Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida, Chief Executive Officer & Board Member, QFC
The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) ended the year 2019 on a high note with an exceptional growth of 35 percent, reaching 71 percent of its strategic 2022 target of 1,000 firms being registered on its platform.
Total number of licensed firms in 2019 is up 323 percent beyond QFC’s annual target. To meet its strategic 2022 target of 1,000 firms, a total of a total of 91 strategic fits were needed in 2019.
Instead, QFC completed 294 strategic fits, including 20 firms from UK and 11 from the US. If QFC projects this growth rate till 2022, it can generate an estimated $2.4bn in revenues and create assets worth $1.8bn, QFC noted in its annual report.
H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, Minister of Commerce & Industry and QFC Chairman, congratulated QFC on the achievements of 2019 under the leadership of Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida, Chief Executive Officer.
“I anticipate that in 2020, with the QFC’s continued, exceptional delivery on its core mandate paired with the sustained growth and success of our economy, we will soar to even greater heights,” the Minister stated in an introductory note to the QFC Annual Report.
“The QFC has seen tremendous development of its own in 2019 as it continued to deliver on its core mandate of promoting economic diversification and attracting FDI to Qatar. We witnessed exceptional growth of 35 percent with nearly 200 firms being registered on the platform in 2019 alone, strongly edging us nearer to our 1,000 firms target that we set on a couple of years ago. Mirroring the nation’s commitment to sustaining healthy bilateral economic ties, the QFC connected with key markets around the world including Russia, Turkey, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, France, Spain, London, Switzerland, South Africa, United States, and more, the QFC said.
Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida, Chief Executive Officer & Board Member, QFC, said: Careful government planning and strategic investments paired with key legal and business reforms enacted by the Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, continue to shape and position Qatar as one of the fastest growing and dynamic economies in the world. The numbers across foreign direct investment point to impressive growth.
At the end of the second quarter of 2019, FDI rose by 11.3 percent at $209.6bn, up from $188.3bn in the same period in 2018. The year 2019 was a momentous one for QFC. It kick-started the year with the unveiling of its 2022 strategy.
The year also saw the launch of the Investment Promotion Agency of Qatar (IPAQ), which is registered on the QFC platform and aims to be a single and complete source for investment solutions in Qatar by attracting FDI in all of the country’s priority sectors.
Major achievements of the year included obtaining the Council of Ministers’ approval for QFC companies to participate in government tenders. QFC also developed an Asset Management Sector focus with a strong network of Qatari investment managers and tax benefits to attract new asset managers and funds.
It developed tax and legal groundwork to promote QFC as platform for Aviation Finance with interest from international Aircraft lease companies to set up at QFC. QFC amended its tax regime to allow investment managers in QFC to elect for the zero percent concessionary rate for certain types of income.
It also issued a Concessionary Statement of Practice (CSOP), granting QFC entities involved in the organisation of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 an exemption from tax. QFC data showed a total of 461 companies joined its platform between 2005 and 2017 and 151 in 2018. A total of 204 firms were licensed in 2019. Top countries of origin of 2019 licensed firms are Germany (4), Pakistan (4), Turkey (5), Lebanon (6), France (6), Jordan (9), USA (11), UK (20), India (27) and Qatar (41).
