Qatar Development Bank (QDB) has honoured the country’s top 50 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the ‘SME Excellence List 2018’ awards ceremony held in Doha yesterday.
The awards were presented to deserving SMEs in the presence of HE the Governor of Qatar Central Bank Sheikh Abdulla bin Saoud al-Thani, who is also QDB chairman, and Qatar Chamber director-general Saleh bin Hamad al-Sharqi and Qatar Stock Exchange CEO Rashid bin Ali al-Mansoori, as well as other distinguished guests from across state ministries, diplomatic missions, and leading organisations in Qatar.
The second edition of the biennial project, which debuted in 2016, aims to highlight the contribution of SMEs in Qatar’s economic growth and development, and the creation of a culture of adoption of best practices and business excellence in terms of quality, audited financials, governance, management structure, and many other factors, in a competitive environment within the local business community.
The SME Excellence List serves as a valuable platform for entrepreneurs to showcase their achievements, as well as their outstanding and innovative efforts in managing their business.
QDB CEO Abdulaziz bin Nasser al-Khalifa said: “With the ‘SME Excellence List’, we aim to empower the SMEs of Qatar and offer them a much wider platform to showcase their potential to the industry at large. SMEs have always been a crucial source of economic growth of Qatar and this endeavour channels their performance in the right direction and is in sync with the Qatar National Vision 2030.
“The success of the maiden event enhanced our confidence to deliver yet another impactful event this year and we are extremely elated to inform you that this has been a bigger and better event for us with a large number of SMEs coming forward and participating in the event.”
Al-Mansoori said: “We are confident of the important role that SMEs play in achieving the economic growth and in providing job opportunities in line with QNV 2030. We are also pleased to collaborate with Qatar Development Bank in a unified communications strategy to promote a culture of transparency and competitiveness in the economic sector, unlock the SMEs capabilities, and adopt the highest international quality standards, with the aim of enabling them to compete locally, regionally, and internationally. Therefore, we will provide support to the companies that are selected in this edition of SME Excellence List to be listed on the Qatar Exchange.”
Al-Sharqi said: “Qatar Chamber is keen to support SMEs and improve their performance to effectively take part in the development of the national economy, and we are working closely with all institutions that reaffirms united efforts towards building and promoting a culture of entrepreneurship in Qatar.
“The chamber will support the companies listed in this year’s edition of the SME Excellence List by promoting their products either through facilitating their participation in local and international exhibitions and conferences or through meetings held by the chamber with foreign trade delegations inside and outside Qatar.”
Al-Khalifa said this year’s top 50 companies made to the SME Excellence List after witnessing an 86% increase in total revenues compared to 2016. Besides, the programme has seen a 40% increase in the number of applications compared to previous edition, which indicates the interest of the SME sector.
He also stressed that the list showed that 28% of the top 50 SMEs operates in the export sector, “which receives great attention from QDB in line with the country’s development plans.”
HE the Governor of Qatar Central Bank Sheikh Abdulla bin Saoud al-Thani joins the awardees of QDB’s ‘SME Excellence List 2018’ in a ceremony held in the presence of QDB CEO Abdulaziz bin Nasser al-Khalifa, Qatar Chamber director general Saleh bin Hamad al-Sharqi and Qatar Stock Exchange CEO Rashid bin Ali al-Mansoori.
