Doha Bank CEO Dr R Seetharaman (fourth left) with Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida (second left), CEO, QFC Authority; Rashid Al Mansoori (fourth right), CEO of Qatar Stock Exchange; Fahad Rashid Al Kaabi (second right), CEO of Manateq; Mubarak Al Sahuty (right), E
DOHA: The year 2017 was the fastest growth period in Qatar Financial Centre’s 13-year history. QFC witnessed a remarkable 69 percent increase in new firms during the first six months of this year, stated Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida, Chief Executive Officer, QFC Authority.
The QFC CEO was participating in a panel discussion held as part of a ‘Knowledge Sharing’ event hosted by Doha Bank on ‘Qatar’s Resilience Post Blockade- A Year on’ at Four Seasons Hotel. Qatar Central Bank (QCB) Governor H E Sheikh Abdulla bin Saoud Al Thani was the Chief Guest.
The event was also attended by Sheikh Fahad bin Mohammad bin Jabor Al Thani, Chairman, Doha Bank; Sheikh Abdul Rehman bin Mohammad bin Jabor Al Thani, Managing Director of Doha Bank; and leading Qatari executives and diplomats from various embassies. The event provided a thought-provoking platform to discuss some of the key opportunities and challenges facing Qatar in light of the blockade
“Challenges create new opportunities, and in facing these challenges, Qatar and the Qatar Financial Centre have become more resilient and more self-sufficient. A testament to this is the QFC’s incredible growth in spite of regional challenges”, Al Jaida said.
Fahad Rashid Al Kaabi, CEO of Manateq spoke on reforms undertaken in Free Zones operating in Logistic parks and Industrial zones and elaborated on the incentives offered to operate in these zones.
The permits were issued in three working days, financing was offered by local banks, exemption of rent during 2018 and 2019 and reduction of rent by 50 percent per meter were some of the initiatives taken to attract companies to relocate their existing locations, he said.
Mubarak Al Sahuty, Executive Director from Hassad Food said Qatar post blockade has managed to increase the cultivated land to reach 8,000 tons of vegetables production per year. Hassad established a New Marketing and Agri-Services Co. “Mahaseel”.
The aim for Mahaseel is to support the private agriculture sector to contribute to the country’s self-sufficiency and to ease the burden on local farmers to increase their production.
Rashid Al Mansoori, CEO of Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) spoke on the increasing volumes and turnover on the exchange post the reforms executed.
He said QSE benchmark index is one of the best performing indices globally with YTD returns of 15 percent. He also gave insight on future initiatives from QSE.
Saleh Majid Al Khulaifi, and Acting Executive Director of Qatar Development Bank said: “The financial sector can help SME’s to support Qatar’s economic growth”. He called for working on research and development pertaining to various SME sectors, which could contribute to Qatar’s growth.”
Earlier, delivering the key note address Doha Bank CEO Dr R Seetharaman said Qatar’s GDP is set to grow by 2.6 percent this year and then average 2.7 percent during 2019-23, bolstered by Qatar’s moves to increase LNG production capacity by about 30 percent.
