QDB participates in launching Qatar’s National SME Definition

Mohammed
Al Muhanadi

Her Excellency Dr. Hessa Al Jaber, Minister of Information and Communication Technology, opened the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) activities in Qatar, held this year under her patronage in the period starts 15 – 19 November 2015. The event saw the presence of H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Saud Al Thani, Governor of Qatar Central Bank, and Chairman of QDB.
Qatar Development Bank (QDB) earlier announced hosting of the GEW in cooperation with a number of institutions, universities and companies in Qatar.
Abdulaziz Bin Nasser Al Khalifa, CEO of Qatar Development Bank, commented: ”I would like to extend my gratitude to H.E. Dr. Hessa Al Jaber, Minister of Information and Communication Technology, for embracing the Global Entrepreneurship Week under her patronage. I would also like to thank all the companies and institutions that contributed to making this happen”.
Launching of the Qatar national SME definition was announced during the opening ceremony. This definition is part of the government continuous support to the SME sector. The new definition will enable all parties to work together and achieve success under unified criteria.
The National SME definition ensures equal support for all SMEs from all stakeholders, as it aims to improve the policies and efforts of the SME sector development based on a clear definition. In addition, it helps develop licensed home – based businesses that match the definition criteria.
The definition also aims at facilitating financing procedures by providing privileges for investment entities that can finance SMEs.
The new initiative defines an SME as a company with a workforce that does not exceed 250 employees (except for the creative sector where employees wouldn’t exceed 100), and its annual revenue doesn’t exceed 100 million Qatari Riyals. The definition defines five main sectors including Agriculture, Transformational Industries, Creative Industries, Constructions and Trade in addition to the sector of different services.
 
”We are proud with the participation of 25 startups and 5 government institutions. We are confident that this definition will help develop the Qatari SME sector, an important cornerstone in the National Economy. QDB continues to support the Qatar National Vision 2030 by supporting the private sector in general and the SME, specifically,” concluded Al Khalifa.