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Tribune News Network
Doha
A unified definition for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will help establish a common framework to determine the eligibility of both existing and new enterprises joining the sector, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) has said.
The ministry highlighted the ministerial decision No. 250 of 2018 on the unified definition of SMEs, which comes within the framework of Qatar's keeness to develop the private sector.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ministry said unified definition contributes to equal treatment of SMEs at the national level and making use of available initiatives and designing effective programmes in the light of national development trends targeting specific groups of SMEs, according to their size or nature of activity.
The ministry said the decision on the unified definition of SMEs classified enterprises according to their headcount and annual revenues. According to the new definition, any firm registered under Qatari laws with staff strength of not more than 250 and turnover within QR100 million will now be regarded as an SME. And an SME can be classified into three — Micro, small and medium.
While a micro-enterprises is a company that has a headcount of not more than 10 employees and an annual turnover that does not exceed QR1 million, small sized enterprise is defined as a firm that has a staff strength of not more that 50 and not less than 11, and an annual turnover above QR 1 million and not more that QR20 million.
A medium-sized enterprise is a company that has a headcount of not more than 250 and not less than 51, and an annual turnover between QR20 million and QR100 million.
The Ministry said the unified definition of SMEs is limited to autonomous private and profit seeking enterprises and excludes ministries, public bodies and institutions, diplomatic bodies, public welfare institutions and establishments owned by public bodies and corporations and companies in which the state is a shareholder.
According to the ministry's decision, a private profit-seeking enterprise shall not be considered a mixed enterprise and shall maintain an independent status within the scope of the definition set out in the preceding article, even if the percentage of equities or voting powers of investors is up to 50 percent.
The ministry said the the Qatar Exchange Venture Market is excluded from the definition of SMEs when applying the rules of listing to companies. However, the QE Venture Market may decide to use it as a guiding definition.
The decision also stipulates that the ministry shall coordinate and cooperate with all relevant authorities to introduce any amendments to this definition by reviewing the outcome of applying this definition and evaluating its suitability to the needs of SMEs in the country and its compatibility with the state strategic plans.
The ministry added that the unified definition will contribute to drawing a clear map for the structure of business institutions in Qatar (micro, small, medium and large), which will help in analyzing the current situation of the sector, and formulating future plans.
The new definition will also facilitate access to capital by providing preferential treatment to SMEs to enable investment entities such as investment funds and venture capital companies to participate in financing SMEs
The unified definition will also help formulate a consolidated framework and guiding rules necessary for collecting, processing, and publishing data and information, which leads to producing high-quality statistics in addition to monitoring SMEs evolution through time, in terms of their growth, continuity, and capability to ensure their progression from one category to another.
