Yosouf Abdulrahman Al-Salehi, Executive Director, Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) • Interview
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, QATAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PARK (QSTP)
Yosouf Abdulrahman Al-Salehi
How has QSTP evolved over the last decade?
Since opening its doors in 2010, QSTP has become an international hub for applied research, technology innovation, incubation, and entrepreneurship. Over the last 10 years, QSTP had over a hundred companies from 17 countries operate in its Business Park and Free Zone, including multinationals such as ConocoPhillips, Cisco, and Siemens. As Qatar’s hub for techbased innovation, product development, and entrepreneurship and Free Zone, QSTP offers high-tech facilities and supports a network of startups and rising tech ventures through a value chain of acceleration, incubation, and funding programs. So far, 20 local companies have been incubated in QSTP, producing impactful innovations, such as Meddy, the largest doctor booking platform in Qatar, with over 200,000 monthly users. Stellic, a degree planning, advising, and auditing platform which has signed agreements with CMU and Tufts University in the US, is also a product of our Incubation Center, as well as the award-winning braille entertainment device, Bonocle.
What is the uniqueness of QSTP compared to other entities seeking to attract the same type of companies, and what is your level of cooperation with them?
Qatar is a viable market for a vast range of industries, offering different business platforms and free zones to local and international companies. While all these platforms boast of world-class facilities, there are programs and services unique to QSTP, such as facilitating the development of new high-tech products and services, supporting the commercialization of market-ready technologies and easy incorporation. These qualities are highly suitable to science and technology-oriented companies, which we want to attract. QSTP’s location also gives us an advantage over other platforms. Being in the middle of Qatar Foundations’ ecosystem, our clients/tenants can benefit from their proximity to Qatar’s academic and research institutions. Moreover, we advise newcomers on where their business can benefit the most in this ecosystem. Our agreement with the Free Zone Authority allows entities in their platform to open a research or product development center with us and vice versa. This enables us to share our strengths with other players in the ecosystem, and vice versa, while giving our clients the flexibility to access other facilities in Qatar. It also works the other way around.
Doha, Qatar’s vertiginous capital city, has a population of just under 3 million