Dr Mohammad Al Kubaisi
By Dr Mohammad Al Kubaisi
At the outset, I must commend the efforts made by Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohamed Al Thani, Chairman of Qatar Chamber, may Allah abundantly reward him for what he is doing! The problem with the Chamber is that some of the funds disappear before reaching its management, thanks to those who benefit from this.
The mission of such chambers is to bring benefit to their members through studies and research, or to make suggestions for supporting their members against foreign competition, to the extent of preventing the entry of any product, even if produced in the Gulf, that is equivalent to a local product.
Other chambers inform their associate members about laws and regulations related to commercial and industrial matters before issuing a licence.
In Qatar, Article 4 of Law No. 11 of 1990 established Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, whose mandate was to be an advisory governmental agency with a mission that begins and ends with the formulation of opinion required by the government. That is besides its role of issuing certificates and arbitrating in disputes.
It is not surprising that the new retirement law affects the activities of companies and the government, even if they did not ask for the opinion of the Chamber.
The Chamber did not react when the ministries of economy, commerce, interior and labour increased their fees. What is worse, when vital commercial areas were removed from Doha, the Chamber did not advise the government that this would affect the economy and trade in the country, as if all that the Chamber’s members really cared about was doing what the ruler wants.
Personally, I do not know how the Chamber can support its members, since its goals are stipulated to be “to organise commercial, industrial and agricultural interests, as we represent, defend and work to strengthen them.” It is not specified what the interests are.
The Chamber’s vision says the Chamber will be the first point of contact for all institutions and actors from “around the world” who want to engage with the Qatari business community, to carry out the most dynamic economic activities in the world.
How can the Chamber defend the interests of its members when it invites foreign companies to compete against them?
The vice chairman of the Chamber, speaking on behalf of Qatar, says, “Qatar is ready to support Omani companies and businessmen in the implementation of infrastructure projects due to be launched in Qatar.”
With all due respect to the people of Oman, for whom we wish the best, isn’t the Chamber supposed to support national companies to work on these projects instead of giving them to foreign companies?
The chairman of the Chamber’s committee on transport affirms his readiness to tie up with Saudi investors to work on the development of the transport sector in Qatar, forgetting that the country’s transport companies, which have paid fees to the Chamber, are suffering as they get no support from the Chamber while facing unfair competition from Pakistanis and Syrians. Their suffering will increase further when foreign companies are invited to invest in the country.
I also cannot explain the speech of the Chamber’s chairman during a celebration held with select guests, without consulting the Qatari businessmen, who elected him to represent them.
Addressing the Emir, the Chairman said: “Today, after half a century, I can say that the distinguished relationship between the private sector and the government is the basis for building a strong, balanced and growing economy that achieves development plans for the country while, at the same time, meeting the aspirations, visions and goals of a broad sector of citizens.”
How could he speak such words when he knows that the majority of the sectors with big returns are public, while private investors are forced to work in useless sectors and their profits are not commensurate with the efforts they put in?
So, where is the strong economy that achieves the development plans of the country and its well-being? It is known that many private sector companies are bankrupt and their owners are subjected to trials for not repaying their debts on time.
How can the aspirations of a broad cross-section of citizens be met when they see their companies losing the money they had earned over the years due to the high rents created by government activities?
The Chamber has, unfortunately, moved away from its real objectives, and has become, by force of law, just a collector of private sector funds that does not provide any service which helps its members.
The chamber of commerce and industry of London, on the other hand, has designed many free services for its members, including, for example, 24-hour legal advice throughout the year, allocation of experts to answer any queries, a 50 percent discount on export certificates, a 20 percent discount on the prices of some hotel rooms, and a 30 percent discount on car rental rates; all this and many other services for an annual subscription fee of less than QR1,500.
In conclusion, we say that it is important to reconsider a lot of the Chamber’s activities with the aim of truly defending the traders to increase their participation in the local economy.
The Board is instead spending money on travel, which has increased these days, at the expense of the traders. Making the Chamber more dynamic is the dream of many who belong to it.
