(MENAFN - The Peninsula) Six entrepreneurs have won a total of QR200,000 towards making their business dreams a reality in an action-packed final to this year's inaugural 'Al Fikra" Business Plan Competition.
More than 230 entrants battled it out for a place in the finals, which were held on Monday, May 23, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Doha.
The competition was organised by Enterprise Qatar in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, College of the North Atlantic-Qatar, Qatar University, Stenden University and Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, as well as the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR), the Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) and Qatar Development Bank (QDB).
Minister of Business and Trade H E Sheikh Jassim bin Abdul Aziz Al Thani was present at the ceremony to honour the winners.
In the professional category, a Qatari team took first place, and QR50,000, with their plan for "DinoSawUs". In second place, and taking home QR30,000, was the "Pregnant & Pretty" team, while the "Entalek" idea secured QR20,000 and third place. The prizes in the professional category were provided by QDB.
The same cash awards, provided by QBA, were awarded in the student category, where the first prize went to "ConnectMe", while "Radical Sports " Qatar" and "AlDallah" took second and third places.
Other bright ideas that made it through to the final were 'Qatfish', a proposal to establish a fish farm in Qatar and 'Qatar Educational Portal', an idea to create an online community portal for Qatari students.
Noora Al Mannai, Deputy Project Director of Enterprise Qatar, said: "We're extremely pleased with the exceptional success of Al Fikra. The competition which will be held annually from now on, is a direct result of the enthusiasm and passion of our partners who helped us to achieve such success."
"Certainly, we believe that Al Fikra is the embodiment of a vision in which entrepreneurs and creative people contribute in order to build the Qatar of tomorrow. Finally, we stress that Enterprise Qatar and all the organizations that participated as sponsors of AlFikra will remain ready to provide all the resources necessary for entrepreneurs to achieve their potential."
Al Fikra directly supports the objectives of Enterprise Qatar; an initiative intended to promote and sustain small and mid-sized enterprises in Qatar and encourage innovation throughout the country.
For Enterprise Qatar, organizing a business plan competition serves as a mechanism to engage the people of Qatar in entrepreneurial activity.
