Qatar Advances in Entrepreneurship Sector in 2017

Doha, September 10 (QNA) - The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report for the year 2017 showed that the State of Qatar made remarkable progress in entrepreneurship sector in 2017 compared to the previous year. According to the report, which was prepared in cooperation with the Washington-based Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Qatar ranked 33 in nascent entrepreneurship in 2017 compared to 44 during the year 2016, 42 in the new business ownership, 42 in total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA), 54 in the rate of ownership of established businesses and 17 in business discontinuance rate. The GEM tracks rates of entrepreneurship across multiple phases in 54 economies, making it the world's most authoritative comparative study of entrepreneurial activity in the general adult population. Qatar Development Bank (QDB), a member of the alliance of GEM, said the report drawn on findings from two surveys: Adult Population Surveys (APS): results are drawn from a random, representative sample of 2,742 surveys of Qatar residents aged between 18 and 64; and National Expert Survey (NES): compromise of surveys conducted with 45 carefully chosen Qatar "entrepreneurs experts" across nine framework categories. In Self-Perceptions about Entrepreneurship field, respondents showed a high degree of entrepreneurial determination in an encouraging manner (with about 45.6% seeing an opportunity to start a business). The percentage of those who believe that there are opportunities to start a business among Qataris is higher than among expatriates (48.6% of Qataris compared to 38.4% of expatriates). In like manner, the percentage of females who see chances of starting a business is higher than that of males (55.8% of females versus 43.4% of males). In the societal values about entrepreneurship in Qatar, the results of 2017 show a positive attitude towards the community of entrepreneurship in Qatar. In fact, most of the adult population believes that entrepreneurs have a high status and respect in society (77.3%) and that the establishment of a new project is a good career choice (65.9%). Additionally, more than half of the population considers public media and the Internet to be providing good coverage for successful new businesses (54%). With regard to Motivation for TEA in Qatar, the number of entrepreneurs who stated that the motivation behind their establishment of a new business is the opportunity is about seven times the number of the ones who said that the motivation for establishing their businesses was necessity, at 82.4% and 12.0%, respectively. The percentage of innovation-driven opportunity (IDO) entrepreneurs - not necessarily in Qatar - is considered to be the highest in the Middle East and the eighth globally. In innovation and internationalization, respondents pointed to high levels of innovation in Qatar since 2016. In 2017, a large percentage of entrepreneurs (63.5%) indicated that their products were new to all or some consumers. Half (52.2%) are completely different from their competitors (they noted that there were no businesses offering the same products or services), while more than a third (37.9%) indicated that they were selling new products or services to all or some of the customers, with few facilities offering the same products or no facilities (compared with 22.8% in 2016). It should be noted that the report provided a number of recommendations distributed on multiple focusses such as Government policies, financial support, social and cultural norms, training and education. Among those recommendations, the following are the focus areas: - Government policies: The importance of reviewing policies and regulations that promote private sector activities and facilitate business, as well as the need to raise awareness of the legal requirements for the establishment of a new business; Access to financial support: - Recommendations include developing alternative financing solutions for start-ups, and SME, financing patent applications and other recommendations. - Social and cultural norms: There is a need to encourage entrepreneurs and businessmen across the media to become role models for future generations, as well as to encourage innovation and talent discovery. - Training and education: Among the recommendations of this focus is increased co-operation between educational institutions including Qatar University, Education City Universities and Government sectors. Additionally, entrepreneurship concepts should be taught in school from as early as primary school through animation and stories. Commenting on the launching of the report, Chief Executive Officer of QDB Abdulaziz Bin Nasser Al Khalifa said, "For the second year in a row, the Qatar GEM Report 2017 was released after the previous year's edition. It is worth mentioning that this study is part of the Bank's membership in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor." Al Khalifa added, "The importance of this report stems from the fact that it provides decision-makers and researchers with a treasure trove of information and data that represents an important entry point for the development of the SME and entrepreneurship sectors." (QNA)