Tribune News Network
Doha
The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) and the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperating in all areas related to the technological and economic development of Qatar and the development of a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in all sectors of society.
Signed at MoTC office on Wednesday, the MoU aims at supporting the activities or projects that help raise the digital industry’s contribution to the Qatari GDP.
The two parties will also work together on improving the competitiveness of the local digital sector and supporting the activities aimed at attracting local and international investments and companies, MoTC said in a statement.
The MoU was signed by MoTC’s Assistant Undersecretary for Digital Society Development Affairs Reem al Mansoori and QFC CEO Yousuf Mohamed al Jaida.
As per the MoU, the two parties will support digital development in the field of information and communication technology and its adoption in Qatar for high priority segments of society such as the youth, entrepreneurs, startups, SMEs and others.
The MoU has special areas of focus. All of them fall in the context of developing the digital and technological industry as well as the programmes and projects that MoTC execute towards that end such as the Smart Qatar Programme (TASMU) and relevant innovation and research areas through the sharing of knowledge among stakeholders.
Economic development is also another area of focus through promoting and attracting global e-commerce and e-commerce-related technology companies and driving digital investments in Qatar jointly through initiatives the two parties organise.
Mansoori said, "This MoU will offer a significant platform for constructive cooperation and a broader and more pragmatic coordination towards what we aim for.
"Qatar is committed to building a smart, vibrant and robust ICT sector as one of the fundamentals for a knowledge-based economy. Today’s MoU is a key step toward benefiting from QFC’s expertise and visible support for Qatar’s digital and technological industry agenda.
"We will work together to improve potential and competitiveness through the TASMU Digital Valley, specialised e-commerce programmes and Smart Qatar Programme.”
Jaida said, "We are proud to work closely with the MoTC to further advance the technological and economic development of Qatar. By increasing the digital industry’s contribution to Qatar’s GDP we can help improve the competitiveness of the sector, thereby attracting both local and international investments, which remains the key mandate of the QFC.”