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SME industry key to Qatar's economic growth

THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020

BUSINESS

Qatar, UK to bolster cooperation in financial services sectorSATISH KANADY THE PENINSULA

Qatar Central Bank Governor H E Sheikh Abdulla bin Saoud Al Thani has stated that there is immense scope for further bolstering the cooperation between the financial services industry in Qatar and the UK. Given the strong bilateral ties and prolonged political, economic, social and cultural ties between the two countries, there is huge potential for further bolstering the mutual cooperation in the financial, banking and investment fields, the QCB Governor said.

Delivering the opening address at a high-profile “Qatar-UK Financial Services” event here yesterday, Sheikh Abdulla said Qatar views London as an “incubation for investments” and will continue to tap the opportunities in that vibrant market.

The event, held under the auspices of the QCB Governor and Lord Mayor of the City of London in the United Kingdom Alderman William Russell, was organised by the UK’s Department for International Trade, in cooperation with Qatar Central Bank.

Sheikh Abdulla noted that

London is an important desti-nation for investment, and the global markets. It is also an important hub for all kinds of financial and business services worldwide. Qatar will continue to tap London’s opportunities in the Sukuk market, he said.

Highlighting the strong ties between Qatar and the UK in the fields of financial services, cyber-security, and fintech, the QCB Governor said that the cooper-ation has now further extended

to the education sector with the setting up of “Qatar Centre for Global Banking & Finance” at King’s College, London- a research centre dedicated to the study of central banks and the challenges they face in the global environment.

The Centre will be a model for developing human capital and joint cooperation with a view to developing education and training in the field of banking and finance and building

capabilities for employees of the Qatar Central Bank and the financial sector in the State of Qatar. He added that agreement will help achieve the goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030, and the strategy of the financial sector in the State of Qatar.

The QCB Governor also noted that a recent agreement signed between the State of Qatar and the UK in the field of cybersecurity is witnessing great progress. The Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) was signed between QCB and Department for International Trade.

Sheikh Abdulla said that Qatar Central Bank is currently preparing to launch the financial technology strategy, with prep-arations for launching a Sandbox technology for computer security which separates running pro-grams and malware.

Speaking on the occasion, The Lord Mayor of the City of London Alderman William

Russell appreciated the long-term partnership between Qatari and British financial institutions. Qatar is an important investment partner for the city of London and the UK. The City of London is keen to support the State of Qatar while developing its financial services sector, h he said.

He pointed out that London and the UK have experience in emerging areas, such as green finance, and Fintech. The UK financial services sector is ready to work on providing everything necessary to support Qatar in organising the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Ajay Sharma, the Ambas-sador of the United Kingdom to Qatar noted that the Forum aims to enhance the long-term part-nership between the two coun-tries. The strong presence of top industry leaders from the UK and Qatar demonstrates the impor-tance and great value that the two sides attach to the existing strategic relations between them in this field, as well as the shared commitment to progress in initiatives of mutual benefit across financial services.

‘QNB’ Official Sponsor of ‘Made in Qatar 2020’ Exhibition in KuwaitTHE PENINSULA — DOHA QNB will be the Official Sponsor for the ‘Made in Qatar 2020’ exhibition in Kuwait. Yousef Ali Darwish, General Manager - QNB Group Communications and Qatar Chamber’s Director General Saleh bin Hamad Al Sharqi signed the sponsorship agreement at the Bank’s head-quarter.

The expo, scheduled to be held between 19 – 22 February 2020, will be organised by the Qatar Chamber in cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Qatar Devel-opment Bank as strategic partner on an area of 10,000 sqm. at the Kuwait International Fair with a participation of about 220 Qatari manufac-turing companies.

Qatar Chamber Director-General Saleh bin Hamad Al

Sharqi expressed his gratitude to QNB Group for sponsoring the exhibition, saying: “We highly appreciate QNB’s keenness on enhancing and boosting the national industry, which significantly reflects its great efforts for developing the private sector and providing financial facilitations to busi-nessmen and entrepreneurs, particularly in all segments of the industrial sector.”

