“Foresight turns out to be a critical adaptive strategy for times of great stress.” These words of Jamais Cascio, an author and futurist, were put into practice by the Qatar Financial Center (QFC) when it decided on a new economic corridor with a combined economy of more than $2tn, yet keeping its sustainable development goals (SDGs) intact.
The New Emerging Belt Initiative (NEBI) — a new economic corridor focusing Kuwait, Oman, India, Pakistan and Turkey — is seen as a well-calibrated strategic planning to position Doha as the most promising hub for firms wishing to operate in Qatar and in the wider region, at a time when the country has been successfully countering economic and trade blockade since June 2017.
“There has always been this view that there can only be one hub in the region,” QFC Authority chief executive Yousuf Mohamed al-Jaida said, stressing that the embargo has provided a chance for the QFC to be an alternative financial centre, “especially with the current geopolitical tensions.”
Qatar is already an attractive international business hub, with 20 business councils registered on the QFC’s platform from countries around the world as Canada, Nigeria, Singapore, Spain, India and many others.
Companies operating in the QFC need to look beyond Qatar and it has in the last 10 years had focused more on the local economy and “we believe that some very interesting G-to-G relations have been formed between Qatar and the neighbouring countries as Kuwait, Oman, Turkey and Pakistan, which is a strategic market because of the proximity”, he said.
With more than $129bn Islamic financial assets under its kitty, the QFC has also taken the lead in reaching out to Malaysia and Turkey as part of its strategy to be the dominant players in the global Shariah financial landscape. Under the proposed plan, Turkey would cover Islamic finance needs in Europe, Qatar would serve the greater Middle East and North Africa and Malaysia will continue to serve the Asian markets.
The London Stock Exchange is currently a global venue for the issuance of sukuk, while Hong Kong and Luxembourg have also made inroads but Qatar believes the market should be led by Muslim countries, al-Jaida opined.
The year 2019 saw QFC ecosystem consisting of a total of 612 licensed firms, which comprised 92 regulated and 520 non-regulated with permitted activities being single family offices (1), investment clubs (1), classification and legal services (2 each), special purpose companies (13), management offices (21), holding companies (22) and professional services (89). The Investment Promotion Agency of Qatar and QPay were the key entities joined this year.
During 2019, the QFC has entered into Memoranda of Understanding with the Taiwan External Trade Development Council to promote future collaboration and further enhance business relations between the two countries. It also entered into similar pacts signed with InvestHK and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce to promote investment between Hong Kong and Qatar.
The year also saw the QFC enter into pact with Paris Europlace and Finance Innovation, to support the growth of Qatar’s booming digital industry. It also signed a MoU with the Pakistan Stock Exchange to collaborate on a variety of initiatives, including the possibility of establishing an international financial centre in Karachi or another major city in that Asian country.
Year 2019 also saw the QFC become a member of the World Alliance of International Financial Centres, a non-profit entity established to facilitate strategic co-operation among financial centres, and also the Islamic Financial Services Board.
Having found immense business opportunities across industries ranging from fintech to sports, the QFC has already made these sectors a “strategic” focus. The QFC is also working very closely with Qatar Development Bank to advance the country’s national Fintech agenda.
With three years to go for Qatar to host the FIFA World Cup, the QFC has already stepped up efforts this year to attract sport consultancy and advisory, sport legal advisory, sport financing and contracting, sport event management and promotion, sport technology companies and sport education, in view of more than $20bn opportunities in the sector. Start-up Bootcamp is already a QFC client of sport marketing and commercialisation.
“Investing in the sports sector is one of the pillars of our strategy at Aspire Zone Foundation. The QFC’s focus on sports and other important sectors underscores the growth potential of these industries in Qatar and internationally,” according to Ali al-Mutawaa, chief of Enterprise and Development Officer, Aspire Zone Foundation.
Even as it set its eye on the global front, the QFC has also laid out a strategy to support the local economy. It is expecting 10 of its authorised firms to get listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange in another three years. Already two exchange traded funds — incorporated under QFC – and Qatar First Bank are listed on the QSE.
Demonstrating its strong leadership at a global level showing immense commitment towards achieving the SDGs; the QFC inked pact with the UN, aiming to assist with the promotion of humanitarian challenges, raise awareness amongst the greater business community, and increase mobilisation of Qatar’s private sector on key global humanitarian issues.
from Gulf Times https://ift.tt/2SDQ95Z
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