Mohammed Al Bader (left), IT Director, Al Meera Consumer Goods Co, at the launch event of Al Meera’s ‘Supporting Qatari Entrepreneurs’, held at the Katara in Doha yesterday. Pic: Salim Matramkot/ The Peninsula
Al Meera Consumer Goods Company yesterday launched its initiative to support local entrepreneurs in Qatar and the country’s vision towards economic diversification.
About 30 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) showcased their products, which included food items, perfumes, and other commodities, to the supermarket chain for an opportunity to have their products assessed and eventually picked to be displayed on Al Meera’s supermarket shelves.
The programme, which is being implemented in partnership with Nama, Bedaya, and the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour, & Social Affairs, will also provide the local entrepreneurs the opportunity to gain new insights about product development and market capture from Al Meera’s commercial team. This is expected to help the entrepreneurs compete in the market and improve the standards across the industry, said Mohammed Al Bader, IT Director at Al Meera.
“This initiative highlights quality local items at competitive prices. Our commercial team will provide the SMEs with free advice on conducting feasibility studies for their items and guidelines on how they can market their items in and outside Qatar. After assessment, later on you can see their products in our shelves in Al Meera,” Al Bader added.
To date, Al Meera has 55 branches across Qatar. Al Bader added that Al Meera’s expected new partnership agreement with WOQOD by year-end will also provide its local partners with greater platforms to compete in the market.
“By year-end we’ll sign a Memorandum of Understanding with WOQOD. We’re going to be managing Sidra stores within WOQOD petrol stations. This means our local partners will have their products displayed in more than 100 branches across Qatar,” he added.
To date, Al Meera has 31 regular local partners including SMEs and home-based businesses. As many as three local partners have since become full-fledged businesses, and are now trying to build factories in Qatar, he added. This year, it is estimated that between 15 and 20 percent of the products displayed in Al Meera stores are locally produced, compared to around 10-15 percent last year.
Speaking about the new initiative, Al Bader added: “This initiative targets entrepreneurs and newly-established businesses, and Al Meera’s support was extended as part its Corporate Social Responsibility mandate. Every great company starts with an idea, which needs nurturing and support to flourish. By engaging with these businesses with our expertise, Al Meera is playing an instrumental role in realising the economic development goals of the Qatar National Vision (QNV) 2030.”
Made in Qatar products have assumed greater importance in recent years due to geopolitical circumstances, but also as the country gears up to meet the diversification agenda of economic development laid out in the QNV 2030. The initiative is Al Meera’s continued effort in its pursuit to support local producers and activate the SMEs contribution to the economic diversification of Qatar, Al Bader added.
