Radcliffe

FIVE MAJORTECH TRENDS

FROM CES

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Although CES seldom un-veils examples of con-sumer technology which are wholly unexpected, it does nonetheless excel in helping to turn abstract

tech trends into nascent digital realities. Through this, we can get a real glimpse of how tech is going to change the way we live in the next 5-10 years. Here are five key things we learnt from CES 2015:

Internet connectivity is going to be everywhereThe Internet of Things – a world of massive machine-to-machine communication – is set to transform our world as we welcome connected objects such as smart watches, connected TVs and web-enabled monitor-ing systems into our lives.

Cisco’s Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast re-ported last year that by the end of 2014, the number of mobile-connected devic-es would exceed the number of people on earth, and that “there will be over 10 bil-lion mobile-connected devices by 2018,

including machine-to-machine (M2M) modules—exceeding the world’s population at that time (7.6 billion)”.

Wearable technology options are growing, but it is still a niche marketWearables are one of the areas where this 24/7 mobile-enabled connectivity is likely to have the biggest impact.

Although wearable technologies like Google Glass, Fitbit and Pebble are still relatively new concepts, they are already quite well known among digital enthusiasts and early adopters. As a result, they enjoy a media profile which somewhat overlooks the fact that they are still quite specialist products.

Globally, Cisco estimates there were c.22 million connected wearable devices in use during 2013.

Jump forward to 2018, however, and this market is expected to have grown eight-fold to 177 million. At an anticipated compound annual growth rate of 52%, this is a sector which many industry experts think looks set to explode.

All eyes are now on the forthcoming

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Apple Watch to really see if the mainstream potential of the market will be realised.

Digital health monitoring is going to become more sophisticatedWrist-based wearables have tended to dom-inate this budding industry, so it was only a matter of time before this type of technolo-gy moved to other parts of the body.

Sensoria’s smartsock – which was exhib-ited at CES and begins retailing next winter – was a high-profile example of a potential new market in the wearables arena.

Using sensors embedded in the soles of their specialist socks, data is then sent to a removable anklet and synched to your smartphone. Through an accompanying app, runners can then use this data to mon-itor how their feet hit the ground. Sensoria claims that by recording your technique in this way the risk to injury can be reduced; and running techniques (as well as running times) can be improved.

And if that all sounds a bit too active, then don’t worry; technologies designed to help improve our sleep are also increasingly in abundance.

It’s an area where there is a huge amount of interest, a fact best exemplified last year when the 22-year-old British entrepreneur James Proud attracted $1.3 million for his sleep product, Sense. Using the popu-lar crowdfunding website Kickstarter, he raised this sum in just one week. His rath-er more modest ambition had been to raise $100,000 over four weeks.

Capturing data via a clip attached to your pillow, as well as the inevitable mobile app, Sense joins the smartsock in being part of

a small and embryonic group of wearables that no longer need to be worn at the end of your arm.

Connected cars are coming sooner than you might realiseOutside of the home, Google’s self-driving car has attracted considerable publicity in recent years.

But, it was Mercedes who grabbed the attention of CES show-goers when its self-driving F015 drove itself onto the conference stage.

Meanwhile, both VW and BMW showed that gesture-based controls aren’t just go-ing to be confined to your games console. Their future in-vehicle infotainment sys-tems will soon be motion controlled, mak-ing redundant even relatively recent inno-vations such as touchscreen dashboards. These in-car systems will also be compat-ible with either your Android or Apple smartphone, allowing you to run the same apps through the car's infotainment system as you do on your handheld device.

VW also unveiled plans for self-parking cars, building on a similar announcement by Volvo in 2013, whereby your car auto-matically drives off (you don’t need to be inside) to find a parking space. After you’ve finished whatever it was you needed to do, you can then call your car back to your lo-cation via the obligatory smartphone app. Such an idea may seem rather fanciful, but in a decade it may come as standard with many car models.

Your HD TV is already out of dateFinally, in the home it looks as though 2015

may be the year that Ultra-high-definition (UHTV) goes mainstream. The technology has been around for a while, but in many cases it has struggled to make it into the living room.

Sometimes referred to as 4K, the picture it offers is four times as sharp as standard high definition. But take-up has been slow due to an age-old conundrum: manufactur-ers won’t mass produce affordable sets until they believe that there’s enough 4K content for viewers to enjoy, and media producers won’t shoot - or distribute - in that format until they determine that there is a critical mass of devices capable of watching it on.

In the future we may determine that 2015 was the tipping point for both parties.

Attendees at CES reported seeing plen-ty of 4K HDTVs, computer monitors, and cameras this year; whilst YouTube an-nounced that it now has 26 partners show-ing 4K standard content as standard. And as broadband connections get faster, and more households migrate to fibre connections, you can expect to see more programmes like House of Cards in 4K, as companies like Netflix will increasingly distribute shows in that format.

