By Mohammad Shoeb
DOHA: Qatar Development Bank (QDB), the government entity committed to promoting economic diversification by supporting local industries, including SMEs and start-ups, has revealed that it has so far extended direct financial support of over QR5bn to these local enterprises.
“Our direct funding have exceeded QR5bn. Financial support under our Al Dhameen portfolio, which is a partial guarantee scheme for local firms, has surpassed QR1bn-mark in 2016. While support under export guarantee scheme exceeded QR600m”, Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa (pictured), CEO of QDB, told The Peninsula.
“We are doing very well. Access to finance for small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) is ever growing. We are lucky to have onboard several partner banks who are supporting the common goal of diversifying the economy,” added Abdulaziz while talking on the sidelines of the launch of the 5th edition of QDB’s National Business Competition, Al-Fikra 2016, for Qatari-led start-ups.
Speaking about Al-Fikra 2016 he said that in this year’s edition, new adjustments have been incorporated in light of the past learning experiences after QDB made assessment of the previous editions.
Over the last four years, Al-Fikra competition has served over 200 ideas, most of them propounded by budding local entrepreneurs. Among them, 14 reached to the final stages to win prizes. Some are in incubation stages, while others are at the verge of receiving financial support.
“In this edition of the competition, QDB is offering about QR8m worth of financing… We do not only provide financial aid, it is beyond that, which include incubation services, advisory services. We help them even to market their products and services in local as well as international markets,” he said.
Replying questions on the impact of government’s falling revenues on SME financing, he added that there is no impact on the government’s commitment towards supporting SMEs.
“In 2014, the government decided to merge Enterprise Qatar (EQ), an SME dedicated entity which first launched Al-Fikra, within QDB. It was not because of financial constraints, but to create a single-window by bringing all the SME-related services under one umbrella. This has created an impact where QDB becoming an example for neighbouring states”, he clarified.
He said SMEs and entrepreneurship are flourishing in Qatar, and now is the right time and opportunity for entrepreneurs and start-ups as they can get easy access to a lot of government funded services. He said that the role of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce is “very enabling”, providing easy access to its various services, including the registration and commercial licensing processes.
All government entities, including the QDB and the several ministries, are facilitating investments in private sector to achieve a sustainable growth and development by diversifying its industries and services, especially the SMEs, to enhance the contribution of non-hydrocarbons sector to the economy.
About the current share of SMEs to GDP, Abdulaziz said that without the implementation of a clear definition of SMEs, it would not be possible to determine their contribution. QDB last year had launched a clear-cut definition of SMEs, which is still subject adoption by many institutions and stakeholders.
Commenting about the imbalance between the participation of tech-based and manufacturing start-ups, he said: “I don’t believe there is any gap… You may see a lot of entrepreneurs developing innovative mobile apps and technologies, but our portfolio of funding is 65 percent to the manufacturing sector, being capital intensive.“
The Peninsula
