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Satyendra Pathak
Doha
Physical stores named 'Derwazaa' will be opened across Qatar to sell and promote 'made at home' products in the country, a senior official of Qatar Development Bank (QDB) has said.
Talking to Qatar Tribune on the sidelines of the second edition of 'Made at Home' exhibition that opened in Doha on Sunday, QDB Business Localisation Department Manager Mohammed Mubarak al Mansouri said the first 'Derwazaa' store will open in the country by the end of this year or early next year.
Formally launched by QDB on Sunday, 'Derwazaa' is the newest marketing service for the home-based projects.
It is a major step towards popularising 'made at home' products in Qatar, Mansouri said adding the initiative would help develop visual identity of such products.
"There are plans to open several Derwazaa store in the country to support home-based businesses that play a key role in accelerating the local economic growth and contribute effectively to the sustainable development of Qatar," he said.
"We will announce the details about opening such stores in the near future," he said.
Earlier the seven-day 'Made at Home' exhibition opened at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre.
Being held under the patronage of Qatar Museums Chairperson Her Excellency Sheikha al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, the exhibition is organised by QDB in collaboration with Qatar Chamber, NAMA Center and the Ministry of Administrative Development Labor & Social Affairs.
Inaugurated by Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs.HE Dr Issa bin Saad al Jafali al Nuaimi, the exhibition offers home-based businesses a unique opportunity to display and sell their products, create new marketing and distribution channels, exchange experiences with other home-based business owners who are involved in a range of specialised fields, and showcase their projects on a wide scale.
As many as 185 exhibitors from five different sectors like crafts, fashion, food and perfumes are showcasing their products at the exhibition.
Service providers were also included in this year's edition, such as printing, design and logistics.
Commenting on the occasion, QDB Intelligence and Localisation Executive Director Saleh Majid al Khulaifi said,"Home-based businesses are recently finding greater impetus and this is our endeavor to help them grow by offering such a platform where they can showcase their capabilities to the prospective buyers. This exhibition aims at empowering the individuals by providing them the economic and social stability. The expo is expected to be filled with lot of business deals and immense opportunities for the participants."
The second edition of 'Made at Home' is launched after the remarkable success of its first edition which witnessed the participation of 144 local home-based businesses, Mansouri said.
Compared to the first edition, he said, there is a rise of 20 percent in the number of exhibitors this years.
In terms of new products, he said, there are more than 50 percent new items this time. Mansouri said value of overall sell this time is also expected to exceed QR4 million mark that was achieved in the previous edition.
He said that many new initiatives like cafeteria zone have been introduced this time to attract more people to the exhibition.
