Abdulrahman bin Hesham Al Sowaidi
CEO of Qatar Development Bank (QDB) Abdulrahman bin Hesham Al Sowaidi revealed that the QDB launched its new strategy for 2025-2030, which is in line with the objectives of the State of Qatar's Third National Strategy.
In his remarks to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the QDB CEO said that the new strategy aims to support the private sector by empowering the role of all actors in the business system, while maintaining the bank's services in financing, guiding, and training the private sector and providing incubation and acceleration for emerging projects and innovative ideas.
He Indicated that QDB's strategy 2025-2030 was designed in line with the Third National Development Strategy. He said that the expect the strategy to have a positive impact in this regard and contribute directly to achieving the goals of the third National Development Strategy, which will help enhance the economic sustainability and development of the State of Qatar.
He noted that through the new strategy, QBD intends to move from the stage of direct support to the stage of empowerment, whether for the entrepreneurship system or for partners, as the strategy focuses on diversifying the methods of support provided by the bank, enhancing the use of available resources to address new goals related to environmental, social and institutional governance and digital transformation goals, and enhancing innovation and creativity, while establishing the best partnerships capable of facilitating access to these targets.
Regarding supporting innovation, the QBD CEO said that QDB has always paid attention to the importance of innovation and creativity and stressed the need to support and enhance it in the Qatari entrepreneurship environment.
He explained that QDB has sought to support innovation in the past through several initiatives and programs that search for innovators in the national business environment and their projects, and support and develop them. He said that the bank has also always encouraged the adoption of a culture of creative thinking and free entrepreneurial work through its various initiatives and services.
He added that in the new strategy, QDB will continue its role in supporting innovation, whether through direct or indirect investment, or by incubating and accelerating innovative businesses.
QDB will develop the innovation support pillar by supporting early-stage startups to serve priority economic clusters stipulated in the Third National Development Strategy, such as future manufacturing industries, logistics services, and the tourism sector, in addition to the education sector, financial technology, information technology and digital services, as well as agricultural technology projects, health services, and green technology.
Abdulrahman bin Hesham Al Sowaidi said that QDB will expand its customer base to include all international start-ups wishing to establish a local presence in the State of Qatar.
Through the new strategy, the management of specialized business incubators and accelerators will be transferred to experts and specialists from the private sector and partners, enabling them to do so, while continuing to manage a comprehensive business incubator and accelerator for priority specializations and sectors at this stage.
He pointed out that QDB will work to increase the volume of investments in the founding stages of companies by 24 percent annually, and raise the public sector's contribution to venture investment in Qatar to 30 percent by 2030, which the Third National Development Strategy aims to reach QR 1 billion.
To achieve this, QDB will further diversify its product offering by increasing investment volume, expanding co-investment to include pre-seed and seed stage companies, supporting angel investment networks, and capital guarantees.
With regards to the local business development pillar, the CEO of QDB said that the bank will expand its client base benefiting from the bank's financial and non-financial services, to include all Qatar-based companies and those registered with the Qatar Free Zones Authority.
Al Sowaidi added that QDB will enhance its indirect finance services by collaborating with financial institutions in Qatar, indicating that the next phase will focus on offering indirect financing options to companies that have demonstrated financial management maturity, with this service comprising 25 percent of the bank's total financing.
The CEO of QDB said that the bank will focus on providing comprehensive and seamless services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), thus, putting companies at the center of all QDB services, which will involve conducting company situation analysis, followed by tailoring a comprehensive service package accordingly, which will include consultation and financial services in line with a company's needs.
According to the new strategy, QDB will set a financing ceiling at QR 70 million per company and QR 200 million per group, not applicable however to export companies and the food security sector. Furthermore, the bank will also offer new solutions for companies that require financing beyond the mentioned ceilings, through collaborations with local commercial banks via indirect financing and joint ventures.
The CEO of QDB said that thanks to the bank's new strategy, at least 50 percent of QDB's financing customers will receive non-financial advisory support through customer-tailored service packages.
With regards to export trade financing, Al Sowaidi said that the new strategy seeks to turn QDB into the private sector's gateway to global markets.
As part of the bank's ongoing efforts to support the export sector, the CEO of QDB said that it has already begun adjusting its programs and launched the new trademark 'Qatar Exports' through its Export Development, Finance, and Promotion Agency - Tasdeer, to enhance the competitiveness of Qatari products and enable their presence in global markets.
Al Sowaidi added that QDB's new strategy aims to expand the bank's client base beyond Qatari exporters to also include international buyers of Qatari exporters' goods and services.
In this regard, he said that the bank has set a credit limit exceeding QR 2 billion for international buyers to date, in addition to providing preferential services to companies operating in priority economic zones in accordance with the Third National Development Strategy.
Al Sowaidi added that QDB will work on expanding Qatari industries and services' global reach through export promotion offices worldwide, targeting priority markets. He continued that regional and international offices will be established under the 'Qatar Exports' brand, with the first regional office already having been established in Saudi Arabia.
These efforts will contribute to doubling the export volume of SMEs in Qatar, reaching a minimum of QR 2.3 billion by 2030, representing 3.6 percent of the country's non-hydrocarbon exports.
(QNA)
Qatar Secures Place Among the World's Top 10 Wealthiest Nations
Hamad International Airport Witnesses Record Increase in Passenger Traffic
Saudi Arabia: Any visa holder can now perform Umrah
What are Qatar's Labour Laws on Annual Leave?
Leave a comment