First ever Skolkovo business mission visits Qatar
Vitaly Shustikov
March 05, 2020
The first business mission to Doha of the Skolkovo Foundation and seven of its resident companies was held on February 24th-27th, 2020, The mission was organized by the International Cooperation Department of the Skolkovo Foundation and supported by the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Moscow.
The aim of the mission was to expand Russian-Qatari business contacts and cooperation in the sphere of high-tech technologies and innovations in addition to enhancing Skolkovo Foundation’s cooperation with its Qatari partners and discussing opportunities for mutual projects and initiatives. Meetings with 16 different Qatari entities including governmental entities and ministries like Ministry of Transport and Communications, leading private and public associations and companies, research Institutes and investment entities were conducted. The parties discussed opportunities of creating joint R&D projects as well as possibilities for Russian companies to enter the Qatari and regional markets; starting pilot projects and strategic investment possibilities.
Skolkovo resident companies of the IT and Biomed clusters that took part in the Business mission were:
Botkin AI, Sensortech, Varwin, G-core Labs, Group IB, R-Vision and DroneStroySk.
“This mission to the State of Qatar was a success in all dimensions: the variety of Qatari entities we met with; the interest of Qatari partners in technologies that Skolkovo companies are developing and their readiness to explore business cooperation with them; the generous support we received from Qatar Embassy in Moscow to execute this mission and the initial agreements reached between Skolkovo companies and the Qatari parties during the mission”, Leena Abu Mukh Zoabi, Head for International Cooperation at the Skolkovo Foundation, who headed the delegation to Qatar told Sk.ru.
Skolkovo companies have confirmed that Qatar has a very friendly supportive environment for startup projects, and that this country could be considered as a good place for a global headquarter, Abu Mukh Zoabi added.
The Skolkovo Foundation held a very successful meeting with representatives of World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), and agreed initially to hold a joint session during Saint Petersburg Economic Forum 2020 and agreed to continue discussion on future initiatives.
Another successful meeting was held with Qatar Social Work that runs different centers for rehabilitation and social support. The Skolkovo Foundation offered interesting projects in the rehabilitation sphere to be implemented in Qatar Social Work relevant centers. The two sides discussed an opportunity to enhance cooperation and discussed the possibility to sign an MOU as a basis for an operational active and fruitful cooperation between the two entities.
In addition, Skolkovo resident companies have managed to raise attention of Qatari partners to their technologies. For example, Skolkovo BioMed Cluster resident “Sensortech” has received an initial interest from Qatar Social work to implement their product “Robin” at Al-Noor Center for people with visual disabilities and were connected with professors at Hamad Bin Khalifa University who expressed interest to establish a mutual research on assistive devices for blind and deaf people to customize SENSORTECH solutions to Qatari and regional markets. The company Botkin Ai, has received a great feedback from a holding group in Qatar and received an NDA for signing to further explore cooperation opportunities. Hamad Medical City expressed interest in G-core labs web and soft developments for helping develop their infrastructure and expressed interest to sign an NDA.
Qatar Airways and Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy showed interest in information security solutions developed by Group IB and R-vision. Qatar Airways and Hamad Medical City discussed possibilities of using Varwin’s VR Platform for trainings for its crew and pilots and for including Varwin in their plans for trainings to the medical staff in 2020, respectively.
The Qatari and the Russian parties have appreciated the results of the business mission and showed firm intention to continue the business and cooperation dialogue.
All Qatari entities were invited to join tech events organized by the Skolkovo Foundation in 2020. They were also invited to attend “Qatar Day in Skolkovo” that will be held in the Innovation City in 2020 as part of celebration of Skolkovo 10th anniversary with its partner countries.
http://sk.ru/news/b/news/archive/2020/03/05/first-ever-skolkovo-business-mission-visits-qatar.aspx
