Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), a leading onshore financial and business centre in the region, hosted a business networking event entitled “QFC Meets” to welcome firms licensed on the QFC platform during the fourth quarter of 2021 and create an opportunity for them to engage with leading members of Qatar’s business community.

QFC has registered 52 firms during the third quarter this year. With the year’s final quarter registrations, QFC has already raised the number of new firms joining the platform in 2021 to 250 before the year end.

The in-person event convened QFC’s senior management, key business leaders in Qatar, ambassadors, and existing QFC firms to highlight inspiring success stories and provide in-depth insights into how the QFC platform enables business progress. With guests from different business sectors and embassy representatives, the event provided the new firms a broad opportunity to network and explore potential business collaborations and partnerships.

The key speakers at the gathering included H.E. Fahad Bin Mohamed Al-Attiya, Ambassador of Qatar to the UK; Eng. Omar Al-Ansari, Secretary General, QRDI Council; Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, Chief Executive Officer, QFC; and Sheikha Alanoud Bint Hamad Al-Thani, Deputy CEO & Chief Business Officer, QFC. Business leaders from QFC firms also spoke at the event to share their successful business journey in Qatar as QFC licensed companies. They included Simon Chan, Counsel at K&L Gates; Mohammad Ali, CEO, Sponix Tech LLC; Mohamed Al-Emadi, Head of Angel Investment, Qatar Development Bank; and Thomas Quemin, General Manager, GL Events.

Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, Chief Executive Officer, QFC, said: "We are very pleased with the substantial growth of our QFC community over the years, as we welcome our newly registered firms and support their successful business journey in Qatar and the region. Our firms form the core of our platform and contribute a significant share to Qatar’s economic diversification through their range of business activities. This was evident in our recent economic impact assessment report, which showed that one per cent of the country’s total economic activity was created by the activities at the QFC platform.”

Al-Jaida added: “The array of quality business opportunities enabled through our partnerships with key organisations are instrumental in helping QFC firms thrive. This is why events such as ‘QFC Meets’ are integral to the QFC agenda, through which we open gateways to new partnerships and productive collaborations that lead to business growth.”

During the event, QFC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Qatar Research Development and Innovation (QRDI) Council as part of its effort to support the growth of its firms. The MoU will facilitate the introduction and full participation of the QFC firms in QRDI’s incentive programmes.

Sheikha Alanoud Bint Hamad Al-Thani, Deputy CEO & Chief Business Officer, QFC, said: “Diversification and economic competitiveness have been at the centre of the QFC mission since our inception in 2005. Our role in helping the nation’s economy develop into the vision set forth in Qatar’s National Vision 2030, is in part to attract foreign investment and help local firms go global, as well as help and retain the foreign talent necessary to drive further innovation.

Al-Thani added: “As a founding member of a business ecosystem dedicated to working together to help the nation develop a progressive and knowledge-based economy, QFC has over the years enjoyed tremendous success having helped more than 1,200 companies from around the world establish and operate in Qatar, in a wide variety of sectors.”

Also supporting QFC and the local business community, Omar Al Fardan, President & CEO, Al Fardan Group; Abdulrahman al Mannai, Chief Executive Officer, Milaha; Ashraf Abu Issa, Chairman and CEO, Abu Issa Holding; Hussein Al Abdulla, CEO, QInvest; Hamad MK Al-Thani, SVP Investments, QIC; Mohamed Al Malki, Undersecretary Assistant MoCI; Jinoos Shariati, Director of Trade and Investment, British Embassy Doha; and H.E. Dr. Deepak Mittal, Ambassador of India to Qatar, attended the event.