H E Ali Shareef Al Emadi, QFC Chairman and Minister of Finance
The year 2018 was another successful year for Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) as it continued to expand and support Qatar’s diversification efforts. The platform grew considerably, attracting new firms, forging partnerships and providing valuable services for its members, H E Ali Shareef Al Emadi, QFC Chairman and Minister of Finance has said.
On the occasion of the release of QFC’s 2018 Growth Report, the QFC Chairman said the level of interest in QFC’s offering is at a record high and leading firms from around the world are considering it as both their entry point to Qatar’s market and as a hub for regional business.
He said Qatar’s economy is proving its resilience and attractiveness to investors, with the World Economic Forum’s 2018 Global Competitiveness Report once again ranking it as the second-most competitive place to do business in the Middle East region. Business environment reforms enacted in recent years are starting to show a positive impact and this is a context in which QFC registered firms are well placed to thrive.
The chairman said the QFC will soon migrate to Msheireb Downtown Doha, Qatar’s high-tech and award-winning urban redevelopment project. This will provide a first-class working environment for employees in QFC firms and facilitate collaboration with their partners and interaction with their clients. This will help reaffirm QFC’s status as a leading financial hub.
“Looking forward, I am confident that QFC’s new strategy will deliver good results, including its focus on key business clusters, such as sports services, digital businesses, media and fintech. At the same time, it has deepened its engagement with its core business through the launch of a dedicated Financial Sector Office”, Al Emadi said.
In 2018, by partnering with key stakeholders in the public and private sectors, locally and internationally, the QFC has taken significant steps in supporting the growth of the local economy, the Growth Report noted. This included signing MoU with B-Hive, a European collaborative innovation FinTech platform to develop the FinTech industry in Qatar.
QFC Regulatory Authority signed 21 MoUs with securities regulators in the European Union. An MoU was signed with a leading global provider of legal & business analytics, to support QFC firms. Another MoU was signed with Qatar Foundation to empower entrepreneurs and support education.
As part of QFC’s proactive approach to fulfilling its core mandate of attracting FDI to Qatar, QFC organised a number of international roadshows and events in key markets. It also hosted a successful Islamic finance debate with world leaders alongside the annual IMF and World Bank meetings.
“2017 was a record breaking year of growth for us (QFC), and in 2018, we intensified our efforts to further attract international business to expand their operations into Qatar’s rapidly growing market”, the report said.
Following the enactment of QFC’s new Netting Regulations in 2017, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) recognised it as an effective netting regime and published a positive legal opinion to its members.
This is a significant milestone for Qatar’s financial market infrastructure and our world-class legal framework. This initiative will allow financial institutions and corporates in QFC’s business community and in the State of Qatar, to confidently manage their risk exposure through the QFC platform.
