Qatar

National Vision 2030

The small, gas-rich State of Qatar has embarked on an ambitious national journey of human development and sustainable economic diversification that seeks a secure future for all its people, built on human capital rather than its finite hydrocarbon resources. These steps build on Qatar’s strong international presence in the fields of energy, media and sports.

The Qatar National Vision 2030 is the guide for this two-decades-long journey that will impact all aspects of Qatar’s economy, society and natural environment. As such, it is a great honor to have, for the second year in a row, Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned to introduce this year’s special section on the State of Qatar:

I am extremely pleased to be able to outline the development goals that His Highness the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, has for Qatar as reflected in the National Vision, as well as some of the steps that we, as a nation, have already taken toward achieving these goals.

Guided by our National Vision, Qatar will continue to take tremendous strides in its pursuit of Human Development for a sustainable, prosperous society; Economic Development to achieve a competitive and diversified economy that will meet the needs of and secure a high standard of living for all of our people, now and in the future; Environmental Development to balance economic growth, social development and environmental protection; and Social Development to pursue a just and caring society that is based on high moral standards.

While these four pillars define our goals, education serves as one of the key components that enables our people and institutions, including the Qatar Foundation, to bring development and happiness to our nation and our people.

Teaching Critical Thinking

We have seen a need to reform the state of education. Since 2004, we have continued to move carefully and strategically to ensure that our reforms are working and producing the results we seek. Part of this includes replacing rote learning with teaching our young people to engage in critical thinking and to understand the value of collaboration and teamwork. It’s a work in progress, but we are proud of how we as a nation have come together to achieve so much so soon. Our efforts reflect the proud and deeply ingrained tradition of education in Islam, a tradition that encourages scientific inquiry, discussion and a genuine curiosity about others.

Hub of Research and Discovery

The growing local and international research community in Qatar complements its educational development. Led by the Qatar Foundation’s Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP), which formally launched in March 2009, we are creating the infrastructure and systems to foster research and collaboration with global partners in four primary areas of benefit to Qatar: energy, environment, healthcare, information technology and telecommunications.

Again, our heritage teaches us that we are on familiar ground, with centuries of Arab scientists, mathematicians, physicists and doctors having changed the world in their time. By encouraging research and development in Qatar and the region, we are paying tribute to that legacy and building upon it.

Grand Projects

This spirit of education and critical thinking is being mirrored across all spheres of our national life and business, energizing our people and companies. This includes real estate developer and master planner Qatari Diar. This company is conceiving and building developments that contribute significantly to Qatar’s national goals through grand national projects such as Lusail, as well as strategic developments and acquisitions around the world.

Projects Moving Ahead

Looking back over the past year, it is impossible to avoid mentioning the economic downturn. While we have not been immune to the crisis, Qatar has not been impacted to the degree that others have, and so we tirelessly and enthusiastically push forward.

Construction continues on the Sidra Medical and Research Center, which will begin to transform healthcare and research, both locally and globally, beginning in 2012; the specialized real estate developer Dohaland successfully launched in March 2009 and has announced its first projects; and construction continues on the Qatar National Convention Center, ahead of its 2011 opening.

These, and the many other projects moving ahead, will contribute to the ongoing advancement of our nation’s development and build the bright future envisioned for the nation and people of Qatar.

Qatar Foundation: Unlocking Human Potential

In July 2008, the State of Qatar published a document whose conclusions will reverberate around the world for years to come.

The result of painstaking consultation and research, the Qatar National Vision 2030 managed to detail, in just 34 pages, exactly how this nation will direct vast revenues from its hydrocarbon resources for the next two decades.

Its brevity was its strength. Based on Qatar’s Permanent Constitution of three years earlier, the National Vision sought to be a clear and efficient guide for both government institutions and the public to direct their energies.

Its impact was enormous, and not simply because of the size of wealth at stake. The Qatar National Vision 2030 put human capital—and its further development through science, research and first-rate education — at the heart of everything the country is trying to achieve.

Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, to give it its full name, is a salient example of this thinking. Serving as Qatar’s strategic education and research center, it implements the goals of the National Vision both locally and on the international stage from a high-tech, 6,200-acre Education City campus on the outskirts of Doha, the country’s capital city.

What began in 1995 as a high-quality K-12 school for Qatari nationals and expatriate residents has grown into an organization that educates 3,000 elementary, secondary, undergraduate and graduate students from more than 70 countries — and is home to the R&D labs of some of the world’s leading multinational firms.

