Qatar Business

Doha, Qatar: Minister of State for Foreign Trade Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, HE Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Sayed met with the United States Secretary of Commerce, HE Howard Lutnick and several senior US officials during a visit to Washington D.C.The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement today that the Minister of State met with HE United States Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick; United State Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Jacob Helberg; Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, Jeffrey Kessler; Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Michael Kratsios; and Deputy US Trade Representative, Ambassador Jeff Goitman.During the meetings, they reviewed ways to enhance economic, trade, and investment relations between the State of Qatar and the United States in addition to discussing a host of topics of mutual interest

World Business

New York: Shares in Elon Musk's SpaceX jumped 11 percent to $150 on their first day of trading Friday after the biggest initial public offering in history, making the polarizing entrepreneur the world's first trillionaire as he vowed to take humanity to Mars. The blockbuster operation, which raised more than $75 billion, is expected to kick off a series of major IPOs by AI companies in the coming months. The debut on the Nasdaq exchange in New York capped weeks of investor frenzy over the rocket company turned AI and satellite conglomerate. "SpaceX wants to be able to take you to the moon, take you to Mars, and ultimately beyond," Musk said at a launch event in Starbase, Texas, surrounded by staff. "I'm confident at this point that with the incredible team that we have here at SpaceX, that we will do that for you," Musk added. About 100 people assembled outside the Nasdaq exchange's home in New York, where SpaceX also marked the occasion with a neon sign in Times Square reading "Building the infrastructure to the future." Musk "sets very futuristic goals that no one else is doing, and I think that has got a lot of people excited," said Sarin Sio, of financial company Dovetail, who had come to the Nasdaq headquarters. The company priced more than 555 million shares at $135 each in a filing with the US markets regulator on Thursday, valuing SpaceX at just under $1.8 trillion. Friday's gain lifted its market value to around $2 trillion, placing it among the 10 most valuable US companies -- ahead of Tesla, Facebook-owner Meta and Walmart. Options for nearly 83 million additional shares could push the total raised above $86 billion. Co-founded by Musk in 2002, the rocket startup has since expanded into a major satellite operator and has also folded in Musk's artificial intelligence company -- xAI -- which includes the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Trading under the ticker symbol "SPCX," the conglomerate is being closely watched for how Wall Street absorbs the offering. SpaceX is the first out of the gates among leading AI giants eyeing public markets, with OpenAI and Anthropic both recently filing initial documents with regulators. The IPO comes just over a year after Musk left President Donald Trump's administration, following a months-long stint leading the highly contentious "DOGE" effort to slash government spending -- while simultaneously juggling his CEO roles at Tesla and SpaceX. Musk's backing of Trump and right-wing populists in Europe has seen the entrepreneur go from a broadly admired prodigy to a deeply polarizing figure. The record IPO is nonetheless a testament to Musk's continued support among investors, with Bloomberg reporting that the offering was more than four times oversubscribed. Demand among retail investors -- for whom 20 percent of shares were reserved -- was also reported to be high.

Qatar Business

Doha, Qatar: Qatar Chamber (QC) hosted yesterday, the signing ceremony of an investment agreement between GrowthX Capital, a Qatari company, and Grow Solutions, a Ukrainian-rooted company specialising in innovative educational solutions for children. Grow Solutions has chosen the State of Qatar as its headquarters and a launchpad for its upcoming regional expansion. The ceremony was attended by Mohamed bin Ahmed Al Obaidli, Board Member of the Qatar Chamber; Ali Bu Sherbak Al Mansori, Acting Director General of the Chamber; and Mansour Al Khater, CEO of the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC). Also in attendance were H E Andrii Kuzmenko, Ambassador of Ukraine to the State of Qatar, and Dr. Olga Rivina, Chairperson of the Qatari-Ukrainian Business Forum. The agreement was signed by Hamad Mubarak Al Hajri, Chairman of GrowthX Capital, and Maria Shevchenko, President of Grow Solutions. The cooperation represents a success story that reflects Qatar’s proven ability to attract global founders and influential enterprises. Furthermore, it firmly solidifies State’s reputation as a supporter for entrepreneurship, innovation, and strategic investment in forward-looking industries, most notably the education and technology sector. In his remarks, Mohamed Al Obaidli said that this partnership constitutes a clear testament to Qatar’s dynamic and resilient private sector, as well as its economy in general. He affirmed the Chamber’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurship, encouraging innovation, and building strong partnerships that contribute to driving sustainable economic growth and solidifying Qatar’s position as a leading regional hub for business and investment. Al Obaidli also noted that the Chamber recently established the Technology and Innovation Committee, which is currently being formed. Its mandate, he highlighted, is to render Qatar’s private sector innovation-driven, while positioning Qatar as a globally connected digital economy hub that drives innovation, trusted digital transformation, and international market access for businesses and entrepreneurs. Furthermore, he added that the committee aims to bridge the gap between strategy and execution, accelerate enterprise-level technology implementation, institutionalise data-driven and AI-enabled operations, build robust execution capabilities, and ensure secure, scalable, and sustainable growth. For his part, Hamad Al Hajri stated that Grow Solutions’ decision to establish its headquarters in Doha reflects growing international confidence in Qatar’s advanced economic and investment ecosystem, supported by advanced infrastructure, a strong support network, and abundant opportunities for innovative companies with regional and global ambitions. He added that the initiative serves as a model for combining strategic capital with global talent to reinforce Qatar’s position as a regional hub for innovation-driven enterprises. He also revealed that GrowthX Capital’s planned $500m investment over the coming years will further cement the nation as a global technology hub, directly aligning with QNV 2030 goals of economic diversification and knowledge-based growth.