Prominent Qatari entities that included the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE), the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), (QNB), and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands came together as part of Money Week Qatar 2019, a week-long campaign that is designed to promote financial education among school children.

The initiative comes as part of Global Money Week, a project that was originally launched by Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands nine years ago, and has grown to become an annual global initiative that reaches 169 countries and has touched the lives of 32 million students. The campaign aims to raise awareness among school children of the importance of financial education, inclusion and the principles of good financial management.

The first edition of Money Week Qatar was held in 2017, and saw participation from 100 students, gradually growing to become 1,100 students in 2018. This year's edition engaged over 1,500 primary school children from both local and international schools, and included a series of interactive activities such as guest lectures, daily school trips to QSE to understand stock trading, along with a range of other fun and educational activities.

Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, CEO, QFC said:

"The Qatar Financial Centre's CSR and Social Investment strategy 'United for Good' underscores our long-term commitment to our ethical, social and environmental responsibilities and with that we place very high importance on Youth and Community Development, with a special emphasis on encouraging financial literacy within the local community. With that in mind, we are delighted to support Money Week Qatar for the second consecutive year, as we believe that by instilling financial awareness at an early age, we are essentially empowering young people to make sound financial decisions now and in the future."

H.E. Bahia Tahzib-Lie, Ambassador for the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the State of Qatar said

"I'm proud that Qatar participated for the third time. This year more schools and more professional volunteers enthusiastically took part. It's great to see how eager children and youth are to learn that money matters. They are the next generation of change makers. It is therefore so important to empower young people to be aware of the value of money, know how to spend money wisely, and realize they must save money for their future."

San Lie, Project Leader Global Money Week Qatar, said

 "I am so happy that five new schools decided to join us this year. They all indicated they'd like to participate again next year, since they see the impact of the guest lessons on their students. I am very grateful to the growing pool of volunteers, all of them tell me they love to do this for their communities, which I think is heart-warming."

Salem al-Naimi, Assistant General Manager – QNB Public Relations, said

 "We are pleased to offer our sponsorship to this important initiative that will bring great benefit to our future generations. Our Group is always keen to support such initiatives that raise awareness among children in Qatar about the importance of financial education, financial inclusion and the principles of good financial management that will help them develop their financial future."

Michael G. Ryan, Chief Executive Officer, QFC Regulatory Authority said

"As part of our CSR programme, Mubadarah, we're committed to raising the financial literacy of young people in Qatar and making them aware of the many career choices in the finance sector. With its focus on teaching children about the importance of saving and investing, Money Week Qatar was a great fit for us, and our employees who volunteered in the classroom thoroughly enjoyed themselves." 

Hussein Al-Abdulla, Director of Marketing and Communications, Qatar Stock Exchange said

 "We in Qatar Stock Exchange are proud of being a part of the Global Money Week. This program gave us the opportunity to deliver our financial education to the students of the participating schools and provide them with a grounding in how stock markets work and the benefits of sensible investing. We subscribe fully to the goals of Global Money Week in providing our youth with the knowledge that will allow them to develop the necessary skills to make smart financial decisions throughout their lives."

"Financial education has been on QSE's agenda since a long time and we have our own educational, training and awareness activities in line with the human and economic pillars of QNV 2030.  Based on this responsibility, QSE encourages financial awareness particularly among the new generation and future leaders" Mr. Al Abdulla added.



The QFC is an onshore jurisdiction that allows registered companies to enjoy competitive benefits, such as working within a legal environment based on English common law, the right to trade in any currency, up to 100% foreign ownership, 100% repatriation of profits, 10% corporate tax on locally sourced profits, and an extensive double taxation avoidance agreement network with 70+ countries.