Qatar, Sweden forge strategic innovation partnership
Swedish Ambassador to Qatar, H E Gautam Bhattacharyya, and members of the Swedish delegation shared insights with The Peninsula about the visit and potential areas of collaboration in the tech sector between Qatar and Sweden.
'The timing is perfect right now for this serious delegation from Sweden to visit Qatar and explore the opportunities for both investment and business, as well as for establishing a presence here. I believe this is truly the opportune moment. We can see the relationship between the two countries maturing. While we've had delegations and contacts before, now things are becoming more concrete,' said Ambassador Bhattacharyya.
'The relationship has been very strong over the past year, especially after the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani's visit to Sweden and the recent visit of Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden to Qatar, along with several other exchanges in between. This reflects the growing ties between Qatar and Sweden. Sweden brings technology and innovation, while Qatar has the resources and infrastructure to support growth. It's a perfect match,' he added.
During H H the Amir's visit to Sweden in 2024, a MoU was established between SISP and the QRDI Council, focusing on collaboration in innovative start-ups and incubation. The visit of the Swedish delegation is considered as a first step towards implementing the MoU and the delegation includes members from Swedish Incubators and Science Parks (SISP), Scania VC, five startups, and Ideon Science Park. The delegation mets with representatives including from Qatar Research, Development, and Innovation (QRDI), Qatar Science and Technology Park, business leaders, and university representatives.
SISP is a network supporting innovation-driven startups, while Ignite Sweden fosters collaboration between startups and large corporations to drive innovation and growth.
They also met with participants at the Corporate Innovation Summit and the Web Summit Qatar 2025, which is arguably the largest startup gathering in the Middle East with the participation of 1,520 startups and 723 investors.
On Wednesday at the Web Summit Qatar 2025, QRDI Council hosted a session 'Qatar & Sweden: Powering Deep Tech Innovation,' in collaboration with Ignite Sweden dedicated to creating stronger connections between Qatar's startup scene, established companies, and public organisations.
'This is the first step in exploring Qatar's tech scene and ecosystem,' said VP, Philanthropy and International Collaboration at SISP, Sasan Shaba.
Reflecting on the rapid growth and transformation of the technology and innovation landscape in countries across the Middle East he highlighted the importance of Qatar.
'Sweden is a small, smart country, and Qatar is a small, smart country. We see ourselves as a gateway to Europe, and we view Qatar as a gateway to the region. Qatar is highly focused, and once you establish relationships, the connections are made quickly,' he said.
According to Shaba, Qatar has the potential to collaborate with Sweden's solutions in areas such as climate tech, sustainability, AI, digital solutions, life sciences or medtech, and industrial technologies like predictive maintenance and AI connected to sensor technologies.
Speaking about the role of startups in the delegation, Shaba explained that after exploring opportunities, the next step is to facilitate tailored, need-based matchmaking between Qatari corporates and Swedish startups.
'The focus here is on the startups accompanying us, which are looking for investment opportunities, pilot projects, joint ventures, and partnerships. These could be in areas like R&D or universities, but also in other types of commercial deals,' he said.
'The ultimate goal of the matchmaking process—which is being carried out by our subsidiary, Ignite Sweden, due to their tailored and highly successful process—is to create commercial collaborations between Qatari corporates and Swedish startups,' he added.
Graphmatech is one of the startups in the delegation and it is a material technology company from Sweden that invents, develops, and supplies novel materials for sustainable industrial scale.
Graphmatech and AiSciA Informatics, a Qatar-based AI-driven decarbonization startup and Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) spin-off have signed a MoU yesterday to accelerate sustainable materials innovation. By combining Graphmatech's graphene expertise with AiSciA's AI-powered materials discovery, the MoU will drive advancements in energy, packaging, and construction.
Graphmatech will explore integrating AiSciA's AI solutions, while AiSciA will introduce Graphmatech's technologies to Qatar and the GCC.
'We can offer our solution to existing businesses and enable the development or co-development of new technologies here in the region. Essentially, we are looking for partners with whom we can innovate, develop, and manufacture locally. At the Web Summit Qatar 2025, we aimed to connect with like-minded individuals who are passionate about innovation and eager to push the boundaries of existing technologies to reach new heights,' said Founder of Graphmatech, Dr.Mamoun Taher.
Scania, a Swedish global leader known for its innovation, sustainability, and efficient transport solutions, has had a presence in the region since the 1970s and Qatar since 2005. The company is now exploring opportunities in the innovation sector.
"We have a long history in the commercial space, but now we also want to be part of the innovation hub,' said Head of Venture Capital and M&A, Ventures, and New Business at Scania, Jessica Persson.
Persson emphasised the importance of partnerships between countries, industries, academia, corporations, and startups. Regarding Qatar, she said, 'There is a perfect opportunity to combine the entire ecosystem—the academia, the universities, the startups, the governmental agencies, and the corporations. I believe this will allow us to offer commercialization and evaluate what works, and what doesn't, on the global market. We can help provide market access to the rest of the world.'
© Dar Al Sharq Press, Printing and Distribution. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
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