As for the industry itself, attention is al-ready beginning to focus on 8K. I was for-tunate enough to see a demo in Amsterdam last September, and it will be shown for the first time in the region at the inaugural IBC MENA Conference and Exhibition which was held in Dubai at the end of last month. The picture is discernibly sharper, perhaps too sharp for some but, as CES consistently shows, technology marches to its own beat. And you’re often helpless to stop it


business > auto newsNEW RECORDFOR THE BMW GROUP

“We have achieved our target of selling more than two million vehicles in 2014, a new record for the BMW Group.”

IAN ROBERTSONMember of Board of Management BMW AG

It was BMW Group’s flagship model, the BMW 7 Series, that contributed to Alfardan Automobiles’ stellar per-formance with the highest number of

cars sold. The next was the BMW 5 Se-ries, BMW X6, BMW X3, BMW X5 and the BMW 3 Series.

The BMW 5 Series achieved a growth in sales of 28% in Qatar, while the xDrive

models family played a key role in the brand’s acceleration in Qatar, contributing 35% to the total sales. The BMW X5 saw an increase of 7%, while sales for the X6 Sports Activity Vehicle increased by 13% and the X3 sales grew 11%. Sales increases for both the X6 and X3 were fuelled by the new generation models that arrived in the last quarter of the year. The BMW 3 Series

also remained a top-selling model with an increase in sales of 17% on last year’s fig-ures. Rolls-Royce too recorded a 17% in-crease in its sales in Qatar in 2014.

Alfardan Group’s COO Automotive Op-erations Mohamed Kandeel says: “Our 2014 results are testament to the success of this business ethos and something we will continue to focus on into 2015.”

ALFARDAN RECORDS GROWTH IN 2014

Alfardan Automobiles has registered growth in their annual sales for BMW and MINI in 2014. The official BMW Group importer in Qatar achieved 9% growth for BMW in 2014 and 25% growth for MINI compared to the previous year.

BMW NUMBER OF CARS SOLD

2,117,965BMW 3 SERIES

476,792

BMW 5 SERIES

373,053

ROLLS-ROYCE

4,000+

MINI

302,183BMW 4 SERIES

119,580

BMW MOTORRAD

120,000+

BMW I

ABOUT 17,800

LAMBORGHININUMBER OF CARS SOLD

2,530

AVENTADOR LP 700-4

1,128 (DELIVERED)

HURACÁN LP 610-4

3,300+ (NEW ORDERS)

GALLARDO

14,022 (TOTAL NUMBER BUILT THROUGHOUT THE YEARS)

THE NUMBER GAMEWORLDWIDE SALES IN 2014


CAYENNE SQR321,700

CAYENNE TURBOQR514,000

CAYENNE DIESELQR270,600

CAYENNE S DIESELQR326,700

CAYENNE S E-HYBRIDQR314,800

As part of its Tailor-Made programme, Ferrari has five exclusive flagship FFs on display in Florence to show the maximum expression of individual personalisation and epitomise a bespoke approach to automobile manufacture. The flagship FFs include the Qatar FF, which features a pearl theme.

At the factory in Maranello, a Personal Designer welcomes a small number of clients in an haute couture studio, assisting and guiding them through every phase of the design specification, guaranteeing that the resulting cars are both unique and consistent with the Ferrari marque and its tradition.

Turning heads since its worldwide debut at the recent Paris Motor Show, the new Discovery Sport has been billed as the world’s most versatile and capable premium compact SUV, unique to its segment, and is set to receive an overwhelming response from MENA customers when it goes on sale in the region early next year. Chris Wilde, Brand Director for Jaguar Land Rover MENA, says: “Discovery Sport combines premium dynamic design and versatility. This vehicle has garnered huge attention globally and we are proud to be revealing the new Discovery Sport in Qatar.”

Rabih Ataya, General Manager for Alfardan Premier Motors, says: “We are confident that this vehicle will exceed customers' expectations when sales start.” The new Discovery Sport range of four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engines will be available exclusively at Land Rover Showroom at Alfardan Plaza on Al Sadd Street, with a price starting from QR159,000.

FERRARI PRESENTS TAILOR-MADE COLLECTION

ALL-NEW CAYENNE ARRIVES IN DOHA

Al Boraq Automobiles has welcomed the arrival of the all-new Cayenne, boasting enhanced performance, a sharpened design and more exciting features as standard.

The new generation Cayenne will launch in five versions: Cayenne S, Cayenne Turbo, Cayenne Diesel, Cayenne S Diesel, and for the first

time, the Cayenne S E-Hybrid, the first plug-in hybrid in the premium SUV seg-ment. Adding another chapter to Porsche’s unrivalled legacy of breaking new automo-tive ground, this model, together with the

Panamera S E-Hybrid and the 918 Spyder, makes Porsche the world’s only carmaker to offer three plug-in hybrid models.

Salman Jassem Al Darwish, Chairman and CEO at Porsche Centre Doha, Al Boraq Automobiles, says: “The new Porsche Cay-enne embodies the ultimate Porsche traits: class-leading performance and outstanding driveability.”

