His Excellency Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani who was born in 1948 and is a distant relative of the ruling Al Thani family, had a keen eye for business ever since he was a teenager. At the young age of 16, he started selling car parts, and by the 1960s was the sole distributor of Bidgestone Tyres in Qatar (Forbes).
The rest, as they say, is history.
He started Al Faisal Holding in 1964, which over the last five decades has grown into one of Qatar's biggest businesses, and even owns over 20 hotels around the world, including the St. Regis in Washington, D.C. and Miami, and the W Hotel in London (Forbes).
H.E. Sheikh Faisal's success story is the result of hard work, entrepreneurial vision, drive and innovative thinking. Today, hes well known all over the world as Qatar's most successful businessman and also has a majority stake in the publicly-traded organisation, Aamal, which owns real estate in Qatar and sells medical supplies and pharmaceuticals (Forbes)
With H.E. Sheikh Faisal's astute business acumen, Al Faisal Holding has grown into Qatar’s largest privately held diversified industry groups with operations that are continuing to grow strongly across local, regional and international markets. The conglomerate is a widely respected contributor to the development of Qatar’s knowledge-based economy through its focus on education and skills development among the current generation of young Qataris on whom the country’s future economic growth will rely.
The following are his main positions in Qatar, and we've also added some of his other responsibilities:
H.E. Sheikh Faisal is not just a successful businessman, he also takes a keen interest in promoting the culture and heritage of his country. He is immensely proud of Qatar's past and its impacts on the social behaviour of Qatari society, and that's why, he initiated the heritage museum called the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum (FBQ Museum) in 1988 in a fort in the Al Samriya area of Doha. The objective was to revive public interest and appreciation of local culture, and this museum was the perfect way to perpetuate his vision. This window to the beauty and splendour of the past of Qatar and the Islamic world has been opened for people from all walks of life to view and experience.
The FBQ Museum tells the story of Qatar through the personal collection of one man, H.E. Sheikh Faisal and his family. The museum is H.E. Sheikh Faisal's hobby and one of his biggest passions. The collection within the museum features his fascinating array of more than 15,000 exhibits covering a spectrum of arts, personal artefacts and equipment, as well as many everyday household and traditional items that showcase Qatari life in the pre-oil era.
The FBQ Museum is a fascinating place with a huge collection of ancient artefacts, furniture, Islamic art, weapons, coins, carpets, vintage cars, prehistoric bones and fossils of dinosaurs and other creatures that roamed the earth at that time, and lots more. There’s even a plane in the museum!
The FBQ Museum is the pride of Qatar and has earned Sheikh Faisal the title of ‘Heritage personality for 2012’ by the Arab Centre for Tourism Media in 2012.
H.E. Sheikh Faisal is an avid collector of artefacts and art that signify Islam along with Qatari traditions and its rich cultural heritage and customs, and has placed these in the museum. Each piece has been handpicked over the years by H.E. Sheikh Faisal himself on his travels around the world. The museum showcases his vast collection of rare and priceless pieces so visitors can get a glimpse of the Islamic lifestyle and the Qatari way of life over the years. Pieces in the museum date back to the dinosaur era millions of years ago and move on to include the earlier Islamic era and everyday objects that were used by Qataris in their daily lives till recently.
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