The Social Development Centre (Nama) yesterday announced the launch of the latest edition of the Reyada Award.
The centre will begin receiving applications for the award today, while September 26 will be the last day for registration and for receiving the applications of existing and potential Qatari entrepreneurs, and owners of small and micro enterprises aged 18-45 years.
The initiative comes within the framework of its strategic objectives to develop micro and small enterprises, Nama has said in a press statement.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony organised by Nama on October 28 in the presence of prominent national and international entrepreneurial figures.
In its fifth edition, the award seeks to qualify 14 contestants for the finals to present their projects to a carefully selected jury who will evaluate them according to well-chosen criteria based on integrity, transparency and fairness, the statement notes.
The evaluation sessions will be documented and the selection of winners will take place publicly at the award ceremony, during which four entrepreneurs will be chosen and granted cash and discretionary prizes and awards.
There will be two winners for each of the two categories, whereby the first-place winners in both categories will receive a gold shield and a grant of QR150,000 while the second-place winners will get a silver shield and a grant of QR75,000.
Hamad al-Saffar (pictured), acting director of the Entrepreneurship Section at Nama, said: “The award is divided into two categories: Best Business Plan and Best Existing Business with fixed growth rates. The fifth edition of the award has undergone many changes and adjustments in line with the centre’s 2016-2020 Strategy. These changes include the granting of financing loans to the winners, up to QR250,000, in addition to training and one-on-one consultation, as well as well as facilitating access to the market.”
General and specific qualification criteria have been identified for participation in the 2019 Reyada Award. These are as follows: applicants must be Qataris, aged between 18 and 45 years; and the project must be classified in the category of micro and small enterprises based on the unified national definition.
As for the specific criteria for Best Business Plan, the applicant must be directly responsible for providing and developing a coherent, executable and economically feasible work plan. The business plan model will be provided after successful registration; and the applicant should provide necessary documents to demonstrate knowledge of preparing business plans, such as courses and workshops, educational background, etc
For Best Existing Business, the applicant must be directly responsible for operating and managing the project; the project must be established, executed and registered in Qatar in conformity with the laws in force in the State; the project must be at least two years old and not more than six years old; and an audited financial and technical report must be presented.
Al-Saffar further explained that the centre seeks to support young Qatari entrepreneurs by catering to their needs in the form of services and financial, technical and logistical support, in order to pave the way allowing them to attain their goals. He noted that the award aims at motivating and encouraging the Qatari youth to innovate in entrepreneurship, and at promoting the spirit of competitiveness among them, as part of achieving the strategic objectives of the centre concerning the development of small and micro enterprises.
As for the conditions to apply to the award, al-Saffar indicated that it is sufficient for applicants to send an application using the e-registration link and they will be contacted immediately after ensuring that the basic conditions are met in order to provide supporting documents. The internal committee at Nama will start screening applications according to predefined qualification criteria in order to determine the 14 finalists.
Hamad al-Saffar
