The world’s largest technology conference gathered 15,453 attendees from 118 countries.
Qatar Free Zones and Ginkgo Bioworks signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday on the establishment of a Middle East hub for global bio radar at the Qatari entity.
“Over the last two-and-a-half years, we’ve had the opportunity to work with Qatar, working with this team under the ambition of His Highness the Amir in great partnership with the Prime Minister’s office to really think about how to make Qatar a leading hub for biotechnology and biosecurity,” Mathew McKnight, General Manager for Biosecurity at Ginkgo Bioworks, told the press.
The signing took place with the attendance of Ahmad Al-Sayed, Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Qatar Free Zones Authority, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, CEO of Qatar Free Zones Authority.
Ginkgo is a company with 1,200 individuals and a market capital based in Boston. The company is focused on utilising modern tools of biotechnology “to create brand new products” from medicines to new materials.
“We have a team inside of Ginkgo focused solely on this new area of biosecurity and the way to think about biosecurity is to think about the era before we had computers,” McKnight said.
McKnight added that the world is “moving into the era of biological engineering and genetic engineering.”
Qatar Free Zones is among the participating entities at the Web Summit, held between February 26 and 29 at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC).
Speaking to Doha News following the signing, Al-Sayed said the international gathering cements Qatar’s position on the global map of the business and technological sector.
“You can attract companies to be in Doha, in different locations or in the free zone, so that’s a great opportunity,” Al-Sayed said.
The world’s largest technology conference gathered 15,453 attendees from 118 countries. The major event gathered 1,043 startups, marking the largest such gathering of startups ever in the Middle East.
During his opening address on Monday, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani announced a $1 billion Qatar Investment Authority investment in international and regional venture capital funds.
The major investment came under the directives of Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to support local and regional entrepreneurs.
The Web Summit in Qatar marked the first time the event ever took place in the Middle East, making it what Sheikh Mohammed described as “a momentous occasion.”
“Web Summit Qatar represents another historic event in the Middle East and once again we welcome the world in Qatar,” Sheikh Mohammed told the large crowd.
Sheikh Mohammed noted that Qatar “has spared no effort or resources to create a unique platform for innovation, creativity, and a thriving human capacity.”