BASIC RETAIL PRICES IN QATAR

ALFARDAN LAUNCHES DISCOVERY SPORTAlfardan Premier Motors Co, the exclusive importer of Land Rover in Qatar, celebrated the MENA debut of Land Rover’s New Discovery Sport.

business > auto news


business > auto news

The show, in which Qatar Today is the media partner, is consid-ered the most important motoring event in the Middle East and it has attracted 150,000 car lovers and trade profession-als in 2014. Exhibitors include many sports, luxury and mid-

range car dealers as well as car accessory companies that will take part in the latest auto and performance trends.

Auto majors such as Volkswagen and BMW have confirmed par-ticipation in the event, which is being hosted by Qatar Tourism Au-thority. While the soft opening of QIMS will be on the first day, it will be open to the public from February 7 to 10.

“The show highlights the most creative car designs and the lat-est technology used in the automotive industry. In this perspective, the show imparts an air charged with adrenalin that will trigger the passion and enthusiasm of both visitors and participants,” says Ha-mad Al Abdan, Director of Exhibitions at Qatar Tourism Authority.

New BMWs to make a debut Alfardan Automobiles will put on display the all-new BMW X6M and BMW X5M, which will be making their debut at the BMW stand at the event. Another star attraction will be the unveiling of the all-new BMW 2 Series Convertible, with an eye-catching and graceful design that offers a refreshing brand of open-air driving pleasure.

Alfardan Group - Automotive Operations Chief Operating Of-ficer Mohamed Kandeel says: “The show is a perfect platform to demonstrate the sheer power of both BMW M GmbH and the BMW

X model family. Thanks to their superior power and precision, the two models deliver an unprecedented level of performance in every situation. I am confident that they will stand out from the crowd.”

Two new Land Rovers for the regionAlfardan Premier Motors will be revealing two of Jaguar Land Rover’s newest vehicles to the region for the first time: the new Jaguar XE and the Range Rover Sport SVR. Showcased alongside these models will be Jaguar Land Rover’s 2015 model year range of vehicles.

Alfardan Premier Motors General Manager Rabih Ataya says: “We are very proud to be Jaguar Land Rover’s partner here and are excited to showcase the brand’s products at the Qatar Motor Show once again. This event is one of the best platforms to interact with motoring fans and customers and I am confident there will be something for everyone at the show."

Volkswagen's grown up cars and concept carsVolkswagen Middle East will also showcase the technically-per-fected and visually precise new Touareg and the all-new, grown-up Volkswagen Jetta.

Volkswagen will present dynamic concept cars – the Golf R 400, the extremely sporty car developed by Volkswagen R GmbH, and the GTI Roadster, Vision Gran Turismo, the super GTI from the PlayStation 3 game “Gran Turismo 6.”

NEW CARS TO STEAL THE SHOW AT QIMS

Leading automobile brands are expected to showcase their latest models and technology at the fifth edition of the four-day Qatar International Motor Show (QIMS), which will kick off at Qatar National Convention Centre on February 6.

HAMAD AL ABDAN and MOHAMED KANDEEL


As in the past, thousands of professional visitors, industry buyers and decision makers from around the world will be able to network with leading manufacturers and suppliers in the following sec-tors through this prestigious event.

The sectors include Construction & Build-ing Materials, Lighting, HVAC, Power, Heavy Machinery, Stone, Woodwork, Waste Management and Recycling, Industrial & Com-mercial Cleaning, Metal Manufacturing and Steel Fabrication, Aluminium Manufacturing and Processing, Glass and Glazing Products and Technologies, Facilities Management, Concrete and Masonry Products, and Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing.

At the 11th edition held in 2014, Project Qatar attract-ed 2,100 exhibitors and 24 national pavilions from 47 coun-tries, occupying eight halls and totaling 41,500 sq m of ex-hibition space. The event welcomed 48,953 visitors that highlighted its success and paved the way for a fruitful 2015 edition.

At its 12th edition, Project Qatar grants unrivalled opportunities to all engineers, consultants, specifiers, architects, project manag-ers, purchasing and procurement managers, directors and CEOs, site managers, contractors and subcontractors, construction man-agers, distributors and agents, property developers, manufacturers, investors and government officials by allowing them to meet under

one roof. Project Qatar is the ultimate platform to network, con-duct successful business and shape potential partnerships in the construction world.

Project Qatar 2015 will also run concurrently with two other events: Qatar StoneTech and Heavy Max. While Qa-tar StoneTech 2015 is the 4th International Stone and Stone Technology show, a unique event in Qatar that meets the demands of the construction industry by providing natural stones, granite, marble, ceramic, manufactured and ready-stoned, Heavy Max 2015 is the 12th International Exhibition for heavy machinery, and the largest event of its kind in Qatar and the Middle East. It is the leading international exhibition that meets the needs of large construction projects in terms of heavy equip-ment, vehicles, machinery and cranes.