In a press statement, Al Sharqi noted that QNB’s spon-sorship of the exhibition affirmed the Bank’s interest in supporting Qatar’s efforts aiming at promoting locally manufactured products outside the country, affirming that the expo would promote Qatar industry in Kuwait and strengthen cooperation and communication ties between businessmen and manufac-

turers of both counties. On his part, Yousef Ali

Darwish, General Manager - QNB Group Communications expressed his pleasure that QNB is an official sponsor of the “Made in Qatar” 2020 exhi-bition, affirming the Bank’s great interest in supporting events that promote national products and contribute to developing economic growth in the country.

Darwish also said that QNB’s sponsorship of the exhibition stemmed from its firm commitment towards bolstering local industry, enhancing Qatari entrepre-neurs, promoting the locally manufactured products outside the country, as well as supporting Qatari exporters and helping them find new markets for local products.

Yousef Ali Darwish (left), General Manager - QNB Group Communications; and Qatar Chamber’s Director-General, Saleh bin Hamad Al Sharqi, during the signing ceremony.

Qatar’s investment in UK exceeds £40bnMOHAMMAD SHOEB THE PENINSULA

Qatar’s investment to the UK has reached over £40bn (QR188.6bn), which is expected to see further growth in the coming years as both the countries are working to expand and deepen relations in new areas, said the visiting Lord Mayor of the City of London William Russell, yesterday.

The UK is also working to play major role in Qatar’s efforts to become a regional hub of green finance and FinTech services.

The bilateral relations between Qatar and the UK are historic and very strong and deep rooted almost all sectors. These relations, especially in the field of trade, investment and other services sector, are set to touch new heights in the run-up to the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup and beyond as both the coun-tries are working closely and aggressively to enhance the level of cooperation.

Russell, a British fin-ancier, who is serving as the 692nd Lord Mayor of the City of London for 2019–2020, noted that top government and private officials from both the countries are working to enhance the bilateral cooperation, with special focus in areas such as green finance, FinTech and many other services sector.

“I was here to reiterate the strength of the

relationship that we have with

Qatar. It was a very successful visit. I was fortunate enough to meet H H the Amir and H E the Prime Minister of Qatar. During the meeting we discussed about sustainability in green finance and how this is a biggest issue having to save the planet going forward,” said Lord Mayor.

He added: “We also dis-cussed about the bilateral rela-tions on trade and investment. We are grateful for the huge amount of investment Qatar has made in the UK, and I was pleased to hear that that investment will continue to grow post-Brexit.” �P08

The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman William Russell, addressing a media round-table at Ritz-Carlton hotel, in Doha, yesterday. PIC: BAHER AMIN/ THE PENINSULA

The Centre will be a model for developing human capital and joint cooperation with a view to developing education and training in the field of banking and finance.

Qatar Central Bank Governor, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud Al Thani (sixth right); The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman William Russell (sixth left); Ajay Sharma, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Qatar (fourth left) and other officials during the opening session of “Qatar-UK Financial Services Event”, yesterday. PIC: ABDUL BASIT/THE PENINSULA

UDC hosts annual staff gathering,

honours long-serving employees

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UDC hosts annual staff gathering, honours long-serving employeesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

United Development Company (UDC), one of the leading Qatari public share-holding companies and the master developer of The Pearl-Qatar and Gewan islands, organised its annual staff gathering event to recognise its employees’ hard work and dedication.

UDC President and Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board Ibrahim Jassim Al-Othman, members of the Company’s Executive Man-agement and employees attended the gathering at Marsa Malaz Kempinski at The Pearl-Qatar.

The event honoured staff members who have completed ten and fifteen years of service at UDC. Al-Othman pre-sented certificates of appreciation and gifts to long-serving employees, thanking them for their achievements and wishing them continued success at UDC.

Addressing employees at the event, Al-Othman presented the Company’s achievements and financial per-formance in 2019, while highlighting strategic objectives set for 2020 and the Company’s 5 years’ business plan 2019-2023. He added that UDC’s achieve-ments over the past year reflected the Company’s successful initiatives to

expand its real estate offerings. Al-Othman praised employees for

their contribution towards the growth and progress of the Company, while reaffirming that UDC remains a pres-tigious workplace with a corporate culture that encourages diversity, knowledge transfer and best practice.

