Qatar Development Bank (QDB) is launching the Investment Forum 2021 on Monday, December 6, under the theme ‘Transforming Economies Through a New Investment Paradigm’.
The forum is organised in collaboration with Refinitiv, a London Stock Exchange Group business, and will serve as a platform for entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and investors from Qatar and around the world to explore mutual growth opportunities and forge partnerships.
This year’s edition will be held under the strategic sponsorship of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the platinum sponsorship of Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZA), the Investment Promotion Agency Qatar (IPA Qatar), and Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), as well as the gold sponsorship of QInvest.
Through this platform, QDB seeks to bolster the case for investment in startups and SMEs, which effectively addresses a major challenge that entrepreneurs tend to face at the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey by connecting them to various types of investors, including angel investors and venture capital funds that invest in advanced-tech early-stage startups with high-growth potential.
QDB acting CEO Abdulrahman Hesham al-Sowaidi reaffirmed the important role the forum plays in its efforts to support and promote investing in SMEs and its status as the main investment platform in the State of Qatar.
He said, “At QDB, we offer a strong lineup of specialised programmes and services that are designed to overcome obstacles in fundraising by connecting innovative entrepreneurs and SMEs to investors of all kinds.
“This serves our objectives in creating new avenues of growth for investee companies and generating exponential returns for investors while further enhancing the business climate in Qatar and the country’s status as a preferred investment destination at the regional and global levels.”
In its fourth edition, the forum will host a broader spectrum of investors and entrepreneurs from the wider region, which is set to further enrich the entrepreneurship ecosystem and promote economic diversification and development. The forum’s theme will focus on three main pillars: ‘innovation’ by empowering the next generation of companies, ‘investment’ by collaborating with angel and venture capital investors, and ‘impact’ by developing industries and advanced technologies.
Through the first-of-its-kind integrated digital platform that has been purpose-built for the forum, QDB aims to facilitate the process of developing new partnerships. The platform enables fast-growing companies to showcase their businesses and other relevant information to investors looking for promising new ideas towards collaborating together and establishing mutually beneficial partnerships.
This year’s edition of the forum also features a special panel discussion by renowned industry experts titled ‘Accelerating Economic Transformation Through Venture Capital’ and an MoU signing ceremony between QDB and QFC.
Investors, entrepreneurs, SMEs, and individuals interested in the forum can register to watch the event live on Zoom via the following link: shorturl.at/sGRV4
 
 
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