HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani visiting a stall at Made in Qatar exhibition yesterday.
By Zia Khan /Staff Reporter
Qatari authorities are studying several proposals to help promote small and medium enterprises (SMEs), including one to encourage state corporations to buy products manufactured by local companies, officials said yesterday.
Speaking at a seminar on the sidelines of the Made in Qatar exhibition in Doha yesterday, business leaders said the SME sector was not performing up to its potential because of a host of reasons, including lack of proper communication between producers and consumers.
Titled as “Mechanisms for supporting small and medium scale industries in Qatar”, the seminar was part of an exhibition featuring products made in the country.
HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al -Thani promised the government would go to any length to make sure that the sector performed well and employed more people.
HH the Heir Apparent inaugurated the exhibition organised jointly by the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) and Ministry of Energy and Industry.
The exhibition aims at attracting investments in the industrial sector.
Noora al-Mannai, the CEO of Enterprise Qatar, said a database of potential buyers, including the government corporations was being prepared to help local industries reach potential clientele without any hassle.
She regretted that a lack of communication was hindering the growth of Qatari small industrial sector despite a reasonable potential.
“The problem in Qatar is by no means lack of companies, investors or entrepreneurial aspirations…it is a communication gap that makes things difficult and unattractive.”
With the population just under 2mn, Qatar is hardly a viable consumer market for even the smallest of industries. But with the economy growing over 10% a year on the back of government projects, the vendor industry can thrive if only corporations buy locally-manufactured products, according to experts.
QCCI chief Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani said: “We are meeting at a time when the other regional countries are doing their best to raise the industrial sector’s contribution to the gross national product (GNP) from 10 to 25% by the year 2020.”
He said the Gulf Co-operation Council’s secretariat had predicted the overall investments by the regional countries in industries would increase from its current level of $323bn to $1tn by the year 2020.
“By then many more industrial towns would have been set up and various projects might be on course,” he added.
“Qatar lays great stress on the development of small and medium scale industries which are the cornerstones of achieving economic diversity and generate economic and investment opportunities in sectors other than oil and gas.
“It is for this purpose that a separate body has been set up to oversee the small and medium scale industries. We are, however, in need of a lot of vacant lands to carry forward many projects. And the government should also give priority to products made in Qatar in its purchases,” he proposed. Pages 10, 11
