Doha: Qatar has boosted its public-private partnership (PPP) model to support economic diversification, in line with its National Vision 2030. Over recent years, the country has developed a robust institutional framework that encourages investment and improves public service delivery.
At the heart of the nation’s PPP strategy is Law No. 12 of 2020, which regulates cooperation between public institutions and private sector entities. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has also established a dedicated PPP Unit tasked with evaluating projects, conducting feasibility studies, modeling contracts, and ensuring fair competition.
To increase transparency and investor access, the Ministry launched an electronic platform that displays available state projects. In addition, institutions such as the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) and the Qatar International Court have contributed to creating a secure legal and investment environment, streamlining processes and providing a specialized judicial framework for commercial disputes.
Speaking to QNA, Second Vice-Chairman of the Qatar Chamber, Rashid bin Hamad Al Athba, described Qatar’s PPP experience as highly successful. He said the model enables the private sector to play a vital role in delivering strategic national projects and achieving the objectives of Vision 2030.
Al Athba highlighted the Qatari private sector’s progress across various fields-such as education, healthcare, infrastructure, food security, renewable energy, and tourism-stating that it is well-positioned to participate in future government-led initiatives.
Financial and economic expert, Dr. Hashim Al Sayed, emphasized that the State of Qatar is keen to encourage the private sector and create opportunities for it as a key partner in sustainable development.
In his remarks to QNA, Dr. Al Sayed noted that the private sector proven itself responsible, leveraging Qatar’s economic growth to achieve higher profits while genuinely supporting implementation of major projects and advancement of essential services that provide prosperity to citizens and enhance Qatar’s economic standing.
He highlighted that Law No. 12 of 2020, regulating public-private partnerships (PPPs), provides a supportive legislative environment for such partnerships. The law also establishes a framework to attract foreign and local investments for innovative projects across various fields.
It aims to strengthen collaboration between the public and private sectors, encourage competition and innovation, diversify and distribute risks, enhance governance, optimize public spending, create added value for projects, and improve access to financing.
Dr. Al Sayed added that the results of these efforts can be observed in numerous successful projects executed under the PPP model, including infrastructure, education, healthcare, and logistics zones.
He also stressed that partnerships bring multiple benefits to the government sector, such as leveraging private sector expertise and technical knowledge, transferring these capabilities to the public sector, enhancing market competition, increasing productivity, improving service quality, creating job opportunities, and boosting Qatar’s performance in international economic indicators, particularly the ease of doing business report. He noted that Qatar witnessed significant economic growth last year, alongside strategic policy reforms. FDI reached $2.74bn through 241 new projects, generating 9,348 job opportunities.
Dr. Al Sayed called for careful project selection, considering technical and economic feasibility, signing competitive and transparent contracts at all stages, and implementing strong oversight and risk analysis to maximise the benefits of such partnerships. He emphasised that partnerships rely not only on laws and regulations but also require governance, transparency, disclosure, accountability, and clear responsibility to ensure efficiency and competitiveness - principles Qatar fully upholds.
