FROM LEFT: Fahad Al Kaabi, CEO of Manateq; Ignacio Escobar, Spain’s Ambassador to Qatar and Sheikh Nasser bin Nawaf Al Thani pose after winning the awards at the ‘Friends of Spain’ awards ceremony.
Manateq and Sheikh Nawaf bin Nasser bin Khaled Al Thani, have won this year’s “Amigos de España”, the “Friends of Spain” awards , for Corporation and Individual categories, respectively. Spain’s ambassador to Qatar Ignacio Escobar announced the coveted awards at an event recently.
Announcing the awards the ambassador said: “This prize attempts to identify and recognize both a Corporation and an Individual that have had a particular relationship with Spain or with the Spanish community in Qatar.”
Previous awardees have been Qatar Airways, Ashghal, Qatar Rail and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, for the Corporate section, and for the individual prize, personalities such as Sheikh Salman bin Ahmed bin Ali Al Thani, Abdulla Al-Dolaimi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani and Yussuf Ali, owner of Lulu Hypermarkets.
“This year’s awards have been bestowed upon two relevant members of the Qatari community that have a strong connection with Spain and with the Spanish community, a connection that will definitely continue and strengthen in the future.
With these awards, we intend to achieve two goals: the first one is to thank the Qatari partners that have provided important support and assistance to Spanish companies; the second objective is to underline the commitment of the Spanish companies in establishing a fruitful and lasting relationship with the key players in this country.”
On the decision to confer the award on Manateq, the ambassador said: “ Manateq is about a vision of the future, beyond the 2022 challenge. Certainly, gas and oil have taken Qatar a long way, but for a sustainable future, it is necessary to develop an efficient and attractive private sector, with a particular eye to the small and medium enterprises, which have a greater capacity to adapt to changes and to create new jobs. And this is exactly what Manateq is doing, under the leadership of Fahad Rashid Al Kaabi: creating the necessary environment to attract new business opportunities and investments into Qatar.
His inspiring vision is providing Qatar with world-class infrastructures within strategically placed economic zones. But at the same time, the different projects established by Manateq are being directed with the best management practices; and this includes health and safety priorities, environmental care, transparency, cost-effective decisions, and user-oriented optimisations.”
As for the individual award, the embassy is equally proud to announce that this year it has been bestowed upon Sheikh Nawaf bin Nasser bin Khaled Al Thani, not only as Chairman of the Nasser bin Khaled Holding, but also as a business man with a long standing connection with Spain, he said.
When Sheikh Nawaf joined NBK in 1983 he not only brought his solid training in international institutions and expertise in the world of business; more importantly, he added to the group a solid sense of ethics that combined with his experience, diversified the company and turned it into one of Qatar’s leading business conglomerates.
Today, NBK is a reference in the fields of automotive, construction, industrial services, medical, agriculture, real estate, travel, fashion, hospitality, consultancy, oil and gas, and Information Technology. And it is precisely IT the reason for receiving the Friends of Spain award. Although Sheikh Nawaf has been maintaining strong relations with Spain, with the Spanish community in Qatar as well as with Spanish companies for the last years, it was recently a successful partnership was established between NBKI and Indra Sistemas, the most important IT Spanish multinational.
This joint venture will be an excellent way to increase the presence of this prestigious company into the State of Qatar and the region. On behalf of Sheikh Nawaf, his son, Sheikh Nasser bin Nawaf Al Thani received the award.
