By Mohammad Shoeb
DOHA: The first edition of ‘Government Procurement and Contracting Conference & Exhibition (MOUSHTARAYAT), which aims at providing ample business opportunities to local companies, will kick off on March 8. This was announced yesterday by Qatar Development Bank (QDB) in a press conference held at its headquarters.
The three-day event also aims at opening new opportunities for interaction between local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the important stakeholders, in addition to strengthening cooperation between the private and public sector companies in Qatar.
Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa, CEO of QDB, said: “One of the most important initiatives we commit ourselves to at QDB is supporting and helping SMEs. As we open local and global markets to SMEs through ‘Tasdeer,’ and with the help of the Ministry of Finance, we provide greater accessibility to government procurement by linking local SMEs to procurement of major buyers, through match-making activities and B2B meetings and exploring key efforts to minimise barriers to success, along with having a friendly business environment that leads to the positive growth of local SMEs.”
Al Khalifa added; “QDB will launch a workshop for the buyers to support local SMEs access to local government, semi-government, and large private procurement businesses.”
The exhibition is expected to bring significant achievements for all parties, where SMEs will be able to identify the existing opportunities and open new markets through their presence. Local buyers will also benefit from gaining more knowledge and establishing better dialogue with prominent buyers and suppliers.
QDB’s efforts will help enhance SMEs market positions both technically and financially by assisting to localise supply chains.
Abdulaziz Zeid Rashid Al Taleb, Director of Government Procurement Regulation at the Ministry of Finance, said; “Through successive legislation, Qatar aims to support entities and national institutions especially SMEs. A good example of this includes the 2015 Law No. (24) regarding ‘Organizing Tenders and Auctions’.”
Al Taleb added: “The law stresses the ambitious economic development plan and how Qatar has developed several roles to increase the job opportunities SMEs create in the local market. There a number of new policies to positively impact SMEs including exemption, in whole or in part, to providing temporary and final insurance and guarantee payments in coordination with QDB. Also, bidders can apply tenders online to help with applications with technical specifications. Supporting the freedom of competition principle, the law also allows registered companies to partner on government tenders. And last but not least, the enforcement foreign companies implementing national projects are to use local market resource to the value of 30 percent of the contract.”
Through the exhibition, QDB is trying to develop new supporting methods to apply sustainable government procurement. It also aims at helping SMEs commit to their goals and requirements, in order to support and strengthen the role of local small and medium enterprises, in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030.
The Peninsula
