The ICT industry is helping to fuel growth and diversification of Qatar’s economy, a new report by the Ministry of Transport & Communications (MOTC) shows.
“Qatar’s ICT Landscape 2016: Business” reveals continued progress in the ICT sector in Qatar as well as the transformation of businesses that are critical to the growth and diversification of Qatar’s economy. 
In particular, business establishments with fewer than 50 employees, which make up 93% of Qatar’s businesses, have improved their ICT (information and communication technologies) penetration and usage rates and are reaping the benefits of ICT. 
In addition, on international benchmarks such as the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index, Qatar ranks 12th on technology absorption at the firm level.
Currently, there are close to 550 ICT enterprises operating in Qatar. While the industry in Qatar is still mainly import dependent, all leading ICT products and services are currently available in Qatar, mostly through resellers and service providers. 
Based on the survey of ICT providers, few ICT enterprises in Qatar are involved in manufacturing ICT products. Fifty-eight percent of ICT enterprises have a presence only in Qatar, while the remaining ICT enterprises have a regional or an international presence. 
ICT providers feel that government projects are important to the industry in Qatar, with some 24% of providers identifying government projects and initiatives as a key driver for growth of this sector.
The report shows an estimated 35,500 ICT professionals work in Qatar, representing 3% of the total number of people employed in Qatar’s business establishments. 
The number of ICT professionals has grown at a CAGR of 10% since the 26,900 estimated in 2012.
In comparison, the number of ICT professionals in Singapore was reported to be 150,200 in 2014, representing about 4% of the total workforce in Singapore. The wholesale and retail trade, construction, and information and communications sectors have the highest numbers of ICT professionals. Even though the information and communications sector forms a very small proportion of businesses in terms of both employee base and number of establishments, it comprises 10% of the total number of ICT professionals.
Among ICT enterprises in Qatar, 10% reported that they invested in R&D activities in 2014, with only 1% of ICT enterprises spending more than 20% of their revenues. Thirteen percent of multinational ICT companies invested in R&D, with 8% of the local ICT companies investing in R&D activities in 2014. 
Among the ICT enterprises investing in R&D in Qatar, a majority (63%) of them spent less than 5% of their annual revenue for R&D in 2014 in Qatar.
Internet penetration has increased from 59% in 2010 to 70% in 2015 among business establishments.
The percentage of employees routinely using the Internet for business purposes reached 30% in 2015. Although flat since 2012, web presence nearly doubled from 20% in 2010 to 39% in 2015. 
Growth can also be observed in terms of increased online activities, including use of online marketing and customer support, e-banking, social media, and e-government services. 
In particular, the Internet activities that have shown a great deal of growth at business establishments include marketing products and services online, increasing from 27% in 2012 to 42% in 2015; and providing online customer service, with an increase from 15% to 36% during the same period.
According to the MOTC, the overwhelming majority of business establishments - 83% - believe that their businesses have benefited from ICT. Nearly half of the business establishments surveyed - 48% - said that ICT helps them access customers in new geographies and expand their potential market. Improved quality of products and services was cited as a key benefit by 37%, followed by faster delivery (30%) and better customer relationships (23%).
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