“At UDC, we believe human capital represents a pillar of our development strategy. Long service awards are just one of the many incentives we have adopted as part of a strategy to appre-

ciate our experienced employees”. A documentary was followed to

highlight the Company’s accomplish-ments in 2019, which marked another successful year for UDC with the launch of marine and dredging related works at Gewan Island, UDC’s latest real estate project.

It is worth mentioning that 2019, which marked the Company’s 20-year anniversary, featured a myriad of achievements.

In 2019, UDC signed agreements with the Ministry of Interior to secure

The Pearl-Qatar’s maritime borders and to promote traffic safety across the island. Through such agreements, UDC aims to cement The Pearl-Qatar’s position as leading tourism and leisure destination that had attracted over 15 million vehicles in 2019.

In parallel, UDC moved forward with development projects across The Pearl-Qatar, with the construction com-mencement of United School Interna-tional in Giardino Village, while, naming Orbital Education, the leading British educational group, as the operator of this School.

Giardino Village also featured the commencement of construction works for a gated compound, while Floresta Gardens launched construction works of 3 gated compounds, in addition to the completion of the sale of 10 tower plots in this precinct. This was in par-allel to the ongoing construction works in Al Mutahidah Towers and The Pearl Commercial Showrooms.

In 2019, UDC signed an agreement to finance the development of Gewan Island and concurrently, marine works at the Island witnessed a significant progress and construction works of Gewan Island’s entrance bridge were successfully launched.

UDC was awarded two prestigious

new awards in 2019; the Best Mixed-Use Development Award for The Pearl-Qatar and the Commercial High-Rise Development Award for UDC Tower, reflecting UDC’s premium property offerings.

UDC was also recognized at the 10th edition of Asia’s Best Employer Brand Awards, with the Best Employer Brand Award and the Award for Best HR Strategy in Line With Business. The awards reflect UDC’s success in aligning its HR policies with its business strat-egies and in adopting effective man-agement practices that contribute to the growth of the Company and its employees.

This annual staff gathering aims to establish communication channels and instill a spirit of teamwork between the management team and employees. This, in turn, mirrors UDC’s belief in the sig-nificance of human capital towards achieving its corporate mission.

In addition to honoring the employees, two employees were rec-ognized as “Employee of the Year” and “Manager of the Year” and at the cere-mony’s conclusion, attendees including awarded honorees posed for a group photograph with UDC President and Chief Executive Officer and Member of The Board

Ibrahim Jassim Al-Othman, UDC President and Chief Executive Officer (centre), and other senior officials of UDC on the sidelines of the annual gathering.

MOCI discusses 2022 FIFA World Cup preparations with UK trade missionTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) welcomed yesterday at its head-quarters in Lusail, a British trade mission to discuss preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The delegation was led by Simon Penney, Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for the Middle East, who is currently visiting Qatar.

The delegation included representa-tives of 30 major British companies spe-cialising in the areas of security training, crowd management, consulting, digital services, cyber security, information man-agement, artificial intelligence technol-ogies, event management and organization.

Within the framework of the delega-tion’s visit, the Ministry organised a panel discussion entitled “Doing Business in Qatar”, with the aim of highlighting the unique investment environment that Qatar offers and the government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its strategic part-nership with the UK in various fields, espe-cially in areas related to hosting and organizing the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Saleh bin Majid Al Khulaifi, Acting Undersecretary for Trade Affairs, high-lighted that Qatar and the UK have long enjoyed strong ties that have reflected pos-itively on bilateral trade and investment, with the UK ranking as Qatar’s ninth largest trade partner in 2018.

He added that bilateral trade has grown in recent years, with the UK and Qatar trading $3.6bn worth of goods during the January-November 2019 period, compared to $2.91bn in 2018.

On the investment front, he said the UK is one of Qatar’s largest investment partners, noting that a total of 1010 British companies are currently operating in Qatar. These include 934 Qatari-British companies with a $2.6bn capital, in addition to 7 fully owned British com-panies, 69 representative offices, and 35 British firms licensed under the umbrella of the Qatar Financial Centre.

