CQBF aims to position Qatar as gateway for Canadian firms to Gulf region

The participation of a delegation led by the Canadian-Qatari Business Forum (CQBF) in last month’s Web Summit Qatar 2025 is focused on positioning the country as a gateway for Canadian businesses into the region while reinforcing its role as a technology hub, a CQBF official has said.

QBF executive director Yasser Dhouib told Gulf Times that Ibrahim Abdel Halim, senior business adviser and board member, and Vartika Manasvi, senior technology adviser, played a key role in fostering stronger business and technology ties between Canada and Qatar.

“The delegation engaged with multiple Qatari stakeholders, facilitating discussions to encourage Canadian companies to explore investment and expansion opportunities in Qatar,” Dhouib pointed out.

According to Dhouib, Manasvi was a senior adviser at MaRs, “North America’s largest urban innovation hub and a registered charity.” He noted that Manasvi will be in charge of creating a platform for strategic business partnerships under the auspices of the CQBF for the next four years.

Dhouib said the delegation’s key contributions at Web Summit Qatar 2025 include strategic business engagements, holding high-level discussions with various Qatari entities to explore technology, investment, and innovation partnerships, and showcasing Qatar’s potential as a regional hub for Canadian startups and tech firms.

To encourage Canadian investment, the CQBF highlighted Qatar’s investment-friendly environment and support for tech-driven enterprises, and promoted collaboration in deep tech, artificial intelligence (AI), health tech, and smart cities, he also noted.

To promote deep tech and venture capital initiatives, Dhouib said the CQBF advocated for a Qatar-based Deep Tech Fund, leveraging Canadian expertise in research and development (R&D) and technology commercialisation, and discussed opportunities for joint intellectual property (IP) licensing, venture-building, and talent exchange.

Asked about the upcoming CQBF initiatives aimed at strengthening Canadian-Qatari tech and business collaboration, Dhouib said the CQBF is working on strategic projects to enhance innovation, investment, and entrepreneurship between both countries.

Among these initiatives are the Deep Tech Fund and Startup Foundry Model, which include a venture capital fund supporting early-stage deep tech startups. The focus areas are energy tech, AI, health tech, and smart cities. Similarly, the CQBF is looking at forging collaboration with Canadian universities to bring cutting-edge research to market.

Dhouib said the CQBF’s Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR) Programme aims to attract global entrepreneurial talent, develop high-growth tech ventures in Qatar, and support business leaders in commercialising innovative technologies.

Another initiative, the ‘Investment & Market Expansion’, is aimed at creating a structured investment framework to fund and scale deep tech startups, and integrating with existing R&D grants to accelerate innovation and commercialisation, he said.

Dhouib also announced that Philippe Couillard, the 31st Premier of Quebec, will be leading a delegation of prominent Canadian high-tech companies in healthcare and diabetes-related diseases to Qatar next month. He said Couillard’s visit will be organised by the CQBF, in close partnership with the embassies of both countries.

“This adds to the extraordinary impact made by both nations’ top diplomats, Qatar’s ambassador to Canada, Khalid bin Rashid al-Mansouri, who, with his tremendous impact on leading Qatari interest in Canada, has made a huge presence in Ottawa, and Canadian ambassador Isabelle Martin, whose contribution is effective and important,” Dhouib earlier said.