US-Qatar Business Council Luncheon Commemorates Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture

Doha, Qatar – February 4, 2021: The US-Qatar Business Council (USQBC) hosted a luncheon in celebration of the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture. The event featured honorary guests including the Chairman of Qatar Chamber HE Sheikh Khalifa Bin Jassim Al Thani, Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Qatar, HE Ambassador Greta C. Holtz, Qatar’s Ambassador to the US HE Sheikh Meshal Bin Hamad Al- Thani, USQBC members, artists, and faculty representatives from Qatar-based American universities.

Sheikha Mayes bint Hamad Al-Thani, Managing Director of USQBC’s Doha Office, delivered the event’s opening remarks. She said, “Despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, we remained virtually active by supporting our member companies and partners virtually. Today we are celebrating the Qatar–USA 2021 Year of Culture. And I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Qatar Museums, chaired by her Excellency Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani for ‘building bridges between nations.’”

HE Ambassador Greta Holtz, Charge d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Qatar, one of the event’s keynote speakers said, “From technology to education, food security, oil and gas, defense, and countless other sectors, US firms are here to support Qatar in its Vision 2030 goals and create jobs of the future with our trademark American innovation and sustainability.”

The event’s second keynote speaker, HE Ambassador Sheikh Meshal bin Hamad Al-Thani, Qatar’s Ambassador to the US, said, “Year of Culture engagements will promote the extension of our cooperation beyond the economic, military, and security spheres, where we have had such tremendous success, to new and promising areas, such as education and development, where our partnership is already beginning to flourish.” He added, “Ultimately, it is my hope that the Year of Culture will help Americans and Qataris of all walks of life, from the boardroom to the factory floor, better understand what the businesses represented in this room already know: that Qatar and the United States are not just economic and security allies, but true partners and friends.”

Attendees listened to speeches from faculty members from prestigious American academic institutions based in Qatar. Ms. Astrid Kensinger, Chair of Graphic Design at the Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) School of the Arts in Qatar, presented about the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture logo designed by current VCU Qatar student Sara Alhelal. This was followed by a speech by Ms. Sana Al-Ansari, a Qatari-American who graduated from Northwestern University in Qatar.  Sana directed a short film that received a grant from Studio20Q about military service in Qatar.

Throughout the course of the event, the attendees discussed the growing bond between the US and Qatar, and how the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture will further strengthen the countries’ commercial and trade & relationship.   For more information about the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture visit:  https://yearsofculture.qa/