The UK, on the other hand, represents

an attractive destination for Qatari invest-ments, which have been channeled into major British companies in the hospitality, real estate, and financial markets sectors, he said.

In this context, Al Khulaifi explained that Qatar has sought to cement its position as a leading regional investment and business hub, by laying the foundation of an attractive business environment that allows foreign investors up to 100 percent ownership in various real estate and com-mercial ventures, and to participate in the implementation of major economic projects, particularly those relating to the FIFA World Cup 2022.

The growing bilateral cooperation between Qatar and the UK will enhance the success and security of this global event, Al Khulaifi said, noting that Qatar and the UK have partnered to develop various projects relating to the World Cup including the design of stadiums, con-struction of roads, expansion of the Hamad International Airport and technical coop-eration in the field of stadium security and management.

He invited British investors and busi-nessmen to take advantage of the prom-ising investment opportunities that Qatar offers as the country gears up to host one of the most successful and distinguished

international events in the history of the FIFA World Cup.

The panel featured a number of pres-entations by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Free Zones Authority and the Qatar Financial Centre, that shed light on the development of Qatar’s business environment and efforts to attract investments including the laws and legislation that Qatar adopted to stimulate foreign direct investment, including law No. 1 of 2019 on regulating the investment of non-Qatari capital in economic activity, and the incentives and advantages granted to foreign investors. The presentations also shed light on Qatar’s sports sector and the investment opportunities that have emerged in various sectors in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Following the conclusion of the panel discussions, Al Khulaifi accompanied rep-resentatives of the British trade mission on a tour of the Single Window Services center, during which they were briefed on the business procedures and services pro-vided by the window, and the facilities it provides to investors, as well as its role in stimulating the private sector and encouraging domestic and foreign investments in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.

Members of the visiting British Trade Mission at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) headquarters in Lusail, yesterday.

Qatar’s investment in UK exceeds £40bn

FROM BUSINESS PAGE 1

He further added: “Qatar has invested over £40bn in the UK, and QIA (Qatar Investment Authority) is one of the few sovereign wealth funds that invested over £5bn during the Brexit period of three and a half year after the refer-endum. We are very grateful for the friendship.”

Commenting about the upcoming UN Climate Change Con-ference, he said that the UK is going to host the COP 26 (in Glasgow, Scotland from 9 to 19 November 2020) where it want the world, including Qatar, to come together and show leadership for a sus-tainable world.

“In the UK we have committed to be a zero emissions country by 2050, and today the BP, the British energy major, has also announced to be net zero emissions by 2050,” noted the Lord Mayor.

On Qatar’s preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he said: “We are excited about it. I have seen some of the works that have already been done. It’s very impressive, and I am sure, it is going to be a fantastic event. Some 30 British companies are looking forward to help during the World Cup.”

Russell, who is also the ambas-sador for the UK’s financial and professional services that employees about 2.3 million people, reiterated that FinTech and green finance are some of the important areas where Qatar and UK are working to collaborate in a big way for mutual benefits.

London is one of the leading financial centers of the world. The financial services sector con-tributes nearly 12 percent to the country’s GDP. However, there are

some apprehensions among some analysts about the performance of the sector post-Brexit era, which he refuted.

Responding about the possible impact of the Brexit, he said: “We are going to sign free-trade agree-ments with other countries. As far as the financial services sector is concern, we have always been in the forefront.

We have the ecosystem such as the rule of law, language, time zone, and more financial institu-tions than any other cities in the world. We will still be at the centre of financial services within Europe.

“There are negotiations going on with the EU, and I am confident that we will come to an agreement. However, we also recognise that it’s going to be a challenge but we have the ecosystem and infra-structure to maintain our status as one of the top financial centres in the world.”

During the Brexit period the UK lost some 2,000 jobs but it gained in the FinTech which employees over 76,500 people. And now the UK is the green finance centre of the world.

He also said that the Brexit has provided clarity to investors, and the British pound is still at the level where it was three and a-half years ago, so it a good time to invest in the UK. And he pointed out that due to that clarity, the demand in real estate sector has also picked up momentum.