Moreover, IFP Qatar Ltd has launched the Project Qatar Busi-ness Intelligence Series, a series of unique B2B business confer-ences that will run during Project Qatar and throughout the year: LightingTech Qatar (May 4 and 5, 2015), HVACTech Qatar (May 6 and 7, 2015), Future BIM Implementation Qatar (May 6 and 7, 2015), Future Interiors Qatar (September 7 and 8, 2015), Future Landscape and Public Realm Qatar (October 26 and 27, 2015), AcousticsTech Qatar and InsulationTech (both events on No-vember 23 and 24, 2015) and Future Drainage Networks Qatar (December 7 and 8, 2015)

WHERE BIG CONSTRUCTION HAPPENSUnder the patronage of HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Project Qatar will organise the 12th Construction Technology & Building Materials Exhibition at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) from May 4 to 7 this year.

THE EXHIBITORS

INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITORS

LOCAL EXHIBITORS

NUMBER OF EXHIBITORS IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS

PQ 2010

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0PQ 2011 PQ 2012 PQ 2013 PQ 2014

714 / 34%

1386 / 66%

| ADVERTORIAL |


business > marketwatch

IBQ WINS ACCOLADES

International Bank of Qatar (IBQ) has won the Banker Middle East’s award for “Best Retail Customer Service” in Qatar within the Banking Products Awards 2014.

The award recognises the bank’s high-quality Retail Customer Service which includes the unique loyalty programme ‘thanq’ that was also voted the “Best Customer Loyalty Pro-

gram in Qatar”. The award is also in recognition of IBQ’s retail clients’ loyalty to the brand that delivers the ultimate in retail banking services. IBQ Managing Director Jabra Ghandour says: “IBQ has won several banking awards in 2014 highlighting both our private banking and retail customer service. We are proud to receive such

prestigious awards in recognition for delivering high-level service quality and standards to our valued customers across all target segments.”

Andrew Ball, AGM and Head of Retail Banking at IBQ, adds: “We pride ourselves on having the best standards and infrastructure to deliver a tru-ly high-quality service that further cements our retail customer relationships. Customer service and rewarding loyalty across all of our banking products are core to our retail strategy, which is well appreciated by these awards.”

The Guess guy exudes confidence – the type of man who knows exactly what he wants and how to get it. A year after debuting Guess Night, a classic, energetic fragrance, Coty Beauty is proud to introduce Guess Night Access, the bold new fragrance for men who radiate warmth. “The woody and masculine notes were made to capture the undeniably sexy and adventurous lifestyle of the Guess guy in a bottle,” says Paul Marciano, Guess Chief Executive Officer and Creative Director.

NIGHT JOURNEY

Qatar University College of Business and Economics is organising the second Entrepreneurship in Economic Development forum on March 2 and 3 in collaboration with Qatar Ministry of Economy and Commerce and the Interactive Business Network.

Under the theme “Fostering the New Generation of Entrepreneurs in Qatar and the Gulf”, the event program will feature a series of panel discussions, workshops, and case studies presented by a group of experts from Qatar and visiting business leaders to provide insights on the latest concepts and practices shaping entrepreneurship, and advise attendees on how to apply them according to international best practice, as well as inspire and encourage their entrepreneurship aspirations after graduation.Topics will include developing entrepreneurial culture and skills in GCC countries; supporting entrepreneurs by creating a healthy eco-system; implanting a spirit of entrepreneurship in the younger generation, and equipping them with the skills and know-how to develop a knowledge-based economy and increase their contribution to the country’s economic progress.

AN IMPETUS TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP

JABRA GHANDOUR and ANDREW BALL


To mark the occasion, the new collection dons a wealth of technological and aesthetic modifications and new features. The newly designed annual calen-dar celebrates its debut and the perpetual calendar complication with its large digital date display is likewise welcomed into the watch family. The newly de-

veloped IWC-manufactured 52000-calibre family features in four models in the latest Portugieser collection. The Portugieser annual calendar shows the month, date and day in three separate, semicircular windows. The date advance system takes the different lengths of the months into account. Only February and the leap years need to be corrected manually using the crown. The new IWC-manufactured 52850 calibre has two barrels that together generate a seven-day power reserve.

Shakespeare and Co, a popular restaurant and chocolatier in Doha, donated more than QR58,000 in 2014 to support three major causes: Qatar Autism Center, One Cup for Gaza and Qatar Cancer Society.

DOING ITS BIT

The funds raised were a direct result of the generosity of the restaurant’s local patrons at both the Dar Al Salam and The Pearl branches. Shakespeare and Co. began 2014

by pledging to support the Qatar Autism Center by financially sponsoring three families who were unable to afford the tuition. Further, the restau-rant raised QR42,000 that enabled the children to attend the centre on a full-time basis and were provided with all the tools needed to help develop their abilities and skills throughout the year.

Sami Azrak, CEO of Shakespeare and Co, says:

“We believe that it is important to always give back to the community that we operate in. As a company, we are determined to make a positive and sustainable contribution however we can. Over the last 12 months, we raised over QR58,000 for three locally-based organisations who are committed to making a real difference. Shake-speare and Co. will build on its successful contri-butions of last year by supporting local charities in 2015, and is in discussions with the Qatar Can-cer Society to work together to raise awareness of cancer."

