Qualified financial technology (fintech) companies wishing to operate in the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) stand to save as much as $10,000 as the QFC kicked off its ‘Tech Talk’ series.
“Complementing our attractive package of incentives and benefits for fintech companies looking to set up at the QFC, we waive the application fee of $5,000 and also the first-year annual registration fee of $5,000 for qualified fintech companies," Henk Jan Hoogendoorn, managing director, Financial Sector Office at the QFC, said.
Most importantly, the QFC Fintech circle, which is slated to be launched soon, will provide shared workspace and a registration address on the Fintech floor, rent-free for the first 12 months, for qualified firms, he added.
This was announced by him during the launch of the ‘QFC Tech Talk Series’, to encourage fintech firms, experts and innovators from across Qatar’s digital innovation ecosystem to share ideas, network and explore opportunities spanning different verticals.
The inaugural episode featured Marwan Mahmoud, founding member, Doha Tech Angels, who shed light on the current fintech investment climate in Qatar and beyond.
His talk gave participants a vital economic overview of Qatar’s fintech space, including investors’ expectations, and also the state of research and development in financial institutions.
He touched on intellectual property transfer and monetisation, next-generation transactions and the blockchain phenomena, social media convergence and microfinance, in addition to highlighting aspects of cybersecurity, trust and regulation.
"The QFC Tech Talk Series is yet another important development in bolstering connectivity across Qatar’s fintech ecosystem. As a main licensing platform and FinTech enabler for local and international firms in Qatar, we are glad to be engaging firms, practitioners and innovators,” said Hoogendoorn.
The QFC is an onshore jurisdiction that allows registered companies to enjoy competitive benefits, such as up to 100% foreign ownership, 100% repatriation of profits, 10% corporate tax on locally sourced profits, and an extensive double taxation treaty network with over 80 countries, a legal environment based on English common law and the right to trade in any currency.
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