Doha: The excessive use of consulting companies in the Arab world poses many challenges, said HE Minister of Education and Higher Education Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater on Tuesday. Addressing a seminar on the closing day of the fourth Seminar Season, Her Excellency warned the extravagant use of such firms would lead to knowledge migration, institutional memory weakness, experience loss, fragile local capacities and weakened accountability and responsibility. According to Qatar News Agency, the seminar was attended by HE Minister of Culture Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al-Thani, HE Minister of Justice and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ibrahim bin Ali Al Mohannadi. Also present were a select group of thinkers, academics, and intellectuals. The Seminar Season was organized by the Ministry of Culture from February 10 to 25, 2025. HE Al Khater stressed the need to differentiate between think tanks and research centers. Her Excellency highlighted that tanks flourished as for-profit entities following the Great Depression in 1929, having evaluated institutions and provided strategic guidance. With the technology boom in the 1980s and the rise of neoliberalism, their roles expanded to include technological fields and the public sector restructuring according to models derived from the private sector, she added. Her Excellency added that such companies provide capitalism-backing services, raising concerns about the influence of these firms on the sovereign decisions of countries, especially in areas such as education. Moreover, HE Al Khater highlighted estrangement between policy-making circles and Arab intellectuals and thinkers, saying that Arab thinkers are disconnected from reality and lack actionable ideas. In this respect, Her Excellency said the relationship between thought and politics in the Arab world needs to be re-set out so that intellectuals actively engage in outlining policies and deal with current and future challenges.