Doha: PwC will reinforce its commitment to support the Small and Medium Enterprises and the private sector in Qatar, PwC’s senior leaders and industry experts said during an executive networking session held yesterday at the PwC office in Doha.
The leaders and industry experts of PwC provided insights on the Middle East’s leading consultancy’s strategy in Qatar, outlining potential collaboration opportunities across investments while sharing new digital technologies during an interactive discussion. The recent Middle East CEO survey also provided an opportunity to explore themes relevant to Qatar.
At the event, PwC’s Emtech lab experts showcased cutting-edge technologies and solutions across Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR), that support the digital transformation journey of local businesses and deliver sustained outcomes by combining the best talent with digital innovation.Qatar Country Senior Partner at PwC Qatar Bassam Hajhamad said, “The event reinforces our commitment to the private sector and its critical role in driving Qatar’s economic growth.
“We are excited about the future of Qatari SMEs and the unique opportunities to capitalise on, driven by NDS3 and beyond. Our partnership with the private sector in Qatar has flourished over the past years across various areas and sectors, including consulting, legal and tax services, cyber and digital - with many success stories and investments - as part of our continued commitment to enabling new Qatari businesses and talents,” he added.
The networking session centred around discussion on PwC’s strategy in Qatar and potential opportunities to collaborate, opportunities within Qatar, based on its recent Qatar Economy watch report and lessons learned from the recently launched CEO survey.
SMEs represent around 97 percent of registered private sector companies in Qatar and account for some 15-17 percent of non-oil GDP according to a Qatar Chamber report.
The SME sector is the backbone of any economy and they are important drivers of economic diversification and GDP growth across countries.
The country also has several incubation programmes targeting SMEs and start-ups.
The main chambers in Qatar have stressed the need to encourage banks to offer solutions for SME sector entrepreneurs to expand and diversify business and also to enact legislation to protect, promote and empower the small and medium sector entrepreneurs.
The Oxford Business Group has noted that small and medium-sized enterprises could be set for a much more prominent role in Qatar, with the government stepping up efforts to collaborate with local companies as part of broader diversification plans.Globally, SMEs make up roughly 90 percent of all private sector companies and are the source of over 50 percent of all employment – contributing to approximately 40 percent of the global GDP, according to the Oxford Business Group.
