Qatar Development Bank (QDB) has announced the opening of registration for the second edition of Qatar Entrepreneurship award “ROWAD Award 2019”. This prestigious sponsorship is a testament to Qatar’s wise leadership’s keen interest in building the country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem towards achieving economic diversification for sustainable development, in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030.
Besides, Qatar topped the global entrepreneurship environment, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report featuring 56 countries, which also confirms the leadership’s keenness in promoting entrepreneurship and integrate it into the national economy.
ROWAD Award aims to promote the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship among SMEs in Qatar, which will provide an ideal platform for entrepreneurs to showcase their creative ideas and innovations which will play a vital role in developing the economy.
On the launch of the second edition of ROWAD, Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa, CEO, Qatar Development Bank, said:
“We are honored by the patronage of His Highness the Emir for the ROWAD Award 2019, which indicates H H’s interest in supporting the Qatari entrepreneurs and SMEs. The first edition of ROWAD Award selected 25 projects among 500 applicants as a nominee for the award. We were witness to their entrepreneurial brilliance, innovative streak, and their continuous efforts to serve the needs of the local market, which helped them become the most deserving of the award among the rest.”
The award categories for this year include “Best Microbusiness award” for those business that have been successfully operating for 2+ years with a growth vision, has a specific action plan, and a proof of financial performance; “Best SME award” is to recognize business operating for 3+ years with a clear and specific growth plan, has demonstrated its financial performance for two years, and adopts innovative ways to reach customers, product development or production process; “Self Sufficiency Award’ is SMEs that have made significant contributions to Qatar’s Self-Sufficiency, by meeting the local market need and reduce dependence on imports; and “Best Exporting SME award” will be awarded to successfully exported product(s) for a defined period of time. Besides, the event will also see a new category “Innovative Solution Award” to business that provides unique innovative products and services and create solutions to enhance economical, social, or technological needs, either local or global, or was able to rely on innovative solutions in production methods, marketing or customer access.
Only Qatari Citizens can apply for these awards with no age restriction. Business should be SMEs as per the unified SMEs definition. They will need to submit audited financial report of the company or indicating its financial position for a specified period (the period varies according to the award category as described above), providing proof of the use of innovative methods both in reaching customers or developing the products or the production process itself. Winners of the 2017 award are NOT eligible to apply for the 2019 Award.
