Qatar’s much awaited public-private partnership (PPP) law, which is expected to accelerate the country’s massive infrastructure development and provide greater support to the private sector and foreign investors, will be issued before the year-end, a prominent legal expert has said.
A draft PPP law was already approved by the Cabinet in April, and is currently in the final stages of discussion. “There have been around two drafts which have circulated. I think before the end of this year, the new PPP law will be issued,” Dr Minas Khatchadourian (pictured), Principal Legal Counsel at the Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration (QICCA) said while talking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) in Doha recently.
Khatchadourian added that both the public and private sectors will benefit greatly from the new PPP law, which will also pave the way for the launch of several investment projects in Qatar.
“So we may find new roads being built under PPP, as well as hospitals, schools, hotels, tunnels, telecommunication projects, real estate developments, and others. All these can be made under PPP,” he added.
The recently approved draft PPP law includes the allocation of land through rent or use license, for development by the private sector through build-operate-transfer (BOT), build-transfer-operate (BTO), build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT), and operations and maintenance (OM) among other provisions.
The government has previously announced that PPPs will also be used to support projects connected to the Qatar National Vision 2030 and the Fifa World Cup 2022. While several PPP projects have already been launched in Qatar, studies show that having a well defined PPP policies and legal framework is crucial to the success of implementing PPP initiatives.
Qatar has recently issued new laws and amendments to existing legislation to attract and encourage domestic and foreign investments. These include amendments to the Investment Free Zones Law and the Non-Qatari Capital Investment law.
The Cabinet on Wednesday also approved a draft law on Consumer Protection, which is said to be in line with the best international practices and developments in economic and trade conditions. It also approved a draft decision of the Minister of Commerce and Industry on supporting the competitiveness of national products and combating harmful practices to them in international trade.
Khatchadourian added: “What we have now are consumers who don’t just buy from the physical stores anymore. We now have the electronic stores and a growing number of people who shop online. And when you shop on these e-commerce sites, you don’t get all the guarantees you may get when buying from physical stores. The new consumer protection law will provide more protection to the consumers, including online shoppers, and will enhance the local standards to be at par with the international standards”.
