Qatar Research, Development, and Innovation (QRDI) Council and Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) have signed an agreement to incentivize and support local and international companies based at QFC to conduct innovation as well as research and development (R&D) activities in Qatar.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by QRDI Council’s Secretary General, Eng. Omar Ali Al-Ansari, and Mr. Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, CEO of Qatar Financial Centre during the inaugural event “QFC meets,” at the St. Regis Hotel.

During his speech, Eng. Omar Ali Al-Ansari emphasized the synergies between QFC as an entity that is looking to attract and host innovative businesses and QRDI Council, which seeks to support the integration of such companies into Qatar’s innovation ecosystem.

He stressed that there are multiple linkages that companies can benefit from and that QRDI Council can enable. For instance, the Council can connect local and international firms present in QFC with government agencies and large local enterprises, allowing the former to gain insight on some of the challenges uniquely present in Qatar and work towards building innovative and breakthrough solutions for these entities.

Eng. Al Ansari continued, “We are also glad to support newly registered businesses conduct R&D activities in Qatar, enabling them to draw on the wealth of knowledge held at our research and academic institutions. Having invested strongly in these assets over the year, Qatar has much to offer when it comes to leveraging world-class infrastructure.” He highlighted the recent launch of QRDI Portal, which enables collaboration opportunities between innovators, researchers, public and private companies as well as hospitals, labs, universities, and other institutions.

Cementing these remarks, QRDI Council and QFC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which seeks to encourage firms at QFCA to drive innovation and R&D activities in Qatar. At the same time, QRDI Council will work with QFC to facilitate connections of these businesses with actors across the innovation and research value chain.

Speaking on the partnership, Mr. Al-Jaida said: “We are pleased to partner with QRDI Council and see strong synergistic opportunities on the back of this agreement. As we celebrate the newly registered firms, we are certain that we can lend even more support through our work with QRDI Council and see that these new businesses become successfully integrated into the innovation ecosystem in Qatar and support the creation of an enhanced knowledge-based economy.”