Qatar Development Bank (QDB) held its second Annual Investment Forum on Wednesday, which was attended by a number of local and international investors interested in venturing into entrepreneurship and technology industry sectors in Qatar, alongside entrepreneurs and business owners. The Forum created an outstanding opportunity to enhance cooperation between local and international investors and entrepreneurs in Qatar
The forum was held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Msheireb Downtown Doha, and welcomed a number of local and international angel investors, investment funds representatives, investment banks, VCs representatives, and business incubators and accelerators. The forum provided an opportunity for entrepreneurs to know more about the various investment schemes available and enabled them to exchange ideas and knowledge related to entrepreneurial investments and how to obtain the necessary capital to develop their projects depending on their sectors and growth stage.
The Investment Forum 2019 was held under the theme “Connect, Invest, Grow”, symbolising the environment it creates for participants, from different backgrounds and interests, to establish and reinforce relationships amongst one another. The event was also an ideal platform to explore potential partnerships between the different parties.  
Mr Abdulaziz Bin Nasser Al-Khalifa, Chief Executive Officer of QDB, said: “The second edition of the Investment Forum 2019 comes to build on the successes we achieved from the first one. Such achievement and demand reflect the key role that QDB plays in attracting stakeholders interested in entrepreneurship investment to communicate and work on common grounds.''
"Qatar Development Bank is committed to creating an interactive local investment environment through our strategic network of partners, one that would open up wide investment doors before local entrepreneurs to support them in creating and developing their innovative projects,” Mr Al-Khalifa added.
Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is proud to be the strategic partner of “QDB Investment Forum 2019 – second edition”.  As one of the world’s leading sovereign wealth funds, QIA is hugely supportive of the important role that QDB plays in introducing opportunities to connect entrepreneurs with investors. QIA has a strong track record of supporting emerging talents with high potential from Qatar and across the globe.
Mr Yosouf Abdulrahman Saleh, Executive Director of Qatar Science and Technology Park said: “We were happy to participate in the Investment Forum as a gold sponsor for the first time. The forum organized by Qatar Development Bank is an important annual event that discusses entrepreneurship investment opportunities from Qatar and the world. As a key player in the fields of innovation and technological entrepreneurship, Qatar Science and Technology Park considers this forum an important occasion to communicate with local stakeholders, entrepreneurs, and investors, thing that is essential in the work of the Park. The forum had a positive impact in shedding light on special programs and investment opportunities that we offer to support technological entrepreneurship, and to contribute in enriching the local and regional economy.”
In this year’s edition, the Investment Forum presented several panel discussions on the ecosystem in Qatar. The forum also included introductory presentations on some of the available entrepreneurial projects in the market within the “Investor Series” program, and concluded with one-to-one meetings between investors and entrepreneurs, enabling both sides to explore further potential collaboration.
The Investment Forum is an annual initiative organized by QDB, to address topics related to the investment opportunities in the entrepreneurship scene in Qatar. The event aims to create opportunities for cooperation among entrepreneurs, investors and capitalists interested in working and venturing into local small and medium sized projects. QDB is committed to making this forum an annual event that attracts investors and promotes the state of Qatar as one of the global investment destinations.