Doha: Qatar topped the global entrepreneurship environment, according to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report, in which 54 countries worldwide took part.

This ranking came as a result of a public opinion poll that included international experts in various fields on all indicators and detailed elements that affect the reality and future of this sector in the country.

The GEM Report is an independent report that identifies the realities of entrepreneurship in 54 countries around the world in line with global best practice and sets the results for government and decision-makers to develop the entrepreneurial environment in each country.

Qatar Development Bank (a GEM member) said that the report showed that the local environment index for business entrepreneurship in Qatar registered about 6.7 points out of 10 points, and Qatar is ranked first among all countries participating in the 2018 report, followed respectively by Indonesia, and the Netherlands by about 6.6 and 6.5 points.

The results of the report showed an overall improvement in all sub-indices of entrepreneurship among the population compared to 2017 and 2018. The results of the report reflected the cohesion of the positive attitudes of the community towards entrepreneurship, as 68.2 percent of the population believe that entrepreneurship is a good professional option, and about 76.7 percent of the population sees high standing for entrepreneurs in the country.

In 2018, about 54.2 percent of the population saw good opportunities for launching projects in the coming months, compared to 45.6 percent in 2017, while 52.3 percent of respondents said they had the entrepreneurial capacity, compared to 41.1 percent in 2017.

The number of “fear of failure” declined to only 32.6 percent in 2018 compared with 41.9 percent in 2017, while the percentage of those with entrepreneurial intentions doubled, with about 29.1 percent of respondents expressing positive intentions for launching a new local project, compared to only 15.7 percent in 2017.

The 2018 GEM Report is co-authored by prestigious academic institutions such as Babson College in USA, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada and other institutions.

Qatar Development Bank also participates in this global report as a representative of the State of Qatar. The bank compiles and analyses the country’s entrepreneurship data, which is consistent with the Bank’s efforts to monitor the development of small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurship in the country, which helps to identify the challenges of local entrepreneurship and the level of development from year to year.

This assessment reflects the efforts exerted by the State of Qatar through its various institutions. Qatar has witnessed remarkable efforts over the last two years.

One of the reasons was overcoming the challenges imposed by the blockade imposed on the country for more than a year and a half ago.

Commenting on the report, the Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Development Bank Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa, said that Qatar’s ranking as the world’s Number 1 in the GEM Report is an incentive for further efforts in this regard, praising the support enjoyed by the system of entrepreneurship by the higher authorities in the State.

Al Khalifa pointed out that the global indicators outlined in the report showed that the entrepreneurial environment in Qatar is a golden opportunity to start entrepreneurship, adding that we will continue to launch our diverse initiatives to promote entrepreneurship, develop small and medium-sized enterprises and Qatari entrepreneurs, and achieve Qatar National Vision 2030.

Source: The Peninsula Qatar