MARKING TIME

This year, watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Portugieser, an icon within the watch industry.


culture > doha diary

When it was announced that Sheraton Doha was being closed for renovation, pictures of a new building rising in the place of the impressive pyra-

mid structure was the conjecture; bearing in mind Doha’s proclivity for new and shin-ing towers. But the building was in full view throughout, and the detractors were in for a surprise when the management reopened the hotel in a short span of eight months, and invited the media to have a preview of the redesigned premises.

Reflecting old traditions and keeping memories intact, the hotel has been re-stored back to its earlier regal grandeur. In a country where new, international and glass are popular tags, Qatar’s first internation-ally branded hotel, owned by the govern-ment entity Katara Hospitality that played host to many memorable royal occasions and once-in-a-lifetime gatherings, made a comeback in a way that is truly special.

Designed by William Hill, the building, when it was completed in 1982, was a struc-tural marvel of sorts with an atrium that penetrates the central structure, providing its public areas with natural light during the day, while its unique location provides shade for its outdoor spaces. The atrium is still the eye-catching element of the prem-ises, with the rich red upholstery on the seats spattered with gold frills, and is one of the favourite spots for Qataris.

J. Thomas C. van Opstal, Complex Gen-eral Manager at Sheraton Doha Resort & Convention Hotel, has been in Doha for two years but had been to the hotel as a visitor in its glory years in the 80s and has respect-ed it from a far. “Like everybody, I too loved the shape of the structure and the wow fac-tor of the atrium, which has always been an integral part of the success of the hotel and is also special to me,” he says. “The reaction of guests when they enter the atrium is still a pleasure to watch and that hasn’t changed

The Sheraton has been renovated to its 80s

grandeur.

Memories Rebooted

By Sindhu Nair

The record-breaking 18,000kg chandelier that hangs in the atrium space to this day is from 1980s


since the early 80s, when it had just opened to the public.”

According to van Opstal, Sheraton is about “connecting people. Being part of the Starwood group of hotels, this is a virtue that is inherent to the brand.”

However, Sheraton as a local hotel brand was more about events with high-profile personalities and it has been perceived as an exclusive property. But after the re-opening, the officials want to change that and make it a more inclusive brand which values all its customers while giving special consideration to its Qatari guests.

“Sheraton has been part of the commu-nity since the country was in its infancy. The country has grown, and the hotel is still here. Qataris view this as a part of their heritage; their memories are connected to this property since it was the only hos-pitality brand available at that time. Since then many historic events have been part of Qatar’s growth and Sheraton has been a witness to many of them,” he says.

Taking us through the historic events, van Opstal mentions a few: GCC meetings, UN meetings, Arab summits, NATO pre-sentations and conferences and host to many dignitaries, prime ministers, head of states and family visits from celebrities, many who have stayed at the hotel and con-tinue to do so, but those names cannot be revealed as it is strictly against hotel policy.

He mentions that the previous German

Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is a Sher-aton fan who has called it an “amazing property”.

A hotel becomes part of the community when there is a direct connection through the services it offers and the personal touches. Sheraton has a Qatari kahwa serv-er who is part of the heritage of the hotel; he has been on the premises for ages and greets you at the door with a smile and a kahwa in the true Qatari tradition.

Beyond the service is the central atrium that has been the venue of many tradition-al majlis gatherings, courtesy of the view that overlooks the beach, which gives the visitor time to reflect on the fast-paced development of the country. The chande-lier that hangs in the atrium space is a re-cord-breaking creation by the glassmakers Murano, and has more than 20,000 piec-es which took almost three months to be pieced together. Weighing a total of 18,000 kgs when installed, it continues to shine down on the visitors to the hotel to this day.

But the true treasure of this muse-um-style property is the art that adorns its walls. Most of the paintings are the works of Qatari artists and take you on a trip through the history of the country, through its souqs, horse riding, and falcon hunting traditions. One particular work is special: a calligraphic piece of tapestry that hangs in the convention centre.

A refurbishment was carried out in all

371 rooms and suites in addition to the 35,000 sq ft convention centre and other meeting spaces. All public areas and recre-ation facilities have also been enhanced. All the rooms are inspired by the Qatari form of design.

But van Opstal maintains that, though there has been a renovation, the construc-tion of the hotel had no flaws that had to be reviewed or reconstructed. “The building is amazingly strong. Nothing needed to be touched on the structure. The hotel was like an old majestic lady whose makeup needed to be reapplied,” he says.

Van Opstal has lived and worked in dif-ferent countries, from Pakistan to China and Australia, and has loved each of the dif-ferent opportunities. While Pakistan was special because of the wonderful people he worked with, he fell in love with Melbourne for its natural and scenic beauty.

“You can have the most beautiful build-ing with marvellous interiors but if the ser-vice is bad all the frills make no impact. On the other hand, if you are served by some-one who remembers you by your name, the contact is personal and special. The people in the industry make the brand and hence are very important elements.”

“Each hospitality brand comes with its own commitment but the bottom line for the industry is the service,” he says. “We all love to be looked after, the more, the better.”

View of the refurbished hotel interior

J THOMAS C VAN OPSTALComplex General Manager at Sheraton Doha Resort & Convention Hotel

Framework of the Atrium Lounge in 1981


culture > doha diary

An interview with Dr Amal Al Malki, author, international public speaker, university professor, pioneer for

educational change and an ambitious Qatari woman.

