Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar faculty member named to Qatar National Competitiveness Council

Organized by Qatar Businessmen Association, QNCC will measure Qatar's competitiveness regionally and internationally through reviews and data.

The independent organization will push for
reform and transparency in the national economy.

The council also will seek to communicate and cooperate with partners in the society (government, private sector and civil society) to create awareness on the topic.

"It is such an honor to be able to serve my country from my unique position as a Qatari professor at Carnegie Mellon University," says Dr. Al-Malki.

"We offer three of the strongest majors that are most beneficial to Qatar's economic development: Business Administration, Computer Science and Information Systems. Our graduates are qualified to play a major role in Qatar's economic prosperity and thus it's pivotal that we establish the bases and opportunities through which they can thrive."

Part of the reason for the creation of the QNCC is that the concept of competitiveness - due to its impact on economic growth opportunities, investment climate and socio-economic prosperity - has been gaining more importance around the globe lately.

Competitiveness at the national level implies a country's ability to provide a high quality of life to its people, presence of a positive business environment and cooperation between businesses, civil society and government toward continued growth.

At a company level, competitiveness depends on customer and shareholder values, financial strength and the ability to act and react to the changing environment.

QNCC will publish periodical reports on Qatar and will help identify emerging issues of national importance in addition to recommending priorities for reforms and sustainable development.

The World Economic Forum publishes an annual global report that measures and highlights the competitiveness levels of most of the countries around the globe.

Qatar was placed at the top of the list of covered Arab countries in the Arab Competitiveness Report of WEF in 2005 and 2007.

In the Global Competitiveness Index 2007-08, Qatar made significant progress after it was ranked 31, while the country figured 38th and 46th in 2006-07 and 2005-06 respectively.

Qatar Businessmen Association is an active partner of the WEF and is responsible for circulating the annual executive opinion survey among the local business community to obtain reliable input about Qatar for the Global Competitiveness Report.

The first National Competitiveness Council was created in Egypt in 2004 through the efforts of Egyptian members of the Arab Business Council, private sector government and academics.

The first Egyptian Competitiveness Report was published the same year, and the second is underway.

Following Egypt's lead, Qatar and many other Arab countries are now setting up their own National Competitiveness Councils.