By Mohammad Shoeb
DOHA: The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) will introduce additional tools and services to streamline its client interfaces, ensuring an outstanding experience for QFC-licensed firms.
Last November, the QFC had announced plans to update the current QFC Law. The new law will provide a mechanism by which licensed firms will be able to be listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange. “We are working with a number of organisations in Qatar to jointly agree a way forward that further affirms, refines and expands the QFC platform, and I hope to have more to say in this regard soon,” Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida (pictured), QFC Chief Executive Officer told The Peninsula in an e-mail interview.
The QFC is also looking forward to continuing to proactively expand its legal environment towards services that are needed in Qatar. This is an important agenda item for the QFC, and one that it has performed successfully in the past.
“Throughout 2014, we broadened the types of businesses that can set up in the QFC to include a wider range of professional services businesses. We have continued to broaden the QFC platform in 2015 by introducing Companies Limited by Guarantee, which allows business councils and professional associations to set up within the QFC,” Al Jaida added.
He explained that the series of initiatives taken by the QFC further encourage the transfer of best practices and support international forums for local businesses to both interact with and discover interests that can be met more efficiently and effectively in a multi-company context. Both the Dutch and the Belgian Business Councils have already set up since QFC implemented these services.
“We will continue to work closely with our colleagues in other government agencies in Qatar towards identifying and fulfilling their needs in getting the businesses and services they require on-shore within the confines of the QFC Law and mandate,” he said.
The QFC is a fully onshore business and financial centre whose legal system is predominantly based on English common law. This allows for various companies to set up their businesses in the State given that they are familiar with such laws. It is one of the tools the government is using to accelerate the process of economic diversification by attracting high-quality private sector companies to Qatar.
The QFC’s mandate includes attracting investments in the form of businesses being established and skills and services being offered in Qatar. “This is a more ‘sticky’ form of investment and one that is much more difficult to attract, but is by far preferred in terms of impact to the local economy.”
On the key challenges faced by the QFC, he said: “The main challenges we face are ensuring that the QFC environment continues to remain aligned to the needs of foreign companies, as well as to our local stakeholders. We are first and foremost a Qatari government agency, working for the benefit of Qatar and the local stakeholders, including the government, local businesses,the people of Qatar and predominantly to serve the Qatar National Vision 2030.”
Some of the attractive features that the QFC environment offers foreign companies include 100 percent foreign ownership, unlimited repatriation of fees and the ability to conduct on-shore business. However, in its role as a ‘change management agent’, the QFC faces the challenge of ensuring a suitable balance between the needs of the local stakeholders with those of foreign companies.
The QFC has already undertaken several initiatives to enhance offerings to clients. These include revising and revamping its licensing process, and adopting a modular licensing process that matches application requirements with the complexity of the applicant’s business, amongst others.
The Peninsula
