By Mohammad Shoeb
DOHA: Minister of Information and Communication Technology H E Dr Hessa Sultan Al Jaber yesterday announced a national definition for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for Qatar.
The new definition defines an SME as a company with a workforce that does not exceed 250 employees (except for the creative sector where employees wouldn’t exceed 100), and its annual revenue doesn’t exceed QR100m (about $28.24m).
It defines five main sectors, including Agriculture, Transformational Industries, Creative Industries, Constructions and Trade in addition to the sector of different services.
The definition was formally announced at the opening of the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) organised by Qatar Development Bank (QDB) in cooperation with a number of institutions, universities and companies in Qatar.
The GEW activities are being held this year under the patronage of Dr Al Jaber. The week-long event, which opened yesterday will conclude at Grand Hyatt Hotel on November 19 . The event saw the presence of Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud Al Thani, Governor of Qatar Central Bank, who is also the Chairman of QDB.
Dr Al Jaber, in her opening address, highlighted the major objectives laid under the Qatar National Vision 2030 aiming to accelerate the process economic diversification to transform the energy-rich economy into a sustainable knowledge-based society.
The Minister also stressed that young children need to be provided with the appropriate environment and full freedom which will encourage them to think out of the box, at all levels — home, school and university — by giving them challenges to develop their minds for innovative ideas.
Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa, CEO of QDB, said: “The new definition is part of the government’s continuous support to the SME sector, which will enable all parties to work together and achieve success under unified criteria.”
The national SME definition ensures equal support for all SMEs from all stakeholders, as it aims to improve the policies and efforts of the SME sector development based on a clear definition. In addition, it helps develop licensed home – based businesses that match the definition criteria.
It also aims at facilitating financing procedures by providing privileges for investment entities that can finance SMEs.
“We are proud with the participation of 25 startups and five government institutions. We are confident that this definition will help develop the Qatari SME sector, an important cornerstone in the National Economy. QDB continues to support the Qatar National Vision 2030 by supporting the private sector in general and the SME, specifically,” concluded Al Khalifa.
The Peninsula
