Qatar German Gasket Factory Chairman Ghassan Hassan Al Salem speaking in a video presentation during a virtual event yesterday.
The Al Fikra National Business Competition yesterday honoured three leading enterprises in Qatar which have shown resilience amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and for transforming the challenges they faced during the past several months into inspiration to innovate and develop solutions for the Qatari market.
Winners of this year’s Al Fikra Competition were announced during the first virtual edition of the Qatar Entrepreneurship Conference which was inaugurated yesterday. The competition was divided into different categories including the ‘Resilient’ Awards, ‘Challenges’ category, ‘Startup’ category, and the ‘Mashrouie’ category.
The top three winners for the ‘Resilient’ Awards were Snoonu (first place), Qatar German Gasket Factory (second place), and Central Ventilation Systems (third place).
Snoonu Co-Founder and CEO Hamad Mubarak Al Hajri, speaking in a video presentation during a virtual event yesterday.
In a video presentation during the event, Snoonu’s Co-Founder and CEO Hamad Mubarak Al Hajri, narrated how the company adjusted to challenges brought by the global pandemic. Snoonu, is a delivery application in Qatar offering online shopping and food ordering services.
He said: “In all economic capitals, it is critically important to have the speed necessary to develop your own model. Our Snoonu model witnessed remarkable development. We transformed traditional trade into electrical trade. Many potential solutions are present amid minor details. For instance, the fleet we acquired throughout this period was actually acquired from loss-making taxi companies, the fulfillment employees and the facility employees. I had six or seven problems, I put them together and came up with a fine solution. This way everybody wins. And this is what I call a win-win strategy”.
Qatar German Gasket Factory (QGGF), the first industrial gasket manufacturing facility in Qatar, was also quick to implement its health and safety protocols at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.
QGGF Chairman Ghassan Hassan Al Salem said: “The coronavirus came as a shock to everyone. In my previous work as a pilot, I witnessed the SARS and Bird Flue eras, so I was familiar with the measures they used to take, such as the precautionary measures in airports and hotels. In Qatar German Factory, we took a lot of precautions. Since day one, we have separated the workers. We designed a complete floor for quarantine to immediately isolate those suffering from any symptoms in that floor. As for the availability of raw materials in the factory, our strategy was for the factory to be self-sufficient for at least six production months, as this helped a lot with our sustainability without any single case of infection until today”.
Meanwhile, the winners of this year’s award in the ‘Challenges’ category were Thought Square (first place), Tashtib (second place), and Ariva (third place). The winners were recognised for their innovative business ideas to solve current challenges in the digital, healthcare, education, and industrial sectors.
In the ‘Startup category’, the winners were Offside Detector (first place), Vchanic (second place), and Sounha (third place).
Also, winners for the ‘Mashrouie’ category were Al-Diqah Factory for Metal Recycling (first place) and EcoVend (second place).
The Al Fikra National Business Competition, an initiative by the Qatar Development Bank, was designed to encourage the establishment of new companies and foster a culture of entrepreneurship in Qatar. It is also an educational competition designed for Qatari led startups and entrepreneurs, enabling them to develop business ideas that can be turned into successful private value-adding businesses.