By Alexandra Langston

Pioneering Women


After graduating from Qatar Uni-versity Dr Al Malki continued her studies in the UK and com-pleted her MA in Applied Lin-guistics and Translation and PhD in Comparative Literature

at SOAS- University of London. “It was frowned upon at that early age for me to go and study abroad. Being a Qatari woman wasn’t easy back then, there were no op-portunities for women except to teach at a school and I didn’t want to be a teacher. I was expected to get married and have chil-dren really early on, so for me to choose to do something different was a huge thing,” she says. This determination was some-thing Dr Al Malki had to balance with the traditional society in which she lived. “Even men find it difficult to manoeuvre within a conservative culture, but I think it’s more difficult for us women because we are sup-posed to safeguard and pass on our values to the next generation...back then it was a battle.”

After nearly seven years in London, Dr Al Malki decided to return to Qatar, “to make a difference, to forge a new path”. But the boundaries of her culture were not easily pushed, as she discovered when trying to find a job. “I looked at several options and apparently I was over-qualified for them. I guess having a PhD at that age wasn’t a positive thing,” she reflects. Forced to find something different, Dr Al Malki saw an opportunity at Carnegie Mellon Universi-ty-Qatar (CMU-Q). She was certainly quali-fied for a role as an educator but it was still a challenge to land employment there. “They said they weren’t supposed to hire me be-cause I was a Qatari and they were deliver-ing an American education via an American faculty.” Not easily discouraged, Dr Al Mal-ki persisted until finally CMU-Q agreed to send her to train in America. “I taught in Pittsburgh for a whole semester, my first teaching experience ever. Then I came back as a visiting professor in my own country, something that my father didn’t really like, but I was appointed as assistant professor,” says Dr Al Malki who became the first and, to this day, the only Qatari faculty member in Education City.

Since joining CMU-Q, Dr Al Malki’s list of accolades has continued to grow, from

being a keynote speaker at international events, to being recognised as a Qatar Foun-dation Achiever, and publishing two books. “It was very important to me to assert my-self as a writer, given that I chose academia. My second book, I believe, is still a best-seller here in Qatar and I feel I have built a name for myself.” And that name is of great importance to Dr Al Malki; a testament to her achievements as a woman.

“I was very aware from a young age of the inequalities that exist in society towards women, so for me to build an identity, have people acknowledge me and look up to me as an academic is my biggest success and I hope it will be an inspiration to other women.”

Three years ago Dr Al Malki founded the Translation and Interpreting Institute (TII) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, a centre for translation and interpreting studies. TII was established in recognition of the growing importance of communica-tion between different cultures and societ-ies, something of which Dr Al Malki herself is symbolic. “I’m a local, I’m a Qatari and I’m definitely very proud of my roots. But at the same time I aspire to be a global citizen. I believe in equality, tolerance and multicul-turalism.” TII’s growing recognition local-

ly and internationally stands as one of her proudest accomplishments: “I have been running TII for three years now and even if I do leave at some point, this is my legacy.”

Dr Al Malki has an undeniable, natural readiness to make gutsy choices: “I love a challenge. I think by nature I’m a bit rebel-lious,” she says. But forging a brand new path is not easy, and she acknowledges the crucial role her family has played: “One of the things my generation lacked drastical-ly was role models, but we are products of culture, and our parents. I would not have achieved what I have if I did not have an open-minded, progressive father, and now a lovely husband who supports me.” As a role model for women everywhere, Dr Al Mal-ki embodies a capacity for change that she truly believes is possible: “Having a critical mass to effect change is very important, but we know that change can start with one per-son. First of all we need to educate women, we need to empower women, and they need to know their rights.” And she encourages women to take chances: "I would say follow your dreams. I wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an an-swer. The challenges that I had to face and the way I faced them is what made me who I am; it is what shaped my personality.”

Dr Al Malki has traversed a rocky route to success, but even after receiving tenure at CMU-Q, she she has no intentions of slow-ing down: “I still want to write and publish books and I want to make sure that TII is recognised and acknowledged internation-ally as a centre of excellence in translation and interpreting. I just want to continue doing what I’m doing.” After all of her hard-won battles Dr Al Malki has found content-ment: "I could have done this better, I could have done that better, but I’ve learnt from every mistake. If you changed something, you would change as a person and I think I’m at peace with who I am right now.”

About How Women WorkThe sixth annual How Women Work confer-ence is coming up soon, with the theme ‘Be the Change’. Once again it promises to be in-teractive and relevant to you: the women who live and work in Qatar. How Women Work brings together ambitious and inspirational women to empower each other to grow and succeed. Find out more at hwwqatar.com

“I was very aware from a young age of the inequalities that exist in society towards women, so for me to build an identity, have people acknowledge me and look up to me as an academic is my biggest success and I hope it will be an inspiration to other women.”


sport > qt take

W E L I V E D I T, W E W O N I TA spectator’s perspective of the Qatar Handball Championships 2015.

