Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030), launched in October 2008, builds a bridge from the present to the future. It aims to transform Qatar into an advanced country, sustaining its development and providing a high standard of living for all its people – for generations to come. The critical four pillars if QNV 2030 include:
- Human development: to enable all of Qatar’s people to sustain a prosperous society to meet the needs of this generation without compromising the needs of future generations.
- Social development: to maintain a just and caring society based on high moral standards and capable of playing a prominent role in the global partnership for development.
- Economic development: to achieve a competitive and diversified economy capable of meeting the needs of, and securing a high standard of living for, all its people for the present and for the future.
- Environmental development: to ensure harmony among economic growth, social development and environmental protection.
It is very clear that human development stands as priority amongst QNV 2030, which without or with any shortage or lacking, the other three pillars are either difficult to achieved or not even accomplished. Accordingly, Qatar’s National Development Strategy (QNDS) 2011–2016 came as a first action for QNV 2030. It presents new initiatives while building on what already exists.
As a result of QND 2030, Qatar will continue to invest in its people so that all can participate fully in the country’s social, economic and political life and function effectively within a competitive knowledge-based international order. It is putting in place advanced health and education systems that meet the highest global standards. It is also supporting the productive participation of Qatari men and women in the labour force, while attracting qualified expatriate workers in all fields, with a growing emphasis on the higher skilled.
Therefore, it is very clear that among the most crucial challenges in meeting QNV 2030, stands the issues of education and human resources taking into account the small size of population and hence labor market. As the Qatar economy diversifies from its reliance on gas and oil, success will depend increasingly on the ability to compete in a global knowledge economy. Continuing substantial investments in educating and training of Qataris will be critical to achieving the goals of the QND 2030.
Qatar has made great strides towards creating a world-class education system, through the Education for a New Era reforms, begun after the Supreme Education Council was established in 2002, and the reforms of Qatar University, begun in 2003. In addition, Qatar Foundation’s Education City has continued to expand and progress over the past decade, with the establishment of a cluster of top-class international universities that are helping to make Qatar a regional leader in innovative education and research. However, such progress is still questioned in terms of its effectiveness in building local citizens’ skills and competencies required for knowledge-economy for QNV 2030. Further reform of Qatar’s education and training system should address quality, effectiveness and efficiency of their outcomes to the labour market. These themes will guide policy decisions with more oriented and targeted actions.
On the other hand, at the micro level, the human resources practices need to be developed in more professional manners in order to lead such crucial vision of 2030 into reality. In this regard, for example, the Qatarization policy is not a strategic policy at the macro level of the country although it has been established as strategic programs in many leading organizations in Qatar since early 1980s. Till today, it is still scattered efforts between government, some leading organizations mainly the oil and gas sector, and other non-cooperating organization in the absence of sold laws and regulations.
In additions, other HR practices as recruiting, training and development is also still lagging behind a strategic macro-level policy to promote the human development pillar of Qatar’s vision 2030.
Editors: