From the DeSk When the Queen of the United Kingdom hosts VIPs at Windsor Castle it indicates a special favour. This month the honour was laid out to none other than our Emir, HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned. Ò Expanding UK business and political ties with the Gulf States is a priority and this red carpet treatment will be a bridge-building exercise with a country that has been identified as one of the cash-richest of the Gulf states,Ó according to political experts from Durham University. For a country that was almost unknown a few years ago, Qatar has indeed come a long way. From a pearl-exporting backwater it is now home to an impressive sovereign wealth fund - the Qatar Investment Authority, with its assets of $100 billion (QR364 billion) - assets purchased from the income of the countryÕ s offshore natural gas reserves which represent a third of the worldÕ s total supplies. It owns a considerable amount of British Ô stockÕ including Harrods and prime real estate such as the US Embassy building in Grosvenor Square. Qatar also has stakes in Barclays Bank and it is reportedly looking at bidding for ChristieÕ s, the auction house. For those of us who have witnessed the progress of the country in the last century, change was inevitable. Change that has put Qatar atop of the list of gas-exporting countries, change that has brought leading education brands to the country, change that has brought top research institutions here under the umbrella of QSTP, change that has encouraged sports and sporting activities in superb stadiums. Talk to any high-ranking official and you are sure to hear them laud the ‘vision’ that has brought about this change. This is not to be brushed off as a comment to flatter the leaders, for it is a vision, a sustainable one that has given the country a push far stronger than the wealth that has come off its gas and oil reserves. This month, Qatar Today salutes the leaders that make dreams a reality, stars who have changed the existing structure. Stars of a different kind descended on the country for the Doha Tribeca Film Festival; we bring you some glimpses from the red carpet. Read on in this issue to get the inside track on the new trading system at Qatar Exchange, the Assistive Technology Centre, Mada, and Aspetar’s influential study on the impact of extreme climate on sporting professionals... Address all your correspondence to Qatar Today, oryx Advertising Co WLL, P.o. box 3272; Doha-Qatar. tel:(+974) 44672139, 44550983, 44671173, 44667584, Fax:(+974)44550982, email: qtoday@omsqatar. com. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. the publisher does not accept responsibility for advertising contents. Licensing/republishing Qt content: to obtain permission for text syndication in books, newsletters, magazines, newspapers and web or to use images/pictures carried in Qatar Today, please contact our syndication & licensing department on the numbers given above. Permission is also required to photocopy a Qt article for classroom use, course packs, business or general use. Custom reprints: Any of the previously published article/s to be used as stand-alone pieces can be reprinted by us on special request. the reprint cost is based on the length of the article and the quantity ordered. Contact our custom publishing division on the numbers given above for more information. Previous issues (FebrUAry 2004 onwards) of Qatar Today are available for sale, contact our Library department. to subscribe to Qatar Today call our subscription department on the numbers given above.
voLUme 36 iSSUe 11 November 2010 managing editor vani saraswaThi
Art Director venkaT reddy
Deputy editor sindhu nair
Asst Director Ð Production sujiTh heenaTigala
executive vice President alPana roy
Assistant editors ahmad loTfy ali john hunT
Assistant Art Director hanan abu saiam
vice President ravi raman
editorial Coordinator cassey oliveira
Publisher & editor-in-Chief yousuf jassem al darwish Chief Executive Officer sandeeP sehgal
Contributor shalinee bharadwaj
Senior Graphic Designers ayush indrajiTh samPaTh gunaThilaka
managers Ð marketing mohammed sami Zulfikar jiffry Senior media Consultant chaTurka karandana media Consultants vicToria ferraris hassan rekkab
Accountant PraTaP chandran Sr. Distribution executive bikram shresTha Distribution Support arjun Timilsina bhimal rai
marketing research & Support executive amjeTh ali
Published by oryx ADvertiSiNG Co WLL, P.o. box 3272; Doha-Qatar tel: (+974) 44672139, 44550983, 44671173, 44667584 Fax: (+974) 44550982 email: qtoday@omsqatar.com website: www.omsqatar.com Printed at: Gulf Publishing and Printing Co WLL Copyright © 2010 oryx Advertising Co WLL
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