DOHA: A new company law is expected to be announced soon, with a high-level legal committee set up by the Ministry of Business and Trade submitting the amended draft to Minister H E Sheikh Jassim bin Abdul-Aziz Al Thani yesterday.
After receiving the document, the minister said the new law would meet expectations of Qatar’s business community. “The new commercial law will help enhance Qatari companies’ competitiveness and further boost the booming local economy.
The proposed law would meet the demands of the fast changing global economic and social realities in line with Qatar National Vision 2030”.
The original draft law, released last month, received mixed reactions. While legal professionals, businessmen and investors were all praise for the initiative, private companies and the Qatari business community raised objections regarding some clauses. The private companies noted that they should have been consulted by the authorities prior to drafting the law.
Qatar Chamber, which held a meeting to discuss the new law, described the original draft as “vague” and ‘confusing’. One of the key objections to the new law was that there was no minimum capital requirement for setting up a company, whereas under the present law firms need to have at least QR200,000 ($54,938).
Following these objections, the ministry decided to seek views of the private sector, consultancies and other agencies.
The Ministry of Business and Trade posted the original draft of the law on its website and sought public comments and suggestions. It received a considerable number of suggestions for amendments. The final draft was drawn up after taking into account these suggestions.
The draft law will empower Qatari companies to face challenges of the international market. The ministry will review procedures before the issuance of the law, the minister said. He expressed appreciation for all individuals and institutions that had submitted comments and suggestions.
The existing company law is eight years old and the ministry wanted to come out with a fresh law of international standards. The original draft had 340 articles divided into 13 chapters and was drawn up by a committee of experts from various ministries and government agencies. It was prepared in consultation with competent agencies, including international legal consultancies.
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