Home-based businesses in Qatar now have the opportunity to further promote and sell their products locally and even abroad following the launch of a rebranding and marketing initiative by Qatar Development Bank (QDB).
The initiative called ‘Derwazaa’ – a traditional Arabic word for “door” – aims to provide Qatari home-based businesses access to the local market, according to QDB executive director of Intelligence and Localisation Saleh Majid al-Khulaifi.
The service, which made its debut at the inaugural ‘Made at Home’ expo held recently in Doha, was an offshoot of the first exhibition and involved 10 pilot micro businesses, al-Khulaifi told Gulf Times.
“After Ramadan, we worked with these home-based businesses and it took us three months to work on and develop their products. As one of the lessons we had from the first ‘Made at Home’ exhibition, we want to help micro businesses in the rebranding, packaging, and marketing of their products, as well as to provide them access to the local and international market,” he said.
Al-Khulaifi said QDB has laid out certain criteria for its selection process to streamline the home-based business accepted into the ‘Derwazaa’ service.
“All 185 participants of this year’s ‘Made at Home’ exhibition are welcome to register their businesses so they can avail of this latest service by QDB, al-Khulaifi said, adding that QDB subsidises 50% of the cost to rebrand and market the products.
He noted that QDB is committed towards the continuous support its offers to home-based businesses that play a key role in accelerating Qatar’s economic growth, and contribute effectively to the sustainable development of the country.
To further help develop and promote home-based businesses in Qatar, QDB initiated in 2015 the Home-based Businesses National Programme (HBBNP), in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Social Development Centre, and the Qatar Chamber.
‘Made at Home’ is also part of the HBBNP and aims to support home-based businesses, which are seen as contributors to the development of Qatar’s economy. The exhibition aims to encourage and support Qatari home-based entrepreneurs in developing their products by offering them a platform to showcase their products and services.
The exhibition also helps create new marketing windows that are expected to contribute to the diversification of the national economy, and support Qatar’s small and medium-sized enterprise industry, encourage new entrepreneurial pursuits, and empower micro businesses.
