Dr Ghiyath Nakshbendi is an experienced sovereign wealth funds professional. Also, a proponent of alternative (Islamic) finance education in the US, he serves as a special representative for foreign investors seeking a cost-effective and discreet means of managing corporate and personal business activities in the US.

He has solid experience in the Gulf Co-operation Countries (GCC) in this field. He is a senior professorial lecturer of finance at Kogod School of Business, American University, Washington, DC.

On the occasion of his participation in the Doha Forum 2024, Dr Ghiyath in an exclusive interview to Gulf Times said: “I have been privileged to come to Doha on so many occasions, including the honour to be invited to Doha Forum.

“It is a very important for me to attend and hear what is happening in the world from experts and VIPs. The forum is always up to date and I enjoyed the discussed topics during the last two days. It touched on various topics, including diplomacy, diversity, and sustainability, etc. It is a very rewarding experience to hear about the latest news on start-ups.”

On the prominent role of Qatari soft diplomacy Dr Ghiyath said: ”I usually follow up the news dealing with Qatar on a weekly basis, so I am very much aware of what is going on. In Washington we definitely listen to the contributions of Qatar, dealing with so many issues, including finance, diplomacy, being mediator of world conflicts which is a very admirable role that Qatar has been playing for years in that arena.”

On striking the right balance between economic development and sustainability in Qatar, Dr Ghiyath said: “I would like to commend the activities and the straight forward plans and their execution by Qatar Investment Authority which is one of the largest 15 sovereign wealth fund in the world. I follow that very carefully because it falls in my area of expertise.”

On his sovereign fund involvement Dr Ghiyath said: “I decided to offer a conference at the American University dealing with sovereign wealth fund, last October (2024). It was the 11th conference on this particular subject. I would like to point out that the Qatar’s embassy in Washington has been the major co-sponsor of this conference for the last 11 years.”

In the context of sustainability and the Qatari advancement on environment and climate change issues Dr Ghiyath said: “Investment in green economies has been a buzz word all over the world, but I think that Qatar is doing a wonderful job in that arena. Consequently, Qatar is a major advocate for sustainability, they are definitely working very hard to diversify their economy and investing in world market. In addition to a distinguished focus on development inside Qatar. To boost the economic growth, in addition to creating employment opportunities. I must add that in the last couple of years, they have been working very hard in terms of providing the necessary funding to encourage entrepreneurship. By definition it is going to help young Qataris to start their own businesses and provide them with the necessary resources to be successful in their mission.”

In relation to the Qatari government’s focus on the younger generation Dr Ghiyath said: “It is one of the early initiatives, to the best of my knowledge, in the GCC, paying attention to this very important sector and this very important economic resources to provide the young Qataris with the available opportunities to participate in building and advancing the Qatari economy, and they are doing a wonderful job in that arena.”

He added that: “The focus on education in Qatar is extremely important, let’s not forget that Qatar was the first GCC country that started to invite well known universities, in different specialties, to establish branches for these institutions here in Qatar, like Texas University, and George Town University for instance... I had the privilege of having Qatari students for the last 15 years to study at the American University, including the Kogod School of Business...”
On the importance of entrepreneurship and the Qatari younger generation Dr Ghiyath said: “It is part of my advice to young scholars including students from Qatar, it is fine to work as an employee, but it will be much better, after getting some experience by working for another company, is to start thinking very carefully about the possibilities of starting your own business. There are some majors by which you can start your own activity, like computer science, or business, or finance, or engineering. It is always preferable for young graduates to think seriously about having their own businesses, but not necessarily after leaving college. They should work somewhere and learn from their mistakes, before they will be in charge of their own destiny by having their own businesses.”

Dr Ghiyath added: “I would like to introduce you to a programme that I have presented at Kogod School of Business in 2014 as my first Islamic Finance course, then in 2017. I introduced and created the first Graduate Islamic Finance Certificate in the US. When I meet my friends from Qatar Islamic Bank which has been established since the 1970’s I try to encourage them to have at least a window in Washington DC to advance and to introduce Islamic finance. I hope your listeners/readers will support me to advance Islamic finance, which is less risky than conventional finance,” Dr Ghiyath concluded.