BY MOHAMMAD SHOEB
DOHA: Qatar Export Devel-opment Agency (Tasdeer), an arm of Qatar Development Bank (QDB) dedicated to promote export competitiveness of non-oil goods made by local companies, has set a target to contribute QR3bn to the country’s gross domestic product by 2015, a senior official of QDB said yesterday.
“As per our export promotion strategy we have set a target of QR3bn for the non-oil private companies to contribute to the economy. With the given capabilities, tools and facilities available with them (exporters), I hope we will achieve the target,” Hassan Khalifa Al Mansoori, Executive Director of Tasdeer, said.
Al Mansoori was speaking with The Peninsula on the sidelines of a two-day workshop hosted by QDB aimed at enhancing export competitiveness of Qatari products and exporters. Tasdeer, to organise this workshop, has joined hands with International Trade Centre (ITC), an entity working under the aegis of the World Trade Organisation, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
He said: “Tasdeer aims at developing the Qatari non-oil exports and diversifying the exports of Qatar. One of our key objectives is to enhance the capacities and capabilities of the Qatari exporters for them to be aligned with global best practices. At Tasdeer, we regularly champion initiatives and programmes with the aim of strongly developing a world-class export industry in the country.”
The workshop, which concludes today, includes a series of intensive seminars on four key export-related areas such as marketing, branding, export quality and standards, export packaging solutions and supply chain management.
Present were Ashish Shah, Head of Office for Arab Countries and Senior Coordinator for ITC President Office, Lamia Thabet, International Advisor for Export Packaging, Hong Siew LIM, Senior Adviser of Enterprise Value Chain Competitiveness, Khemraj Ramful, Senior Adviser of Export Quality Management, Lilia Naas Hachem, Business Development Manager, Project Competitiveness, and James Hao, Senior Advisor in Export and Brand Marketing.
Mansour bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, the CEO of QDB, said: “This is one of our key workshops this year and to that effect, we have ensured to partner with a global organisation such as the ITC owing to its unmatched pedigree and track record in trade and export. We firmly believe that non-oil Qatari exporters would highly appreciate the significance of the areas we are exploring during this workshop.”
“Our export competitiveness workshop will help attendees identify new market opportunities. Additionally, it will show Qatari exporters how to meet the international buyer’s requirements and the regulatory environment prevalent within the importing countries.
“Moreover, the workshop will shed the light on techniques to maximize performance and optimize the export value chain, all of which are keys to success and to become global players,” added Al Mansoori.
ITC officials explained the four key aspects of the workshop and demonstrated how Qatari exporters can implement each of these techniques to enhance their operations and to better understand the various nuances of international trade.
The Peninsula
