The Ministerial Group for the Encouragement and Participation of the Private Sector in the Economic Development Projects of Qatar, chaired by Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, has announced the launch of a series of new projects in various fields, as part of the government’s efforts to give greater role to the private sector in the economic development projects in the country and in pursuance of the directives of H H the Emir to seek self-reliance and increase self-sufficiency.
In the context of encouraging industrial investments, advancing development through real partnership with the private sector and meeting the local market’s needs of required industries, the Ministerial Group, at its latest meeting, approved the results of the first phase of the initiative “Own your factory within 72 hours” through the single window, which aims to provide exceptional facilities in the industrial investment procedures in the State of Qatar through the provision of more than 10 concessions, including the issuance of all approvals and licenses and the allocation of land needed within 72 hours from the date of approving the application, with exemption of customs on raw materials in addition to supporting local products.
Several government agencies, including Qatar Chamber; Economic Zones Corporation and Qatar Development Bank are participating in the initiative and working together to achieve its objectives and to provide all facilities and approvals within three days of selecting investors.
The initiative has attracted a lot of interest from investors since its launch. The committee received many applications from inside and outside Qatar. The initiative included eight major industrial sectors that took into account the needs of the local market.
As a first stage, 63 factories, in the industries with added value to the national economy have been approved, which in turn will serve the needs of the local market, increase production lines and modernize them.
Food industries topped the list of approved factories with 22 factories, while the rest of the factories were distributed in other sectors: Metallurgy, machinery , rubber , medical, paper, electrical and chemical industries.
The Ministerial Group, in support of food security projects, has agreed to introduce a shrimp farming initiative with a capacity of more than 1,000 tonnes per year.
This project will cover about 90 percent of the needs of the Qatari market of fresh shrimps. This initiative comes as part of the government’s efforts to reach self-sufficiency in food, agricultural, animal and industrial products.
The Ministerial Group announced last month that a national company had won a bid to manage the first fish farming project to produce 2,000 tonnes of local fish annually for the local market.
On the other hand, the Ministerial Group agreed on a proposal to put forward a general tender to the national companies concerned to recycle at least two million tons of the construction waste of each company at the Rawdat Rashid facility within five years.
The initiative aims to produce recycled rubble and other raw materials, to reduce the demand for imported rubble in construction, and to encourage the national private sector to invest in this area.
The initiative is part of the Government’s ongoing effort to reduce waste that affects the environment and to implement the Qatar National Vision 2030.
Other projects in the field of food security, health, education, industry, tourism and logistics development are under consideration. A specialized team will study the best ways and procedures to launch these projects in a fair and transparent manner for all investors.
The Peninsula Qatar
November 13
