The Qatar Development Bank (QDB) is currently working on a project which is aimed at assessing the current state of manufacturing in Qatar, an official from QDB has said
To date, there is a continuous increase in the number of manufacturing businesses being set up in Qatar, said Abdul Wasay (pictured), Economic Coordinator at QDB while talking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of the Qatar Entrepreneurship Award & Conference at the Doha Exhibition & Convention Center (DECC) recently.
“Under the patronage of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), we are working on a project that assesses the current manufacturers, and the processes that they have to go for local manufacturing and export manufacturing; identifying inefficiencies within that process, and then working to mitigate those inefficiencies when compared to other similar industries in similar markets,” he added.
According to the MoCI, about 120 new factories have been established in Qatar since the blockade, with 60 more establishments expected to be completed this year.
Minister of Commerce and Industry H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, during his speech at the recent opening of the Qatar Entrepreneurship Award & Conference, also announced the near completion of the construction works for the expansion of the Small and Medium Enterprises Zone, which will provide 155 new plots of land, which aims to encourage investment in the industrial sector and enhance the ability of industrial companies to develop national products that meet the needs of local markets and achieve self-sufficiency for Qatar.
Wasay added: “Manufacturing is coming up all the time, but we’re also moving towards the service sector. Because we’ve seen the fact that some manufacturing sectors are becoming very saturated. And we need to move further, and promote service sectors as well”. QDB will also conduct another project that will assess Qatar’s service sectors, added Wasay.
Earlier, during his presentation at a workshop titled ‘Importance of Financial Information and Reporting for SMEs’, at the Qatar Entrepreneurship Conference which concluded yesterday, Wasay reiterated the importance of knowledge sharing among SMEs.
“We need to break the barriers that create unhealthy competition. Things such as classification codes, documents that can benefit other players in the market, and ways to get approval from the Ministry. Why not share these kinds of information with the other players in the market. We need collaboration and knowledge sharing,” Wasay added.
Between 350 and 400 SMEs are currently registered at QDB. Local SMEs registered with QDB are matched with QDB’s partner organisations for procurement opportunities, added Wasay.
