SAN JOSE, Calif.– The Embassy of the State of Qatar, the US-Qatar Business Council (USQBC) and the Silicon Valley Forum will host a virtual event on December 8, entitled Smarter Cities & Thriving Communities in the Digital Age. The event will provide U.S. companies with an overview on how the State of Qatar is driving ambitious economic diversification by investing in smart cities technologies and digital innovation to build its smart nation.
Qatar offers US tech companies unparalleled commercial opportunities in the smart city space, which include the world’s sole single-company controlled 100+ building development with an integrated data backbone. Along with appealing prospects for data scientists to explore, Qatar also offers strong incentives for qualified US tech companies and a business-friendly tax system, which according to a joint report by the World Bank and PwC is ranked third best in the world.
“Qatar has demonstrated an incredible synergy across entities in their integrated approach to attracting Smart Cities investors,” said Mrs. Lana Khalaf, Country Manager, Microsoft Qatar. “Technology has driven systematic shifts across industries spanning every facet, including Smart Cities, where Microsoft forecasts rapid transformation in Qatar’s smart city developments, and this is how Microsoft Cloud can enable smart cities utilizing AI, IoT, and enabling ecosystem to fuel smart city innovation through partners and SMEs. Microsoft announced bringing the first Global Hyperscale Cloud to enable Qatar and establish it as the knowledge and innovation hub for smart cities.”
Over the past five years, the US and Qatar’s commercial relationship continues to rapidly grow. Qatar aims to invest over $300 billion in upcoming projects in the near term, including Infrastructure at $250+ billion[1], $4.4[2] billion in ICT, and $6.2[3] billion in Health Care & Life Sciences with 50+ new facilities planned[4]. Additionally, 850[5] US companies currently operate in Qatar, with $300[6] Billion in new projects in the pipeline.
“The Qatar-U.S. business relationship has grown steadily and amounted to $200 billion[7] in value in 2019,” said Fahad Al-Dosari, Qatar’s Commercial Attaché to the US.“But this total, while impressive, represents just a fraction of the potential of our relationship. Qatar’s Smart Nation development efforts offer a wealth of new business opportunities. US technology is deeply respected in Qatar, and US firms are well positioned to succeed in this tremendous emerging market.”
