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 News release


1 February 2007

Lord Mayor of City of London, the world’s leading international financial centre, forges high-level business skills links with Qatar

The Lord Mayor of the City of London John Stuttard next week launches a campaign to strengthen business education and professional learning in Qatar as part of a two-day high-level business visit.

Lord Mayor Stuttard said: “Training in business education - and gaining professional qualifications - together form a highway to jobs, development and economic vigour and Monday’s seminar at the Qatar Foundation’s Education City will be a tangible and practical start to a new level of cooperation between Qatar and the UK.

“Professional skills are hugely valuable to aspiring business people in Qatar and around the world because they offer a career boost that is hard to beat – in effect, a passport to the growing global industry of financial services.”

Education City is Qatar Foundation’s flagship project bringing businesses and education leaders together in one setting. Covering eight million square metres, it includes campuses of world-renowned universities such as Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar in combination with Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP).

Also taking part in the 9.00am Monday 5 February seminar will be British Council Director Qatar Tony Jones, “City of London – City of Learning” campaign chairman Sir Paul Judge, John Chown of Chown Dewhurst, Mark Greenwood of the Chartered Institute of Insurance, Dr Kevin Dunseath of Exeter University, Tracy Elner of Ashton Commodities, Nankunda Katangaza of the Law Society of England and Wales and Stephen Shields from the Association of Chartered Accountants.

The Lord Mayor, who is the annually elected head of the City of London financial services hub and is the global ambassador for all UK-based businesses in the sector, will meet Qatar leaders including His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of Qatar, Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned (Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation), Finance Minister HE Yousuf Kamal, Central Bank Governor HE Abdullah bin Saud Al Thani, Deputy Prime Minister & Foreign Minister HE Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry HE Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah and the Vice Chairman of Qatar Gas Mr Faisal Al Suwaidi, as well as business leaders from both the British and Qatari community, eg Mr Akbar Al Baker.

Information on the visit please contact:
Maha Uraidi at the British Council on +974 4251810.

Information on the Lord Mayor:
Greg Williams, City of London Press Office, 020 7332 1455, mobile (via UK) 07889 167 205

Information on the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development:
Melantha Hyde-Smith +974 6553264 or visit: www.qf.edu.qa
Information on Qatar Financial Centre
Steve Martin +9744967755

Notes for editors

1.Lord Mayor Stuttard has launched the new “City of London – City of Learning” campaign backed by the British Council and UKTI to link global centres with high-level professional institutions and universities/business schools in the UK. Nearly 50 UK groups** have already joined the Lord Mayor’s global campaign and many will take part in business delegations he leads over the next 12 months to two dozen fast-growing markets around the world.  Seminars, workshops and presentation events are part of the Lord Mayor’s overseas visits, while inward visits from politicians and business leaders would include discussions on the role of financial education, training and professional qualifications. The campaign involves City-related UK professional institutes, key university business schools and training providers that offer post-graduate and professional qualifications in financial, maritime and business services, both in the UK and overseas. A separate listing in the independent Anholt-GMI City Brands Index concluded that London is the best place in the world to go for a valuable educational qualification.  With the support of the City of London Corporation and International Financial Services London Lord Mayor Stuttard has seen and consulted over 40 professional qualifying organisations, business trainers and universities offering business degrees and professional services training. Meetings have also been held with representatives of HM Treasury, UKTI and the British Council. The Lord Mayor’s campaign steering group includes Sir Paul Judge (Chairman), Sir Roderick Floud, Professor David Rhind and representatives of HM Treasury, UKTI, the British Council and IFSL.

Download the report: The Competitive Position of London as a Global Financial Centre (1.8mb)

2. Professional organisations, key universities and training providers taking part include: Absolutely  Training,  the Actuarial Professional (Institute and Faculty of Actuaries),  The  Association of Accounting Technicians, The Association of Chartered  Certified  Accountants, The Association of Corporate Treasurers, The  Association  of  MBAs,  The  Bar  Council  of  England  &  Wales,  BPP Professional   Education,  The  Chartered  Institute  of  Arbitration,  The Chartered  Institute  of Management Accountants, The Chartered Institute of Taxation,  The  Chartered  Insurance  Institute,  The  Chartered Management Institute,  China-Britain  Business Council , The City University (and Cass Business  School),  City and Guilds, City of London Solicitors Company, The College  of  Law, FTC Kaplan, Government Actuary’s Department, Industry andParliament  Trust,  The  Institute  of  Chartered  Accountants in England & Wales, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, The Institute of Chartered   Secretaries   &  Administrators,  ifs School of Finance, The Law Society of England and Wales, London Asia Capital, London Business  School,  London  Stock  Exchange, London Metropolitan University, London  and  Oxford Capital Markets plc, London School of Economics, Marsh, National   Association   of   Security   Dealers,   PricewaterhouseCoopers, Prudential,   Reading   University   (The   International   Capital  Market Association),  Royal  Institution  of Chartered Surveyors, the Securities & Investment  Institute, 7 City Learning, the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, and the Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers.

3. The Lord Mayor is the annually-elected head of the City of London Corporation which provides local government services for the Square Mile, the financial and commercial heart of the UK, and which is committed to maintaining and enhancing the status of the business City as the world's leading international financial and business centre through its policies and services. Its responsibilities also extend far beyond the City boundaries and include management of the Barbican Centre, Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey, 10,000 acres of open space including Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest, three wholesale food markets, as well as acting as the London Port Health Authority.

4. About Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development:  Founded in 1995 by His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, and chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned, Qatar Foundation is a private, non-profit organization committed to the principle that a nation’s greatest natural resource is its people.  The headquarters of Qatar Foundation are located within its flagship project, Education City, an eight million square-meter campus which hosts numerous progressive learning institutions and centers of research, including branch campuses of five of the world’s leading universities, the Qatar Science and Technology Park, Doha Debates and RAND-Qatar Policy Institute.

5. The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) is a financial and business centre established by the Government of Qatar and located in Doha. It has been designed to attract international financial services institutions and major multi-national corporations and to encourage participation in the growing market for financial services in Qatar and elsewhere in the region. The QFC will operate to international standards and provide a first class legal and business infrastructure for those operating within the QFC. The QFC was created by Qatar Law No.(7) and has been open for business since 1 May 2005.

REF: 14/300107gw(004)


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