The Qatar-World Bank Group partnership, signed on Saturday, is a milestone in Qatar’s ongoing efforts to support the private sector. The partnership comes in the wake of the World Bank underlining the GCC nations’ need to bolster their private sector.
This agreement is a landmark for Qatar’s business environment and will help strengthen and expand the private sector. It will support with technical advice on business environment reforms, provide training workshops, carry out relevant surveys and engage in discussions with stakeholders with the objective to promote private-sector led growth, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Sources, closely associated with the Ministry, told The Peninsula: “The assessment on the investment climate and the evaluation conducted on the regulatory environment in Qatar will help improve and enhance the private sector, and in turn, promote and increase growth driven by the sector.”
The partnership comes at a time when Qatar is taking steps to implement reforms to enhance the business environment and make it more attractive for local and international businesses. This is one of the initiatives that reiterate this effort to showcase Qatar’s efforts to become the regional lead in attracting FDI, the sources added.
The Ministerial Group for the Encouragement and Participation of the Private Sector in the Economic Development Projects of Qatar, chaired by H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Khalifa Al Thani, the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, is developing strategies to support investors in all sectors to allow for a greater role of the private sector in the economic development projects across the country.
The Ministerial Group plans to launch projects in different sectors, including food security, health, industry, tourism and logistics areas in full implementation of the directives of His Highness the Amir, as the government seeks to reach a stage self-reliance and self-sufficiency and enhancing Qatar’s developmental and sustainable macro project with the objective of creating more economic opportunities and options for investors.
World Bank’s latest ‘Gulf Economic Monitor’, issued in April 2019, had underscored the need for the GCC countries’ need to support fiscal consolidation, economic diversification, and increase private sector-led job creation, especially for women and young people.
Issam Abousleiman, Regional Director for the GCC at the World Bank Group, who signed the agreement with Qatar on Sunday, noted on the occasion of the launch of the ‘Gulf Economic Monitor’: “Economic diversification (in the GCC) will be more sustainable if it is private-sector led.
GCC countries have made some strides with improving the business environment and encouraging greater FDI and international trade.” He said the drive for economic diversification must be matched by reforms to enhance the viability of private sector activity and encourage risk-taking by the private sector.
The Peninsula
01/07/2019