Six world-renowned U.S. universities already operate branch campuses in Education City, offering degrees that do not even mention that the study took place in Qatar — such is the confidence that students receive an identical education and diploma to that of their parent institutions.

So far, Qatar Foundation (QF) has partnered with Virginia Commonwealth University in design arts; Weill Cornell Medical College in medicine; Texas A&M University in engineering; Carnegie Mellon in business administration, computer science and information systems; Georgetown University in foreign service; and Northwestern University in journalism and communications. QF’s Faculty of Islamic Studies offers unique graduate programs in contemporary Islamic jurisprudence, public policy and finance.

But building a beautiful campus and developing and attracting top educators is only part of the goal, according to His Highness the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, QF’s founder, and Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned, wife of the Emir and the organization’s chairperson and driving force.

The longer-term objective is to ally world-class education with research that will give birth to scientific breakthroughs, projects and partnerships that will benefit not only Qatar, but also the world.

Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) plays an important role in these efforts. Its Phase 1 group of buildings were officially inaugurated in March of last year, with 27 partners ranging from ExxonMobil to GE and Virgin Healthcare injecting $225 million worth of research and development investment.

QSTP is buttressed by the extraordinary Sidra Medical and Research Center, a unique academic medical center with a $7.9 billion endowment. The Center is set to open in 2012 to undertake medical education, biomedical research and clinical care with special emphasis on women, children and the diseases prevalent in the region, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Ultimately, QF — which is investing billions of dollars in infrastructure, capital projects and facilities, and significant amounts in annual operations — seeks to have more than 2,000 faculty, researchers and staff working at every level of the education-research continuum.

A Culture of Critical Thinking

That is not all. Qatar National Research Fund — another strategic component of the QF’s R&D pillar — supports research around the world. The Fund makes grants to local and international researchers under the condition that the topic fits Qatar’s national research strategy and research priorities and involves a research partner based in Qatar. In 2009, the Fund awarded $100 million in grants, a figure that is set to grow in future years.

Qatar’s leaders know that the country’s hydrocarbon wealth, while abundant today, will eventually be exhausted. “That’s why the government is investing so much in high-quality human capital development,” explains Dr. Fathy Saoud, president of QF. “Human and intellectual capital is a sustainable way to generate wealth, and this is what we are developing at Qatar Foundation.”

Culture and Heritage, Past and Future

In addition to hard science, QF views community development as critical to reaching its goals. Simply put, Qatar cannot fully benefit from the science and technology it develops if it fails to engage with and nurture culture and art, and address societal issues, first within the country and then elsewhere.

Perhaps the most public example of this approach is The Doha Debates, a television series devoted to political debate broadcast on the BBC. It addresses some of the most volatile issues of the region and features a studio audience made up of members of the public who pose questions and debate the issue at hand. The program reflects QF’s commitment to free speech, public dialogue and the fostering of critical thinking.

Another project includes Al Shaqab — the Emir’s private stable donated to QF — which will open in 2011 as the region’s premier horseback riding academy, endurance-training complex, Arabian-breed research and heritage-preservation facility, and center for breeding and showing world-class Arabian horses.

QF’s arts projects include The Arab and Islamic Heritage Library and the Museum of Modern Arab Art — both managed by the Cultural Development Center — as well as The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.

Community development also covers more traditional ground, including Reach Out to Asia, a charity that promotes education in Asia and the Middle East; the Qatar Diabetes Association; the Community Development Center; and the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development.

Looking Ahead

The structural quality of Education City — which was developed by preeminent contemporary architect Arata Isozaki — complements its intellectual rigor. Numerous iconic buildings designed by other well-known architects, including Legorreta+Legorreta, César Pelli, OMA and Rafael Viñoly, also will define the landscape.

Meanwhile, all new buildings are being constructed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification, while some will seek Platinum status. Other design innovations include the forthcoming Oxygen Park — the main open-air public space on campus — which encompasses floral, wind, water and light gardens, in addition to sports fields, cafes and heritage buildings.

With such a campus, an innovative business model, a growing team of expert researchers and a holistic approach to knowledge development, Qatar Foundation is breaking new ground as it builds a knowledge economy that will unlock the potential of Qatar today and in the future, as well as the wider region and world at large.