The bilateral trade in goods and services between the UK and Qatar was £6.7bn at the end of third quarter of 2019. Total UK exports to Qatar amounted to £4.3bn, while total UK imports from Qatar were £2.4bn at the end of third quarter of last year.

Ibrahim Jassim Al-Othman, UDC President and Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board

In 2019, UDC signed agreements with the Ministry of Interior to secure The Pearl-Qatar’s maritime borders and to promote traffic safety across the island. Through such agreements, UDC aims to cement The Pearl-Qatar’s position as leading tourism and leisure destination.

Lebanon’s Berri sees a need for IMF help to draw up rescue plan

REUTERS — BEIRUT

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (pictured) believes Lebanon needs technical help from the IMF to draw up an economic rescue plan and a decision on whether to pay a Eurobond maturing in March should be taken based on IMF advice, an-Nahar newspaper and a government source said on Tuesday.

Berri also believes Lebanon cannot “sur-render” itself to the IMF “because of its “incapacity to bear its conditions,” said the government source, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, and an-Nahar, quoting Berri’s visitors.

One of the world’s most heavily indebted states, Lebanon is facing an unprecedented eco-nomic and financial crisis that has led banks to impose informal capital controls to prevent capital flight and the currency to lose a third of its value.

Berri is one of the most influential figures in the country and his Amal Movement named a number of ministers in the cabinet of Prime Minister Hassan Diab which took office last month, including the minister of finance.

Berri said Lebanon must take advantage of the time remaining before its next debt maturity on March 9 to send a message abroad, “specifically to the Americans” that the country needs IMF tech-nical help through a rescue plan.

“There is still room for Lebanon during the coming two weeks and before the end of the current month to benefit from this measure,” Berri was cited as saying.

Based on this, “Lebanon will be able to form its position on the maturing Eurobonds - whether to pay its com-mitments or not to pay them - based on what the IMF advises.”But Berri also said the Lebanese people would be unable to bear IMF conditions, saying Lebanon was not Greece or Argentina - countries that have experienced their own financial crises.

Samsung’s answer to iPhone is a galaxy of partnershipsBLOOMBERG — TOKYO/SEOUL

On a day when Samsung Electronics Co announced four new high-spec smart-phones, the company also signaled how it intends to compete with Apple Inc’s iOS ecosystem through software partnerships.

The new Galaxy S20 devices will feature deep inte-gration of Netflix Inc., allowing users to search for movies by voice queries to the Bixby digital assistant. Bixby’s morning routines will also include Spotify Technology SA music streaming, and Microsoft Corp’s Xbox Game Studios will debut its Forza Street title on Samsung’s Galaxy Store for apps.

“It’s been amazing to see Samsung continuously push the limits of what’s possible,” said Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google’s Android chief.

Google’s operating system has been helped by and risen in parallel to Samsung’s emergence as the world’s most prolific smartphone maker.

Rival Apple is on a mission to develop its own content such as Apple Music, Apple

TV+ and Apple Arcade, a set of in-house subscription services that the company is spending lavishly on to make it a success. Each of them benefits from its hundreds of millions of iPhones already in users’ hands and they help enhance and strengthen the

company’s protected ecosystem.

Samsung has made similar efforts, such as its Samsung Milk music service, and repeatedly failed. Its chronic problem in competing with Apple has been the absence of unique and differ-entiated experiences -- an iPhone owner has access to Netflix and Spotify as well as to the Apple-exclusive iOS services.

The partnerships announced alongside the flashy new Galaxy phones “will be critical if the company is to elevate itself beyond hardware, diversify revenue and level the playing field with Apple,” said Ben Wood of CCS Insight.

Analysts now believe Samsung is on the right track by looking to deepen collab-oration with content distrib-utors threatened by Apple’s

strategy. “It hasn’t been proven to work yet, but it’s a much better strategy than Samsung trying to compete in content and enterprise apps itself,” said Avi Greengart, mobile industry analyst at Techsponential. “The cost and risk of trying to recreate Spotify, Netflix, Office or xCloud is astro-nomical.” IDC analyst Raquel de Condado Marques liked the synergy between Sam-sung’s newly upgraded hardware and service partner-ships, especially in gaming. With faster mobile internet speeds and better displays, “Samsung is leveraging what it does best – hardware – and allowing new partners to do the same by relying on Micro-soft’s PC installed base and Xbox gaming heritage to provide a more complete platform across different technologies.”