Over the course of two weeks, we had attended as many match-es as we could manage without passing out from exhaustion and sleep deprivation. We sat in every part of the stadium–from

the media boxes and the VIP seats to the skyboxes and the economy seats at the top-most levels from where the players look like tiny stick figures. And we saw every kind of match; ones that were decided in the last two seconds of the game and those that were sealed in the first 15 minutes (and yet, some of the best plays we saw were made by teams that had absolutely no chance of winning). And we can assure you, handball is just as exciting and adrenaline-fueled no matter where you sit, who you support and how tired you are. Who knew!

Qatar Handball 2015 was, for the most part, a success. Losail Multipurpose Hall and Ali Hamad bin Al Attiya Arena are both world-class. Not only is Losail gorgeous to look at (especially so when all lit up and bathed in fireworks), it has top-notch facil-ities. Iraqi artist Ahmad Al Bahrani’s sculp-tures in the stadium premises are Qatar’s newest public art commissions. And apart from some congestion at the Roundabout past the Doha Golf Club which meets the road from Duhail, the traffic was never clogged at the stadium itself. It was a feat. Especially for someone who had been

Photography By Ken Clark

The Qatari cheering squad

Danish player Hansen scores

against Saudi Arabia


dropping in from the first day of the cham-pionship, and could see the numbers swell every day even as the Qatari team made steady progress in the game. During the Su-per 8 and quarter-final matches, the stadi-um was a sea of white thobes. It was quite a sight, one you had to see to believe. The volunteers, the orange-clad warriors, were of course the backbone of the games, always smiling, helpful, and in high spirits.

Qatar’s stunning progress into the Final Four played no small part in drumming up supporters for the game. In the early days, we’d get emails from the Ministry of Interi-or inviting us to bring our family and friends to the Qatar games, assuring us free entry. By the end, even people with paid tickets were unable to get in. We were also left a bit shell-shocked (pleasantly, of course) at the big names that were roped in for post-

match entertainment. The organisers have truly outdone themselves and maybe delib-erately so, to show the world that Qatar can and will put on a good show come 2022.

Now we have to talk about the bad. Of course, there were inevitable problems with the tickets. Between open invitations to walk in for free (Qatar Airways, for in-stance, had encouraged their employees to show up, present their company IDs and collect tickets on the day of the match) and Qatar’s unexpected winning streak, it was probably hard to predict the kind of crowd that would throng to the stadiums (especially when Arab teams like Tunisia and Egypt were playing). What was uncon-scionable was turning away people who had valid tickets just because you wanted to fill the stadium and fill it with specific kinds of people. Yes, the home team was doing

The match where it all began; Qatar vs Brazil on the inaugural day of the games

Scenes from the stellar opening ceremony

A Qatari cheering contingent arrives


sport > qt take

How far would you go to see Pharell Williams? New York, Boston, per-haps even as close as Abu Dhabi? Well, you didn’t need to travel out

of Doha on January 22. Pharrell Williams performed live in our city and, contrary to what most people think, it was a packed, sold-out event.

The ‘happy man’ surveyed the stadium at one point, almost in disbelief. He called out for peace in the Middle East and got the crowd on its feet in no time.

Not to be outdone, Gwen Stefani and her dancers wowed the audience with their Qatari designer outfits and chutzpah. With doubts about the performance till the very last minute, no one was any the wiser till the announcers mentioned that she would in-deed be performing after the two handball matches on January 24. As the ‘Hollaback girl’ caught her breath, she revealed that it's

been eight years since she last sang some of these songs. “I love you Qatar, call us back,” shouted a delighted Gwen. We hope indeed that someone is listening.

And in one of the most high-energy per-formances ever witnessed in Losail, Jason Derulo brought the roof down with his slick dance moves and international hits like ‘Wiggle’, ‘Trumpets’ and ‘Talk Dirty’. Though obviously lipsyncing (he wasn’t even trying to hide it), Derulo kept the crowd on its feet, singing to besotted young ladies in the front rows and posing for sel-fies. The attendence was decent despite the short notice and it being a weekday but the atmosphere was super charged on account of the Qatar win and the thrilling Spain-Denmark match.

Even as we go to print, the organisers have announced that singers Taio Cruz and Kylie Mingoue will perform on the final day.

The Voices of Qatar

amazingly well and its countrymen want-ed to cheer them on, but ignoring all rules of commerce to fill up the lower level seats with just Qataris and leave paying custom-ers out in the cold does not instill a lot of confidence in fans. Worse still, when we attempted to buy tickets for the semi-finals, all seats on the lower levels appeared to be sold out. Sources inside told us they have been asked not to sell any tickets in those sections despite their availability. No doubt they have been pre-reserved. If we didn’t suspect it before, we knew now for certain: the homogeneity of the audience in the lower levels was definitely by design. What

is the logic behind that anyway? Because some of the loudest fans in the stadium who were screaming their lungs out every time Qatar scored were in the upper levels, those who had taken a chance to drive all the way despite having no tickets or, worse still, had their tickets downgraded.

