The blockade on Qatar “has presented economic opportunities” to the country’s private sector, which, according to industry experts, “is capable of supplying the needs of the market.”
According to 360 Nautica founder and chairman Dr Tejinder Singh, the economic blockade “had only put focus on the business opportunities that have always been present in Qatar.”
“What has happened with the embargo is that it opened business opportunities for Qatar’s private sector. With no UAE or Saudi products coming in, the private sector should be promoted further and there is enough talent in the country that can pick up from where companies from siege countries had left off.
“If the private sector is encouraged and promoted further, Qatar can have anything it needs. It is also helpful to Qatar’s GDP because money is rotated within the country and money is not flushing out; the country becomes less dependent on imports,” Singh told Gulf Times.
Singh also underscored the role of privatisation in economic development, and stressed that “considering the current circumstances, this is where privatisation must be encouraged.”
“Qatar’s private sector did not get stuck just because there was an embargo; it always had a ‘Plan B’ in place. That’s the beauty of the private sector – it has the flexibility and funding; even if it does not have the money, it can source funds from the outside,” he pointed out.
He added: “Privatisation is basically the need of the hour because there are many private players looking at various aspects of the development of the economy. They can take it up in terms of sourcing investments within or outside the county and they can really scale it up in a shorter period of time.”
Citing the Entertainment City, which was launched more than a week ago by the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) in partnership with QSports, Singh said many participating small companies are benefiting commercially from the event.
“The private sector always looks at an event from a profitability perspective, which makes it even better in terms of the ventures that are trying to bring up the various business verticals of the economy,” he said.
This was reiterated by QSports founder and CEO Adil Ahmed, who said the companies participating in the Entertainment City “are all from the local market.”
“We sourced all the equipment, prizes, and games from local suppliers; a lot of small and medium-sized companies are benefiting from the Entertainment City, and this gives a boost to Qatar’s private sector,” Ahmed said.
He added: “It’s a small market but we worked together and we were very overwhelmed with all of the support we got from government authorities like the QTA, Civil Defence, and the Ministry of Interior. We all shared the spirit of the co-operation.”
Ahmed and Singh: Spirit of the cooperation.
