More Filters
There were 1694 results found for:

All Regions and All Sectors

Viewpoint

HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar: Viewpoint
OBG
plus

Viewpoint:Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Qatar has moved forward with confident strides, implementing national development programmes as planned. In 2018 the country’s GDP grew by about 15%, while non-hydrocarbon GDP increased by around 9%. The government has sought to restore balance to the state budget, cutting public expenditure without affecting priority projects. In my 2017 address…
Viewpoint

Sultan Hassan Al Dosari, Chairman; and Alamgir Khan, Deputy Chairman, Grant Thornton Qatar: Viewpoint
OBG
plus

Viewpoint:Sultan Hassan Al Dosari; and Alamgir Khan Qatar has successfully handled the effects of the embargo imposed on it by neighbouring countries since mid-2017. Authorities have presented a 2020 budget showing five years of high expenditure and a surplus of QR500m ($137.2m). Revenue is unchanged from the 2019 budget, at QR211bn ($57.9bn), while expenditure is forecast to increase by 2%.…
Analysis

Demand for online retail bolsters Qatar's e-commerce market

Posted OBG AdminPosted in Uncategorized

Home to some of the most elaborate shopping centres in the world, it is unsurprising that Qatar and the wider Gulf region has traditionally lagged behind the rest of the world in terms of embracing e-commerce. However, in recent years the country has sought to change this by introducing a series of measures to encourage the growth of online retail. In October 2019 the government launched Theqa,…
Analysis

Free zones and industrial parks attract international businesses to Qatar

Posted OBG AdminPosted in Uncategorized

Qatar National Vision 2030 recognises the need to diversify the economy by enabling a flourishing private sector and supporting entrepreneurs, who need seed capital and land for factories, offices and warehouses in order to grow. In 2ence011 the state created Manateq, tasking the agency with managing special economic zones (SEZs) and encouraging businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises…
Analysis

Growing public investment in Qatar's health care and education

Posted OBG AdminPosted in Uncategorized

In recent years Qatar’s leaders have faced some difficult choices in terms of public spending as a result of the continued downturn in oil and gas prices since 2014, followed by the economic blockade by neighbouring countries. Despite facing declining revenue, public spending continued on infrastructure mega-projects initiated for the 2022 FIFA World Cup as well as on schemes that have a…
Analysis

Qatar increases access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises

Posted OBG AdminPosted in Uncategorized

Following Qatar’s first delivery of liquefied natural gas in 1996, the state created Qatar Development Bank (QDB) in 1997, to nurture, encourage and support small businesses as well as to help allocate land to Qatari citizens. The QDB plays a vital role in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Qatar, underscoring the government’s commitment to the country’s smaller players,…
Analysis

Financial technology improves banking experience for customers in Qatar

Posted OBG AdminPosted in Uncategorized

While technological change may not be new in financial services, financial technology (fintech) offers a broad range of alternative methods to pay, save, borrow, manage risk and offer advisory services that draw on innovations in artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, big data, cloud computing, crypto-assets and mobile telephony. Digitalisation has been a major focus for Qatar’s banks…
Analysis

Qatar's first bank merger reaches completion

Posted OBG AdminPosted in Uncategorized

Mirroring a trend seen across the Gulf, two Qatari lenders announced the country’s first bank merger in 2019. In April of that year Barwa Bank and International Bank of Qatar (IBQ) announced the finalisation of negotiations and clearance of regulatory requirements necessary to consolidate operations. The merged entity, which operates as Barwa Bank, has total assets worth approximately QR80bn…
Analysis

Greater standardisation of Islamic banking regulations under way in Qatar

Posted OBG AdminPosted in Uncategorized

In 2019 the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) announced its plans to introduce standardised criteria for sharia compliance. The bank revealed that it was working with a consultancy firm to “prepare principles and standards that govern the various Islamic banking products and transactions, and the legal supervision thereof”. Qatar’s four local Islamic banks currently employ their own sharia supervisory…
Analysis

Strong competition for roles to grow North Field output in Qatar

Posted OBG AdminPosted in Uncategorized

Qatar’s North Field expansion (NFE) project has continued to grow in scope since it was first mooted in 2017; however, in February 2020 the project was temporarily postponed. This decision comes in the wake of declining gas prices and the increasing supply from the US and other countries. As of March 2020 the delay was expected to push the project back until 2021, and a number of deadlines…