Though this happened only once, and is unlikely to be repeated for the semi-finals (we hope), the organisers must understand that little incidents like this will negate all the great work they have been doing other-wise. If nothing else, the championship has a lot of lessons, good and bad, for Qatar and its hosting ambitions

Mascot Fahad gets the crowds cheering

View from the skybox

Drummers light up the opening ceremony

Pharrell Williams makes everyone "Happy"

culture > doha diaryTHE PRINCE OF DAKAR

Nasser Al Attiyah secured his second victory in the Dakar Rally after nearly two weeks of leading in the race.

Four years after he won his first Dakar Rally, Nasser Al Attiyah did it once again this year, coming in at first place at the end of the 9,000 km race that ran through Argen-tina, Chile and Bolivia. Driving an X-raid Mini with his co-driver, Frenchman Mat-thieu Baumel, the Qatar World Rally Team finished a full 35 minutes ahead of the

second- place team. He was accorded a hero’s welcome on his return home. Speaking to a local English daily, he said what made the victory even more worthwhile was a personal congratulatory phone call from HH the Emir.

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The event attracted more than a thousand bikers and enthusiasts from all over the region, eager to participate in the exhibition and the charity parade. A variety of bikes, ranging from vintage models to modified ones, were showcased. On a separate day, a selection of Soul Riders, made up of both local and international bikers, explored The Pearl, roaming its highways and side roads. Proceeds from this charitable event will reportedly be used to support several of Qatar Charity’s programmes.

REV FOR CHARITY

WIN - WIN

The Soul Riders hosted the second edition of the Charity GCC Bike Show on January 16 at Aspire.

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Spanish tennis player DAVID FERRER poses with his trophy after winning the Qatar ExxonMobil Open.

Twenty six-year-old South African BRANDEN GRACE was declared the champion of the 18th Qatar Masters golf tournament.

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Held under the patronage of French President François Hollande, the forum featured over 90 thinkers and actors from the Arab world,

who gathered at the Arab World Institute in Paris to exchange views and discuss var-ious themes like entrepreneurship, cities, energy, education, culture and women’s empowerment in the region. Qatar was

represented by influential figures like HE the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Dr Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari; Omran Al Kuwari, CEO of Green Gulf Inc; Stavros N Yiannouka, CEO of the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) and Sebas-tien Turbot, Curator and Director of Con-tent and Programmes at WISE.

Because alcohol was sold at the venue, most didn’t hear about The Twenty Four through traditional media channels. But for those who stumbled upon it or heard about it through friends and social media, this was a unique treat that might be considered a precursor to the 2022 fan zone. The venue was open between January 16 and February 1 for six hours in the evening, from 8 pm to 2 am. Entertainment included acrobats like the Crazy Dunkers, a caricaturist, a magician who’d come to the tables to do card tricks, bungee jumping, fun photo booths, gaming consoles, billiards, air hockey and foos ball tables, and more. All of these except food and beverages were completely free of charge. The highlight, however, was the live music, which began at around 10 pm every day with a lineup of exciting international bands – Kool and the Gang, Hegemony, All Star Band, Chico and the Gypsies. The French band Hegemony, which performed covers of several popular artists like Stevie Wonder, Lionel Ritchie, Jackson Five and Diana Ross, were exceptional. The nights wrapped up with a DJ.

QATAR TALKS ARAB RENEWAL

Paris-based Thinkers & Doers organised the first international Forum on the Arab World Renewal on January 15 and 16, attracting more than 1,600 participants.

MUSIC AND EXCITEMENT The Twenty Four near Doha Golf Club had an exciting line-up of events for the lucky few who had managed to find out about this fan zone.

94 > QATAR TODAY > FEBRUARY 2015All comments featured here are taken from the

public web pages of various new organisations.Qatar Today is not responsible for the comments expressed.

“How can people like [Karl-Heinz] Rummenigge, who have

spoken out to some degree against a World Cup in Qatar

in 2022, defend Bayern’s endorsement of the country

when they are fully aware of the human rights issues for which it

is perpetually attacked?”

“Once this has been proven and all the bugs have been cleared then Qatar Airways will, I hope, be the first airliner to introduce

this in all our planes.” - Akbar Al Baker

“Introducing real-time streaming wouldn’t prevent

accidents, but it would provide faster and potentially better information to those

on the ground.”

“A little surprised that Lahm is not going since he is the captain, but with Basti back in action, I guess they can afford to let Lahm take as long as he needs/wants to recover...I don’t even know what to say about Thiago...”

The last ‘enemy combatant’ on US soil,

Qatari national Ali Al Marri is

releasedQatar Airways to live stream flight data to

ground control

“Obama is at it again. Why not just have a big

Al Qaeda family reunion on the White House lawn?! At

the US taxpayer’s expense, of course!”

What the world was saying about the country around their dinner tables last month.

Bayern Munich Players arrive in Doha for their

winter break training camp and caused quite a stir

when they dropped in to support their countrymen at one of their handball

matches.

Qatar Cloud

“Qatar. Why am I not

surprised.”

“How is this not an impeachable offense? How

is this different from releasing Nazi Saboteurs during

WWII?”

qatar today february 2015

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