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Asif Iqbal
Doha
Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) is on a mission to create 10,000 jobs in the next five years, its Chief Executive Officer said on Wednesday. The move is part of QFC's bid to aid the government's economic diversification efforts and to encourage private sector participation in the process, Yousuf Mohamed al Jaida said while addressing a business gathering in Doha.
"QFC is an integral part of the Qatari economy. In keeping with that general character, we have decided to increase the number of companies on board to 1,000, from the current 340, by 2022,"Jaida said while addressing dignitaries of the Qatar Businessmen Association and a visiting trade delegation from Malta.
More firms coming under its fold, the QFC CEO said, would go a long way in expanding the local market and strengthening the private sector, besides generating jobs. He said it would also facilitate the diversification of government's revenues.
"The government's revenue is being diversified; the non-hydrocarbon revenue is estimated to account for a larger share than hydrocarbon revenue in 2016. The private sector contributed 31 percent of Qatar's GDP in 2014, amounting to more than $66 billion," Jaida said.
The diversification efforts of the government, he said, were bearing results with the non-hydrocarbon sector driving real GDP growth from 2015 to 2017.
The non-hydrocarbon's contribution to the real GDP in 2011 was about 42 percent and it was expected to have reached 62 percent in 2016, he added.
Describing Qatar as an ideal investment destination for the Maltese trade delegation, Jaida highlighted the country's several major infrastructure investment opportunities.
He said a total of $71 billion had been announced for the transportation sector for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which includes the 212-km-Doha Metro project with a target investment of about $21 billion and the 900-km-Expressway Programme with a target investment of $20 billion.
As regards the World Cup stadiums, Jaida said contracts worth $4 billion would be rolled out next year ” for Al Bayt, Al Rayan and Al Wakrah stadiums.
On the benefits that QFC provides to firms, Jaida said the financial centre offers world-class legal system, comprehensive legislation, robust regulation and an efficient operating platform.
Jaida said firms operating out of the QFC enjoy tax rate of 10 percent on locally-sourced profits and exemptions from withholding tax on payments out of Qatar, personal income tax, cash reimbursement for tax losses, and advance ruling service, providing QFC-licensed firms with a high degree of certainty and many other associated benefits.