A member of the media takes a selfie while holding s Samsung Galaxy Z Flip phone displayed during the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2020 event in San Francisco, California.

US Treasury official floated for No. 2 job at IMF to replace Lipton

REUTERS — WASHINGTON

The Trump administration is considering filling the No. 2 job at the International Monetary Fund with Geoffrey Okamoto (pictured), a 35-year-old acting assistant secretary at the US Treasury, three people familiar with the selection process said.

The move could strengthen the Republican administra-tion’s influence over the IMF, an institution Trump officials view as an ally in their efforts to rein in China’s trade and economic practices.

If appointed, Okamoto would replace David Lipton as the IMF’s longest-serving first deputy managing director, whose departure was announced on Friday, 19 months before the end of his official term.

Lipton, 66, started his career as an economist at the IMF and later served as a top US Treasury official under President Bill Clinton and as a White House adviser under President Barack Obama, both Democratic administrations.

Okamoto has worked at the Treasury since 2017 and been involved in US-China trade negotiations, planning and negotiations for the G20 and G7 meetings in addition to other international finance and development issues including debt relief for Somalia.

His former boss at Treasury, David Malpass, became president of the World Bank Group last April. An IMF spokesman referred questions to the Treasury, where a spokeswoman declined comment. News of Okamoto’s consideration was first reported by Bloomberg.

A person familiar with the process said Okamoto, who has a masters degree in public policy from Georgetown Uni-versity, lacks Lipton’s long record of international eco-nomics experience but is well regarded inside IMF and the World Bank.

Samsung unveiled its second folding smartphone, a “Z Flip” handset with a lofty price tag aimed at “trendsetters.” The smartphone flips open, like a pocket cosmetics case, opening into a 6.7-inch screen.

09THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020 BUSINESS

Qamco posts net profit of QR80m last financial yearTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Aluminium Manufac-turing Company (Qamco) has reported a net profit of QR80m for the thirteen-month financial period ended December31, 2019.

Qamco, a QSE listed company, is a 50 percent joint venture partner in one of the world’s most efficient, low-cost smelters that produces premium aluminium products.

Financial performance in 2019 was largely impacted by external macroeconomic factors beyond the Company’s control. These adverse condi-tions – which included trade conflicts, overcapacities and slowing global GDP growth - directly translated into declining prices for alu-minium, which led to a decrease in Qamco’s earnings.

For the first financial year consisting of the 13-month period that ended December 31, 2019, Qamco’s share of the joint venture’s EBITDA stood at QR704m for 2019. Qamco’s share of revenue for the financial period amounted to QR2.7bn. The Company recorded an earnings per share (EPS) of QR0.014 for the first financial period ended December 31, 2019.

During the year, profita-bility remained resilient despite a combination of factors affecting performance, including lowered revenues, one-off impairment losses and increased financing costs on account of interest costs rec-ognized in leases capitalized under IFRS 16, which were partially offset by one-off sale of alumina and insurance claims.

Qamco’s average selling prices fell by 12 percent during 2019, which was largely attrib-utable to the decline in global market prices for aluminium, which led to a decrease of QR365m in net earnings when compared with the last pro-forma period.

This was slightly offset by the positive variance in sales volumes, which marginally increased by 2 percent, and translated into an increase of QR45m in the net earnings. Environmental restrictions and sanctions played a vital role in affecting aluminium prices.

Also, the channeling of his-torically built excess inven-tories by aluminium producers into the market pressured prices. By contrast, Qamco’s LME price premiums remained stable which is a reflection of

the JV’s resilience in the neg-ative environment. LME pre-miums averaged approxi-mately 12 percent of LME realized prices.

The overall cost of goods sold remained stable on account of declining raw material prices, which was offset primarily by high energy cost consumption during steam turbine overhauls.

