Doha: Qatar Development Bank (QDB) yesterday held its ninth Al Dhameen dialogue session with partner banks, to identify ways to enhance the indirect lending initiative for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that have a limited credit history or sufficient guarantees to acquire finances.
The session was chaired by Hamad Al Kubaisi, Executive Director of Strategy and Business Development at QDB. Attending the event were representatives from 14 partner banks and financial institutions in Qatar as well Al Dhameen partners — Enterprise Qatar, Bedaya Centre, Qatar Business Incubation Centre, etc.
“This workshop underscores QDB’s commitment to enhancing Al Dhameen’s performance; and to solidify the capabilities of participating banks to enable it to deal with SMEs in an exceptional form. We look forward to maximizing the banks’ role from just financing project to providing consultation services as well. QDB is constantly working to develop Al Dhameen to support the growth and prosperity of Small and Medium Enterprises in Qatar,” said Al Kubaisi. “We are pleased with the status of Al Dhameen and the trust our partner banks have put into the program has played a vital role in Al Dhameen’s success in a relatively short period of time,” Al Kubaisi added.
The session comprised of presentations and discussions, during which representatives of QDB and its partners Enterprise Qatar and Qatar Shell briefed participating banks on governmental programs available for SMEs, and the steps taken to enhance Al Dhameen, highlighting the efforts towards further developing the program and overcoming the challenges facing SMEs in acquiring the finances needed for their projects.
Representatives from participating banks took part in closed discussions where they were able identify the current challenges and customers’ feedback to include in future implementations.
Al Dhameen team members also demonstrated their achievements throughout the past few years, and showcased the program’s future strategy and the efforts conducted to develop the programme.
Al Dhameen was established by QDB to encourage banks to finance promising SMEs held back by a limited credit history and insufficient collateral. Qatar-based private sector companies are eligible for guarantees of up to 85 percent of the loan amount. The Peninsula
