File photo of ‘Buy Local Products 3’ event organised in September to support Qatar Local Manufacturing at DECC.
The Ministry of Energy and Industry will organise tomorrow a forum to support the local products, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance.
Director of the Department of Industrial Zones at the Ministry of Energy and Industry Engr. Yousef Al Emadi said in a press conference held yesterday that the Ministry is organising this forum within the policies of the State of using and buying local products if they abide to the approved standards, giving them priority.
Al Emadi said this step saves money for factories and supports the competing local product. In addition, he called on all local entities to work on improving the quality of their products to comply with the approved specifications and standards, saying it will contribute to meeting the needs of the local market and a move towards exporting outside the country.
On his part, Director of Government Procurement Regulation at the Ministry of Finance, Abdulaziz Zeid Al Taleb, said the ongoing support of the State to the local products is nothing new, however the State has worked on this through different legislations to provide supportive media for local industries and products.
Some of these legislations include the law regulating tenders and auctions that exempted small and medium-sized local enterprises from submitting a temporary and final insurance, as well as ensure the advance payment according to specific regulations and in coordination with Qatar Development Bank.
Al Taleb said the law obliged the non-Qatari companies dealing with the State to depend on the local market by at least 30 percent from the total value of the contract.
The regulation of tenders and auctions law also set provisions forcing the categorisation of all the companies wishing to work with the 57 governmental entities, determining the financial, technical and administrative capacities of these companies and placing them in different categories depending on each companies’ capacity, Al Taleb added.
Al Taleb said the importance of organising this forum comes as an opportunity to introduce the products provided by the local factories and the suppliers they deal with, it will also make suggestions that will guarantee supporting the governmental and private sectors as well as the traders and suppliers to use and buy local products.
This will contribute to developing these products and strengthen its competitiveness and effectively contribute to increasing its existence in government tenders in the country, Al Taleb added.
Al Taleb also urged all the components of the local market to support the national industries and local products and guarantee its continuity, development, and transfer technology when possible, in order to enable the national industry to compete locally, regionally and internationally.
Director of the Shared Services Department at the Ministry of Energy and Industry Khalifa Mohamed Al Bouenein explained the Ministry sent out participation invited to almost 735 factories operation in the State of Qatar, as well as to 57 government entity for this forum, that aims to attract nearly 1,000 visitors that include manufacturers, suppliers, government agencies, tenders and procurement.
He noted that the Ministry of Energy and Industry recently launched new website which includes all the factories found in Qatar of different sectors, as well as all their information, capital, products, production capacity and location in Qatar. All information about any industrial sector is available to those interested by easily accessing it through the website, he added.
