10/31/2011
Qatari law firm set to establish offices in Saudi Arabia
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
Feb 5, 2011
DOHA QATAR-BASED legal consulting firm, Institution Quraysh (iQ) for Law & Policy, is set to build new offices in Riyadh and King Abdullah Economic City.
According to a press release, the decision is part of the iQ and an affiliate international law firm Covington & Burling LLP (Covington) to support Saudi Arabia’s Economic Cities Authority (ECA) initiative.
ECA is the regulator behind Saudi Arabia’s four planned economic cities, with its headquarters in King Abdullah Economic City as the flagship project.
The economic cities are set to diversify the kingdom’s predominantly oil-based economy by attracting new foreign and domestic investment to boost job opportunities for the country’s growing population.
Speaking at the Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh recently, the Chair of Covington’s management committee Timothy Hester said, “The success of the future cities will depend heavily on the quality of their legal infrastructure.
Investors have choices to make and in a global economy they will focus their investment in economies strongly supported by the rule of law.
We are honoured to be working with Amr Dabbagh and the new ECA Secretary-General Helal to support the vision of the country’s leadership for the development of the economic cities.” iQ Principal Malik Dahlan said, “We are happy to be the first firm with our kind of expertise to find a place in the King Abdullah Economic City.
Through our affiliation with Covington, we are committed to providing support on governance, rule of law and infrastructure issues while at the same time maintaining the kingdom’s cultural integrity.” iQ is a trans-national legal and policy firm with offices in Doha, Jeddah and London.
iQ attracts talents and experts from within the region and beyond, conducting the most rigorous legal and policy analysis of development in the Arab world.
In addition to providing advice and services to sovereign entities and non-governmental organisations, iQ’s work ranges from the publication of policy papers, articles and opinion pieces, to direct involvement in numerous roundtable events every year and collaborative efforts with other academic and policy institutions.
Its work includes projects with organisations such as the United Nations, the Arab League, the World Economic Forum and Harvard Law School, among others.