15/01/2017 09:41 AST
Qatar Chamber has announced the launching of the ‘2nd SMEs Conference’ slated for January 17 and 18 in Doha.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani, chairman of Qatar Chamber and the International Chamber of Commerce Qatar (ICC Qatar), said the event aims to empower the country’s small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector.
“The event also aims to promote entrepreneurship, stimulate services for SMEs, support diversification, and create employment opportunities for the national work force,” he said.
Khalid al-Naemi, assistant general manager of SME Banking at QNB, said the growth of SMEs in Qatar “follows a strong upward trend.”
“We will continue to support them with all the resources and expertise we have as we believe that SMEs will continue to be a key driver of the economic growth,” he said.
Khalid Abdulla al-Mana, executive director of Business Finance at QDB, said, “The strong partnership between QDB and Qatar Chamber aims to promote SMEs, and this is precisely the type of corporate engineering that will result in the achievement of our strategic national development plan under the Qatar National Vision 2030. “Through this SME conference, our joint-organisational focus is to inculcate a culture of creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and innovation across the nation through providing a supportive environment for entrepreneurs so that we may play our respective organisational roles in creating a well-diversified knowledge-based economy in Qatar.”
Doha Bank CEO Dr R Seetharaman said, “SMEs are the backbone for every economy and contribute significantly to the workforce and sustainable development. The conference will provide an excellent platform to promote connectivity among entrepreneurs and investors in Qatar and Turkey and thereby improve bilateral relationships between both countries. SMEs integration with global value chains will improve their prospects and thereby provide more opportunities for growth.”
The conference will focus on Turkey, one of the world’s newly-industrialised countries, an emerging global market, and among the world’s leading producers of agricultural products, textiles, transportation equipment, and construction materials.
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) president M Rifat Hisarc?kl?o?lu is scheduled to attend the event with a delegation composed of 150 Turkish business leaders.
“Turkey and Qatar have great potential to boost their trade exchange in line with the existing strong relations and determined leadership between the two esteemed countries. We believe that SMEs are the centrepiece of future businesses in this region. They are the key in making the connection between facilitating trade and making growth inclusive,” Hisarc?kl?o?lu said.
Gulf Times
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