Dow Jones will launch a Middle East edition of its flagship technology event, WSJ Tech Live, in Qatar in December 2025. Dow Jones runs The Wall Street Journal, as well as financial data services like Facitva, OPIS and Dow Jones Risk & Compliance.
The invite-only event (now in its 11th year) brings together over 200 global tech leaders, C-suite executives, venture capitalists and startups. Already a mainstay in California, the new Qatari edition will run annually for at least five years, reflecting both Dow Jones’s regional expansion and Qatar’s ambitions to become a global technology hub.
The event is being staged in partnership with Qatar’s Government Communications Office and will align with the country’s Third National Development Strategy and Qatar National Vision 2030, which reportedly prioritise innovation and digital transformation.
Dow Jones is also opening new offices in the region in 2025. The media company will start with a base in Media City Qatar. There is rising interest in MENA region’s role in tech and AI (particularly in the energy sector, which drives growth in the Middle East).
Wall Street Journal, New York
The Qatar event joins a growing roster of global conferences in the country – alongside Web Summit Qatar, the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Doha Forum and the 2022 FIFA World Cup™. It also comes as part of a broader trend, in which major Western media and tech brands are investing in longer-term partnerships in the Gulf.
Dow Jones CEO and Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour described the partnership as a result of “the evolving news and information needs of the global business community.” Sheikh Jassim bin Mansour bin Jabor Al Thani, director of Qatar’s government communications office, called the deal a “significant milestone” in developing Qatar’s technology ecosystem.
While WSJ Tech Live will continue in California, the Qatar edition aims to expand the event’s global reach.