Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and the Ministry of Finance announced Monrday that the preparations for the staging of the fourth edition of the Government Procurement and Contracting Conference & Exhibition ‘Moushtarayat 2019’ are in full swing.
Scheduled to take place from March 31 to April 2, Moushtarayat 2019 will be held in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, in partnership with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), and sponsored by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment.
Organisers of the event are inviting members of the private sector, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in a wide range of public tenders. 
A key aspect of the conference is to educate local SMEs about the procedures involved in existing public tenders extended by big buyers, such as larger private sector companies, semi-governmental, and governmental bodies. The exhibition will offer 2,606 business opportunities worth up to QR5.8bn and will feature six workshops, and the participation of 35 exhibitors.
Moushtarayat’s primary objective has always been to open a wide window for networking between big buyers and local SMEs to realize the actual opportunities. Additionally, the event intends to facilitate supplier-buyer relationships by sharing information during the exhibition. 
The trade show facilitates SME access to procurement of large buyers through a single platform to access all government tenders and builds a database such as suppliers’ profiles and buyers’ tenders, among others. 
The upcoming event also aims to educate attendees on the procedures involved in partaking in future tender and application processes successfully so members of the private sector can become active contributors towards the diversification of the economy.
QDB localisation execution manager Mohamed al-Mansouri said, “Based on our national responsibility to develop Qatar's industry and increase self-reliance, and through this exhibition, QDB is trying to develop new supporting methods to apply sustainable government procurement. QDB also aims at helping SMEs commit to their goals and requirements, in order to support and strengthen the role of local small and medium enterprises, in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030. 
“Considered as an important link between the governmental bodies, QDB is making sure to deliver a much bigger and a better show than its previous editions to harness greater business ties for the procurement and subcontracting companies. QDB’s efforts will help enhance SMEs market positions both technically and financially by increasing the number of Qatari SMEs in the local supply chain, and providing alternative solutions for import. The record number of visitor turnout in the past editions has only boosted our confidence and inspired us to deliver yet another successful trade show aimed at fructifying business ties for entrepreneurs and SMEs.”
Abdulaziz Zaid al-Talib, director of Government Procurement Department at the Ministry of Finance, said, “Through this platform, we aim to enhance the scope and expanse of procurement and contracting community of Qatar and to achieve the vision. We are confident that this edition would deliver yet another successful benchmark in harnessing bigger and better business deals for the industry, thereby playing its crucial part in achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030.”
The third edition of Moushtarayat fetched close to 2,000 business opportunities worth QR6.5bn in terms of value, hosting around 40 exhibitors. The value of concluded contracts amounted to QR1.2bn.
Related Story