By Peter Alagos/Business Reporter

State officials have announced the launching of the Qatar National SME Definition during the opening ceremony of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2015 held Sunday at the Grand Hyatt Doha.
“We are confident that this definition will help develop the Qatari small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, which is an important cornerstone in the national economy,” said Qatar Development Bank (QDB) chief executive officer Abdulaziz bin Nasser al-Khalifa.
“QDB continues to support the Qatar National Vision 2030 by supporting the private sector in general and specifically SMEs,” added al-Khalifa, who joined Qatar Central Bank (QCB) Governor HE Sheikh Abdulla bin Saoud al-Thani and the Minister of Information and Communications Technology HE Dr Hessa Sultan al-Jaber in unveiling the Qatar National SME Definition.
The Qatar National SME Definition ensures equal support for all SMEs from all stakeholders as it aims to improve the policies and efforts of the SME sector development based on a clear definition. In addition, it helps develop licensed home-based businesses that match the definition criteria.
The definition, which is part of the government’s continuous support to the SME sector, will enable all parties to work together and achieve success under unified criteria. It also aims at facilitating financing procedures by providing privileges for investment entities that can finance SMEs.
The new initiative defines an SME as a company with a workforce that does not exceed 250 employees (except for the creative sector where employees would not exceed 100), and its annual revenue doesn’t exceed QR100mn.
The definition identifies five main sectors, including agriculture, transformational industries, creative industries, constructions and trade, in addition to the sector of different services.
“GEW 2015,” which will run until November 19, will witness several activities and events that will support the development of Qatar’s SME sector. Al-Khalifa said Grand Hyatt Doha, Qatar Business Incubation Centre (QBIC), and Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) will host a variety of panel discussions and workshops.
Qatar University, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, and College of North Atlantic Qatar, will also host some events.
Al-Khalifa stressed that QDB has been directed to support SMEs “and has taken further steps in providing services and products that are relevant in helping address challenges faced by SMEs.”
He said: “The bank is also at the forefront of devising innovative solutions that enable entrepreneurs achieve high growth rates, and these efforts were among the reasons why the International Trade Centre (ITC) has classified QDB as among the 10 development banks all over the world.”
At the recently held 15th World Export Development Forum, Arancha Gonzalez, executive director of the Geneva-based ITC, said QDB was ranked sixth in the ITC’s list of top 10 global organisations on trade and investment promotions for its support structure for SMEs.