Board Member and CEO of Qatar Financial Centre Authority, Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, addressing the forum yesterday.
Doha, Qatar: The real estate sector has played a vital role in driving economic diversification and remains a key contributor to Qatar’s national GDP.
Delivering a keynote speech at the 3rd Qatar Real Estate Forum, yesterday Board Member and Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Financial Centre Authority, Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida said, in the first quarter (Q1) of this year alone the sector accounted for 7.4% of GDP amounting to QR13.1bn and to strengthen this growth driver, “we need to pay attention to its areas that can be improved and where new opportunities may exist.”
Sharing the vision for the transformative journey of Qatar’s real estate sector of Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), Al-Jaida explained, QFC is a leading onshore business and financial hub, providing a world-class platform for local and international firms to operate in Qatar and expand into other markets.
In the QFC, “we are deeply committed to fostering an environment that drives sustainable growth and will play a pivotal role in developing business sectors, including the real estate sector. We begin by making it easy for companies in this sector to establish and operate in Qatar,” he said.
Al-Jaida added, “Our real estate regulations operate transparent framework for real estate through various corporate vehicles, such as special purpose companies, trusts, and family offices. We also collaborate closely with government agencies to simplify real estate registrations. We have a Ministry of Justice office on site, and provide investors with easier and faster access to services.
With a legal framework based on English common law and international best practice, “we create a stable and transparent environment for real estate investments, while our investment-friendly regulations protect property rights and enforce contracts to boost confidence among local and foreign investors.”
In the future of real estate, our most significant contribution lies in our leadership in digital innovation. The QFC Digital Asset Lab is at the forefront of this, creating a regulated, collaborative environment for developing and testing blockchain-based solutions.
Localization, which converts real world assets into digital tokens can positively impact the real estate sector in Qatar by lowering barriers for real estate investments leading to broader investor participation and increased market liquidity.
“Tokenizing real estate is amongst the most innovative solutions we are actively exploring in the Digital Asset Lab. To support this programme, we also introduced the Qatar Financial Centre Digital Asset Framework which establishes the legal and regulatory foundation for digital assets, covering the entire lifecycle, from tokenization and legal recognition of property rights to custody, transfer, and exchange,” he said.
This provides the certainty and security that investors and innovators need to embrace these new technologies. The QFC is also proud to be a home for innovators, providing them with a vibrant ecosystem with robust infrastructure, access to specialist insights, and opportunities to form strategic partnerships, all of which support technological advancements and innovations.
Besides the digital assets labs, there are startups, businesses, and researchers can explore and create products and services related to digital assets and distributed ledger technologies. Al Jaida said, “We also have QFC Tech Circle which is a space that supports early stage digital and technological companies, including property technology (PropTech), a segment that will only grow as the market expands and demand for efficiency and smart solutions increase.”
Al Jaida further said, Qatar’s real estate sector is in the middle of a significant digital transformation reshaping how the market operates and at QFC “we are supporting this shift by providing the infrastructure, expertise, and regulatory clarity that enables innovation and new investment opportunities to take root and flourish that help you to create a real estate market that is transparent, efficient, and accessible will contribute to QFC, to economic diversification and sustainable development.”
