ESCWA signs MoU with Qatar Development Bank on hosting third Arab SMEs Summit

Doha, Beirut- 23 July 2024: As an endeavour to further support and promote small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Qatar and the Arab region, Qatar Development Bank (QDB) today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) on hosting the third Arab SMEs Summit. The regional event will be held in partnership with "Rowad Entrepreneurship Conference 2024", under the slogan "Navigating Digital Horizons", from 17 to 19 November at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC).

The Arab SMEs Summit is an important interactive space for women and men entrepreneurs from the Arab region. The first two editions hosted more than 2,000 participants , including representatives from regional and international organizations, entities specialized in entrepreneurship and sustainable development, entrepreneurs, investors, and media. Participants discover the most important business models in Arab markets and success stories, and explore prospects for joint work. The Summit is also a platform for providing investment opportunities and improving communication between policymakers and experts at the regional level.

"Our partnership with ESCWA reflects the Bank's commitment to joint pioneering work and cooperation to serve the interests of our national economy and support entrepreneurship in Qatar," said QDB Chief Executive Officer Abdulrahman Hesham Al Sowaidi.

"We are proud that Doha is hosting the third Arab SMEs Summit, following in the footsteps of Amman and Marrakesh, hosts of the previous two editions. We are also pleased to merge the Summit with the 10th edition of Rowad Entrepreneurship Conference 2024, making this year's edition the largest to date. We believe in the importance of such events to boost Arab economies and help entrepreneurs, and we are always available to support and develop SMEs to ensure the prosperity of the national economy and the sustainability of its resources," he added.

About 1,300 participants from across the region and sectors are expected to take part in the Summit, to be source of inspiration and motivation at the regional level. Sessions will involve decision makers and policymakers who will discuss empowering SMEs and improving the entrepreneurship environment in the Arab region to support sustainable development. Discussions will also focus on opportunities and challenges imposed by the digital era, including digital business transformation, technological innovation, and regional cooperation to strengthen the digital economy.

"We are happy with this new partnership with QDB, one of the leading Arab entities supporting women entrepreneurs and SMEs, and we trust that this will open new horizons for advancing entrepreneurship in the region," ESCWA Executive Secretary Rola Dashti said. "We look forward to working together to enhance innovation, create job opportunities, and stimulate inclusive economic growth," she added.

"The Arab SMEs Summit gathers an elite group of innovators, entrepreneurs, SMEs, policymakers and leaders from various sectors in the Arab countries. We consider the merging of the Summit with Rowad as an exceptional opportunity to convene an unprecedented event in terms of organization and number of participants and investors in the Arab entrepreneurship sector," Dashti underscored.

This new partnership aims to provide the necessary support to SMEs by facilitating access to financing, knowledge and capacity-building, with a focus on innovation and sustainability.

*****

About ESCWA

One of five United Nations regional commissions, ESCWA supports inclusive and sustainable economic and social development in Arab States, and works on enhancing regional integration.

ESCWA was established in 1973 and it comprises 21 Arab States: Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, State of Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

About Qatar Development Bank (QDB):

Qatar Development Bank (QDB), previously known as Qatar Industrial Development Bank, was established in Qatar in 1997 by Emiri Decree No. 14 as a developmental organization with the primary objective of fueling industrial growth and driving the private sector's economic diversification. Over two decades of transformation, QDB has reinvented itself to become the main supporting arm for Qatar's private sector and a powerful catalyst for socio-economic development through three access-based pillars to SME and private-enterprise support: Access to Finance, Access to Markets, and Access to Capability.

The Bank's whole-journey support system covers various financing schemes and consultation services that include marketing, legal advice, booking, mentoring and development, grants and accreditation, and capacity-building platforms. This has allowed QDB to become the SME's growth partner from ideation to fruition, meeting their aspirations at every stage in order to compete at the national and global levels, while improving the economic development cycle and bringing the country closer to realizing its national vision for 2030.

Today, the Bank and its subsidiaries are building on Qatar's rich legacy of socio-economic achievements by taking a brave leap into the future and focusing on the digital transformation of the country's SME and business ecosystems to usher entrepreneurs and SMEs into the new economy, embrace emerging opportunities, and steadily transform QDB into a digital bank of the future and a lighthouse that leads the way for financial and developmental institutions across the region and beyond.

For more information, please visit: https://www.qdb.qa/

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.