Innovation, investments and entrepreneurship in the agritech & foodtech sectors - Experience sharing between Gulf countries and France

Technology transformation, climate change and global threats on food security are shaping a new wave of concerns, but also major opportunities in the agri-food sector. Investments in agri-tech and food-tech businesses and pilot projects have increased worldwide and many GCC countries are at the forefront of this trend.

Investing in food security through alternative proteins, high-tech production, new infrastructure storage or improved distribution networks are also major tools to achieve economic diversification in the region.

This seminar aims at bringing together Qatari, GCC, French stakeholders to shade light on the current agri-food challenges and some insightful entrepreneurial journeys. We will discuss opportunities, bottlenecks and necessary enablers to unfold the full potential of the agri-food sector.

More information

Event Details

• Day: Tuesday, 30th of January 
• Time: 12:00 - 02:00 PM
• Venue: HEC Paris in Qatar | Msheireb Downtown, 2nd floor

Agenda

• 12:00 - 12:10 PM - Opening remarks will be delivered by H.E. Jean-Baptiste Faivre, the Ambassador of France to Qatar, and Dr. Pablo Martin De Holan, the Dean of HEC Paris in Qatar.
   

• 12:10 - 1:10 PM - Presentations by 3 key speakers:
  - Innovative business models and challenges of scale by Sophie Bénard, HEC Paris alumni, former Head of industrial performance at Innovafeed, Scale-Up and Industrial transformation expert.
  
  - Veganism and Sustainability by Ghanim Al-Sulaiti, HEC Paris in Doha, founder of Enbat holdings.
  
  - Next-Gen Agri-Food Supply chains leading to Sustainability by Hussein Al-Hussein, Farm to Plate company (UAE), regional manager for the MENA region
  
   
• 1:15 - 2:00 PM - Panel: “Fostering innovations in agri-food systems: opportunities, enablers and challenges across the value chain”
  
  - Introducing moderate of the panel discussion will be led by Eng. Mark Velders (Ministry of Municipality, Doha) and Dr Delphine Acloque, Expertise France - Food Security Department (Ministry of Municipality, Doha)
  
  - Alvyn Severien, founder and CEO of Algama Foods, vice-president of the French Microalgae association and food-tech ambassador for the French government
  
  - Ramzi Schumann, HEC Paris alumni, alternative proteins & food innovation funding 
  
  - Firas Khalil, HEC alumni, Baladna Food Industries 
  
  - Mohammad Batran, Agrico General Manager 
  
  - Mickael Boccacino, HEC alumni, president of Differs company
  
  - Concluding Remark by Ms Efi Frager, Director of the Economic service of the French Embassy.
  
   
• 2:00 - 3:00 PM - Lunch by Qatar's first and only plant - based café Evergreen Organics. 

Building Community

As members of the same community, we all need to collaborate more; sharing data and supporting each other's work instead of working in silos. In order to encourage and leverage collaboration, HEC Paris intends to establish Entrepreneurship and Innovation, with the support of the Qatar Foundation. We want to build a governing board, identify founding members, and leverage stakeholders as ecosystem partners.