By Mohammad Shoeb
DOHA: Qatar Development Bank (QDB) is developing 14 new industrial facilities to support the growth of local food and beverages (F&B) sector. The work on these proposed F&B facilities, which are located adjacent to the Old Industrial Area, are going on in full swing.
Each facility is around 2,230 square meters (sqm), divided between two floors. The ground area is 1,784sqm, and an administrative office floor is around 446 square meters, leased at a competitive rate of QR5 per sqm every month. The Bank also supports the winning entrepreneurs by providing a package of advisory and financing programmes that give them the best possible start.
QDB will start receiving applications from mid-April until September 15, 2016 from local Small and Mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) who are interested in setting up food and beverages producing units at these upcoming industrial facilities.
The initiative is part of its efforts to diversifying the economy and filling the gaps in achieving food security in Qatar by supporting the growth of the food and beverages sector in the country.
The state-backed developmental bank organised a workshop on “Jahez 2”, which was held on Monday at the Four Seasons Hotel, which QDB has provided these new industrial facilities to support the growth of the sector. After receiving applications from interested parties, a team at QDB will carefully evaluate each one of them. This is divided into two phases: the first is to make sure that the documents required are correct and the second phase is a comprehensive review of conditions. The evaluation process will take nine weeks, following which QDB will set up personal interviews, which will last for six weeks, followed by a declaration of the winners in February 2017.
QDB launched its “Jahez 1” initiative several months ago, which included 32 industrial facilities, dedicated to supporting a number of industrial sectors, including chemicals, plastics, wood materials, and electronic materials . This initiative so far has seen tremendous success, offering a large number of Qatari businessmen a range of innovative and distinctive projects.
The Jahez initiative focuses on leasing complete and equipped facilities to Qatari SMEs and entrepreneurs to encourage them to establish innovative and environmentally friendly businesses. The initiative also aims to accelerate the trend towards a diversified and knowledge-based economy to achieve sustainable economic development, which is considered a key element of Qatar National Vision 2030.
The workshop demonstrates QDB’s efforts to develop both SMEs and entrepreneurs, as well as focuses on the importance of “Jahiz 2” in providing the support they require. The workshop addressed the valuation method, the criteria of projects selection, and provided an open forum for questions from attendees.
Commenting on the success of the workshop, Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa, CEO of QDB, said: “QDB continues to provide innovative initiatives to support Qatari businessmen and the local economy, which of course will be reflected positively in the Qatar’s present and future.”
He added: “The Jahiz initiative first phase was a huge success, with a large number of entrepreneurs applying for the benefits provided to them, and today we expect Jahiz 2 will achieve similar success. There are now 46 industrial facilities, serving five different industrial sectors, all of which was accomplished within a few months.” The Peninsula
