Education, Qatar’s economic pillar
In just a few years, Qatar has gone from having an economy based on pearl fishing to becoming one of the richest countries in the world driven by a wealth of oil and natural gas reserves.
Diversifying the Gulf state’s economy has become a key challenge and investment in education is at the core of this shift.
“Education is leading (…) the pursuit towards a knowledge-based economy,” Hend Zeinal, Executive Director, Strategy, Management and Partnerships, Higher Education Division at the Qatar Foundation, tells Efe. “We cannot get there without a focus on education.”
The Qatar Foundation is a non-profit organization that started as a children’s school more than 25 years ago, promoted by the royal family of Qatar, and now boasts over 50 entities working in education, research, and community development.
The UAE delegation discusses economy at the WEF Davos 2023
The UAE Delegation participated in the first day of the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland. The 2023 delegation included a number of officials and ministers of the Federal Government and local governments, in addition to businessmen and economic figures from the private sector.
During the first day of the Forum, H.E Ahmed Belhoul Al Falasi Minister of Education participated in a session intitled “Meeting of the Reskilling Revolution Champions”, where he discussed the influence of the technological changes, the COVID-19 pandemic and the green transition on people’s livelihoods.
Bahrain’s sustainability drive to be highlighted at Davos forum
Bahrain’s unique investment opportunities and the kingdom’s sustainability drive will be highlighted by a high-level delegation in the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) that began in the Swiss city of Davos.
Led by Sustainable Development Minister Noor Alkhulaif, the delegation includes Industry and Commerce Minister Abdulla Fakhro, Osool chief executive and Batelco chairman Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) chief executive Khalid Humaidan, EDB adviser to the board chairman OBE Iain Lindsay, BFG International Group president Dr Samer Al Jishi, and Almoayyed International Group vice-chair Hala Almoayyed.
“We look forward to participating in the World Economic Forum which provides a platform to connect with key global economic decision-makers and promote investment opportunities in the kingdom,” commented Ms Alkhulaif, adding, “It is also an opportunity to discuss the global trends in sustainability and investments practices in the midst of economic and geopolitical challenges.”
Political, economic instability prevent planning in Iran: economist
A top Iranian economist has slammed Iran’s so-called five-year developmental plan as meaningless amid overall instability, calling it a bureaucratic exercise.
Well-known economist and academic Mohsen Renani rejected an invitation by the Iranian Parliament’s Research Center to work on a new 5-year plan. He said: “I have seen the outlook plan prepared by the Speaker of the Parliament. It is full of wishful thinking without considering the country’s ongoing crisis and its potentials. That guarantees the plan’s failure.”
Iraq and US discuss economy and military co-operation
Brett McGurk, the US National Security Council’s co-ordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, arrived in Baghdad on Monday on an official visit to strengthen relations with Iraq.
Mr McGurk, who was joined by Special Presidential Co-ordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security Amos Hochstein, met Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani.
“The meeting focused on discussing the overall relations between Iraq and the United States and ways to strengthen and develop them at various levels and fields to serve the interests of the Iraqi and American peoples,” said a statement issued by Mr Al Sudani’s office.
Kuwait’s GDP growth to be the slowest in GCC in 2023
Kuwait, which was likely the second strongest growing economies within the GCC last year, is set to register the slowest pace of growth amongst its peers in 2023, according to a new report by Emirates NBD.
“We project an expansion rate of 2.4 percent this year, compared with an estimated 8.0 percent last year, which would come in slower than our forecast weighted average growth rate of 3.2 percent for the GCC,” Daniel Richards, MENA economist at the Dubai-based bank, said in the report.
Contribution of digital economy in oman to rise to 10pc of GDP by 2040
With an aim of raising the contribution of the digital economy to reach 10 percent of the GDP by 2040, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT) will launch the national portal for electronic services by the end of this year.
In an interview with Oman TV, H E Said bin Hamoud al Ma’awali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, said that the ministry “is working to launch the national portal for electronic services by the end of this year to provide a one-stop-shop for services, and new services will be added to it constantly”.
He informed that the ministry has created a unified index for all government services, which reached 3,000 services in 2022. “The ministry will aim to digitalise 80 percent of government services by 2025. It has a plan to raise and double the contribution of the digital economy to reach 10 percent of the GDP by 2040.”
Saudi Arabia aims to become the world’s fastest-growing economy in 2023
Saudi Arabia will become the fastest-growing economy this year thanks to its ambitious Vision 2030 reform program, the kingdom’s foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan said at this year’s World Economic Forum summit in Davos.
The official noted that the reform program aims to address all issues facing the economy of OPEC’s biggest oil producer and, among other things, reduce its dependence on oil as a source of budget revenues.
During his speech, he noted a decline in Saudi unemployment and the opening up of the labor market to more women.