السيد كيو صديق قطري: خليفة صالح الهارون

Khalifa Saleh Al Haroon is one of the Middle East's most important individuals under 40. A content-based platform that has been promoting Qatar's community variety for over 12 years, I Love Qatar (ILQ) Network is his brainchild. iLoveQatar.net, Qatar News, Qatar Events, Dine Out Doha, Qatar Events, and others are part of the network.

Khalifa is also the General Secretary's Advisor for the Qatar Football Association.

Khalifa, or Mr. Q as he is affectionately called in Qatar, is your friendly neighbourhood Qatari who wants to improve the world and bridge any gaps between Qataris and expats!

Want to know more about Mr. Q, or Khalifa as we call him here at I Love Qatar? Read on to learn more about the I Love Qatar network's driving power!

Khalifa went to school in Bahrain...

...where his parents were based when he was a child. His school's name was Bahrain Bayan School.

Khalifa went to university in the UK...

...where he studied Commercial Law at Anglia Ruskin University and Law at the University of Essex, earning valuable knowledge that he has since utilized in Qatar in numerous successful firms.

Why the UK? He chose to study in the UK because of its multiculturalism and attributes his community-focused business mentality to his time there.

Khalifa's qualifications include...

...a background in law, investment banking, telecommunications and social media management.

Khalifa loves animals...

...and that's why he was invited to be founding board member of the Qatar Animal Welfare Society. He also owns two cuties: Charlie and Cookie: both are Yorkshire Terriers and are not only part of Khalifa's family, but also mascots of I Love Qatar.

Khalifa loves caps...

...and has over 50 different caps. You'll often see him wearing one of them. His favourite cap is the one with the heart! How many of his caps have you seen so far?

Khalifa enjoys foods like...

...tex-mex cuisine, burgers from Five Guys (probably his favourite burger place in Qatar), and Italian!

Khalifa likes Red Bull...

...and also collects Red Bull. He has a big collection of rare editions from all around the world. He loves collecting but loves the brand because of their great marketing approach and focus on community events.

Khalifa can be seen on YouTube every week...

on his popular show called 'QTips' which talks about the culture and heritage of Qatar and also provides tips on all stuff Qatari, and RaqamiTV, his very own Arabic Tech Show.

Khalifa has a deep-rooted passion for technology...

...and has a show called Raqami TV on YouTube which has over 2.3m subscribers, making it one of the largest Arabic tech channels in the world! He also has a large number of different tech devices and gadgets in his den at the ILQ Headquarters.

Khalifa loves gaming...

...and his favourite PC video game is OverWatch. In fact, Khalifa loves gaming so much, he opened up Qatar's first gaming pc store – Store974, where the gaming community can not only check out and buy the coolest gaming products in the market, they can also now hangout there as well. It’s now the biggest PC gaming store in the country!

Khalifa's been on international TV...

...and has made a number of appearances on international channels like BBC World, Discovery Channel TV5, JapanTV, Monte Carlo, Boston Globe, CNN, Al Jazeera, and others.

Khalifa has endorsed a number of different brands...

...which include the Qatar Cancer Society (2020), Geely, (2020) Careem (2018, 2016), Ooredoo (2016), National Cancer Day (2016) and Toyota (2016).

Khalifa has also travelled and done social media coverage...

...for international product launches that include GOOGLE IO (Silicon Valley, 2019), Apple (San Jose 2019, 2018, Dubai 2017), Huawei (France 2019, London 2018, France 2017), Samsung (NY 2019 – 2017, Seoul 2018), LG (Seoul, 2018), Genesis (Seoul, 2017), Porsche Club (Germany, 2017), Microsoft (Dubai, 2016), French Embassy (Paris and Lille, 2015), Visit Britain (Edinburgh and Scotland, 2015), Shangri-La (Hong Kong, 2015), Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong, 2015), Qatar Airways (Sweden, 2015) and Turkish Airlines (Istanbul, 2015).

Khalifa won the Study UK Alumni Awards 2019-20 Entrepreneurial Award in Qatar...

Marsa Malaz Kempinski, 7 December 2019. The awards were held for the second time in Qatar to recognize alumni achievements in three categories: professional, entrepreneurial, and social impact. Khalifa was recognized in the Entrepreneur category for his leadership position in Qatari business innovation.

As a business professional, an entrepreneur, and a community leader, Khalifa was one of three UK alumni in Qatar to be honoured.

Khalifa is also the first Qatari to be been nominated for the Global Entrepreneurial Award 2020...

...and is a global finalist for this prestigious category of the Study UK Alumni Awards. The winner will be announced by the British Council on 2 September 2020, based on the judging criteria amongst the applications received for that Entrepreneurial Award 2020 category.

Khalifa's awards and achievements:

• 30 Influential People to Impact their Community in Qatar (Festival Magazine, 2019)
• Ranked 74th - Top 100 Most Powerful Arabs in the World under 40
(Arabian Business, 2016)
• Start-Up CEO of the Year (Entrepreneur Magazine, 2015)
• Ranked 85th - Top 100 Most Powerful Arabs in the World under 40
(Arabian Business, 2015)
• Qatar’s Top 100 HOT List (Ahlan Magazine, 2015)
• Ranked 35th – Top Power List (Arabian Business, 2014)
• Ranked 48th - Most Influential People in Qatar’s Top 100 Hot List
(Ahlan Magazine, 2014)
• Young Achiever of the Year (Arabian Business, 2013)
• Reyada Award (Vodafone, 2012)
• Entrepreneur of the Year (ictQatar, 2011)