QCB Assistant Governor, Financial Stability Sector, Maha Sultan Al Sowaidi (fourth right); QFC CEO Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida (third right) with other dignitaries and officials during the Qatar Financial Market Forum, yesterday PIC: Mohamed Farag
Doha, Qatar: Qatar’s financial sector is well-positioned to leverage the opportunities and address the risks posed by technological evolution.
Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), a leading onshore financial and business centre in the region, hosted the second edition of the Qatar Financial Market Forum, yesterday with participation from Bloomberg Intelligence.
This year’s event, themed ‘Trends Shaping Emerging Markets and Sustainable Infrastructure & Mobility’, brought together a diverse group of leaders and key stakeholders from private companies, government entities and financial institutions to discuss the latest advancements and challenges within emerging markets across the sustainable infrastructure and mobility sectors.
QCB Assistant Governor, Financial Stability Sector, Maha Sultan Al Sowaidi addressing the Qatar Financial Market Forum, yesterday. Pic: Mohamed Farag
Delivering the opening remarks Maha Sultan Al Sowaidi, Assistant Governor, Financial Stability Sector, Qatar Central Bank (QCB) said, “In recent decades, the merging of new and advanced technologies has brought us a host of opportunities and challenges, significantly influencing our prosperity, economic resilience, lifestyle, and work dynamics. The financial sector is well-positioned to leverage the opportunities and address the risks posed by this technological evolution.”
“Adopting a forward-looking approach, we strive to ensure that the financial sector possesses the necessary resilience, capital, and liquidity to maximise opportunities and mitigate risks effectively. Our financial services sector is and has always been a significant contributor to our economic growth and stability,” Al Sowaidi added.
Speaking about achievements of QCB she said, from monetary policy perspective during the last two years it has been proven that monetary policy transmission and effectiveness is different compared to the last decade. “We have followed the Federal Reserve in tandem and increased our policy rates but we have also considered those policy rates will not affect the growth prospect.
On the other hand our banking sector enjoys one of the lowest NPL ratios regionally. Banks are well capitalized, capital adequacy is high and the banks are enjoying a good liquidity ratio.”
Al Sowaidi noted, Qatar Central Bank has also issued its latest blueprint financial strategy with taking into consideration the conventional and non conventional opportunities like ESG, fintech strategies and others. The 3rd Financial Sector Strategy announced by QCB in November 2023 will ensure that the financial sector continues to be resilient at this position. It is also positioning to maintain it’s strong growth and to meet the key objective set by the National Development Strategy and Qatar National Vision 2030.
The 3rd National Development Strategy recognises the significant role that the financial sector plays in Qatar’s economy and the critical role it will continue to play in driving growth in the key sectors identified by the strategy.
QFC CEO Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida addressing the Qatar Financial Market Forum, yesterday. Pic: Mohamed Farag
Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida, QFC Chief Executive Officer gave the keynote address which emphasised the importance of platforms promoting knowledge exchange in pursuing economic growth.
Analysts from Bloomberg Intelligence and QFC led a series of engaging presentations and in-depth panel discussions which shed light on key areas such as green technologies and renewable energy to smart urban planning and resilient mobility solutions.
The presentations covered a wide array of topics, including inclusive, impactful, and sustainable infrastructure, the electric vehicle industry in the GCC, the future of energy transition, the top trends shaping emerging markets in 2024, the Middle East in a global context, outlook for GCC banks and Qatar’s capital markets.
Panellists during the Qatar Financial Market Forum, yesterday.
Building upon the comprehensive presentations, the panel discussions delved into the dynamics of emerging markets and the sustainable development strategies in Qatar, emphasising the county’s ambitious targets outlined in the 3rd National Development Strategy.
Speaking at the event, Edmond Christou, Senior Industry Analyst, Bloomberg Intelligence, said: “The Gulf region surpasses Europe and leads among emerging markets with a construction pipeline valued at over $1.7 trillion for the next five years, exclusive of energy-related infrastructure. This substantial investment aims to diversify the region’s oil-dependent economy, offering Qatari banks and other Gulf lenders and investors with the unique opportunity to capture strong growth trajectory and mobilise green liquidity”.
