Qatar's adroit strategy to shift to overdrive along a new economic corridor has not only successfully maneuvered trade and business hurdles posed by Saudi-led quartet but also gave it the much needed diversification in income stream and supply chain. The New Emerging Belt Initiative (NEBI) – a new economic corridor focusing Kuwait, Oman, India, Pakistan and Turkey with a combined economy valued at more than $2.1tn, will give Qatar the much needed thrust and confidence to forge new alliances and connect businesses, especially at a time when Doha is being subject to unjust blockade, which is on its third year.
"This economic initiative will bring us close to our regional partners, and will connect our businesses, which in turn, will increase the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) and create new opportunities across all sectors," according to Yousuf Mohamed al-Jaida, Qatar Financial Center chief executive. QFC is the brain behind NEBI.
Qatar Free Zones Authority chief executive Lim Meng Hui viewed the inter-linkages between these countries as positive for Qatar's free zones as companies themselves will lead to more companies to enter Qatar and said “it is a win-win”. The banking sector, which otherwise stares at limited domestic potential, finds NEBI to enlarge the scope for increased trade finance and cross border funding. They view that the force multipliers that inter and intra-regional capital, trade and logistics can bring about are positives for the country's macro economy and the banking sector.
Thanks to its central geographic location and robust economy, Qatar is already an attractive international business hub, with 20 business councils registered on the QFC’s platform from countries around the world as Canada, Nigeria, Singapore, Spain, India and many others. Unperturbed by the blockade, QFC had unveiled its strategies beyond 2022 by setting out its priorities through new clusters such as digital, sports and financial services, amidst the changing economic order.
In the sports industry alone, Qatar has already established world-class infrastructure thanks to robust investments, and has leveraged this by hosting international sporting events, which are set to bring even more economic impetus, with the sports industry estimated to be valued at $20bn by 2023. QFC is aiming to attract sport consultancy and advisory, sport legal advisory, sort financing and contracting, sport event management and promotion, sport technology companies – Start-up Bootcamp is already a QFC client of sport marketing and commercialisation), and sport education.
The QFC has already made progress towards developing this fast-growing sector and in 2018 signed a memorandum of understanding with Aspire Zone Foundation to establish the Qatar Sports Business District, Qatar’s sports accelerator, which is considered the first in the region and expected to attract multinational corporations by offering world-class services and incentives.