Alumina prices declined at a slower rate than aluminium prices, which depressed the industry margins. At the same time, Qamco’s JV leveraged its contracts for alumina supplies to outperform the market, which led to supply chain optimization.

T h i s c o m p e t i t i v e advantage will continue to contribute sustained growth and will support the JV to maintain its market standing.

Qamco’s total assets as of December 31, 2019 stood at QR5.7bn, with bank balances amounting to QR103m.

Qamco’s share of net debt in the JV decreased by 17 percent during 2019, to reach QR1.9bn as of December 31, 2019, after considering share of cash and bank balances amounting to QR497m.

Abdulrahman Ahmad Al Shaibi, Chairman of the Board

of Directors, Qamco, said: “Although the macroeconomic environment was challenging in 2019, the Company in its first full year of operation demonstrated its underlying strength as a key investor in one of the world’s lowest-cost, most-efficient aluminium smelters.

Throughout the year, in an adverse market, Qamco’s JV managed to continue with profits in the face of falling aluminium prices. This was accomplished by rolling out a number of cost-conservation measures, while ensuring that the Company remained well-placed to maximize value for shareholders.”

SME industry key to Qatar’s economic growthSATISH KANADY THE PENINSULA

The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are critical for job creation and creating a dynamic economy. An esti-mated 96 percent of registered companies in the entire Mena region are classified as small and medium enter-prises and they contribute 50 percent of the region’s workforce, Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida, Chief Executive officer, QFC has said.

Participating in a panel discussion on “SMEs and Financial Services Sector” hosted on the sidelines of “Qatar-UK Financial Services Event” yesterday, the QFC CEO said of the total 750 firms registered under QFC, all the 700 companies are can be clas-sified as SMEs. “SMEs are crucial part of Qatar’s growth story and it will con-

tinue to do so..” he said.However, the regional statistics show

that the SMEs are facing challenges. The biggest impediment is lack of access to finance. Another challenge is that as the GCC economies are heavily dependent

on natural resources. “We have lot of public investments happening which tends to crowd out SMEs from the scene. This is another challenge we have to deal with in the GCC,” Al Jaida said.

Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, CEO of Qatar Development Bank (QDB) said there are always opportunities for SMEs, both in local and international market. He said the massive infrastructure boom Qatar has been witnessing over the past few years offered great opportunities for SMEs. QDB has identified different potential sectors. “We have just launched sports and incubation program. We are also providing training and support to SMEs in various sectors, the required funding and local procumbent oppor-tunities through the government…. At the same time QDB helps SMEs to gain access to international market.”

Al Khalifa said that QDB has so far

seen at least 1,500 small and medium enterprises going international. In Qatar, QDB supported almost 8500 SMEs to obtain local procurement opportunities. The law enacted in 2015 allows the SMEs to bid for government contract without actually providing bid bonds/per-formance bonds, but through a letter of guarantee from QDB, he said.

The Qatar Central Bank’s (QCB) soon-to-be-launched platform will create a proper foundation for the SMEs to be incubated and accelerated not only to serve Qatari market, but international as well, he added, the QDB CEO added.

Gavin Holland, Partner, Anthemis Group; and Louis Taylor, Chief Exec-utive Officer, UK Export Finance also participated in the discussion.

Dany Lopez, Non Executive Director & Adviser, Innovative Finance was the moderator.

FROM LEFT: Dany Lopez, Non Executive Director & Adviser, Innovative Finance; Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, CEO of Qatar Development Bank (QDB); Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida, Chief Executive officer, QFC; Louis Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, UK Export Finance; and Gavin Holland, Partner, Anthemis Group during the panel discussion. PIC: ABDUL BASIT/ THE PENINSULA

QDB has so far seen at least 1,500 small and medium enterprises going international. In Qatar, QDB supported almost 8,500 SMEs to obtain local procurements.

During the year, profitability remained resilient despite a combination of factors affecting performance, including lowered revenues, one-off impairment losses and increased financing costs on account of interest costs recognized in leases capitalized under IFRS 16, which were partially offset by one-off sale of alumina and insurance claims.