DOHA: Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani said yesterday that Qatar is striving to build a modern, knowledge-based economy without abandoning its values and traditions.

Opening fifth Middle East and North Africa Professional Leaders in Education Conference and Exhibition (QS-MAPLE) at Grand Hyatt Hotel, the Prime Minister underlined the need to build a strong scientific and research base in Qatar, mainly the higher education.

“All efforts — academic institutions, government and private sectors, and mainly the industry sector, must be combined in order to achieve this goal,” said the Premier.

He said Qatar was one of the few countries that allocate part of its budget for scientific research.

“Scientific research is the clear way to build a Qatari scientific base that contributes to build our knowledge-based economy. We aspire to reflect that on the world, to make it a safer place,” the Premier said.

PM: Knowledge-based economy is our goal
thepeninsulaqatar.com

As much as Qatar has been doing for education and research, they are going to need to redouble their efforts to counter the unfortunate FIFA World Cup backlash that is major news these days.