Take Advantage of New, Promising Opportunities in Qatar, QSE Urges

EM ROUT | Page 4 DIESELGATE HIT | Page 15 India rupee VW investors sinks to new seek $11bn record low in damages Tuesday, September 11, 2018 Moharram 1, 1440 AH TURNOVER, VOLUMES ON THE RISE : Page 16 GULF TIMES QSE nears 9,900 level on stronger buying support BUSINESS from foreign institutions Cardiff Council delegation visits Qatar to discuss trade Take advantage of new, and investment deals A delegation from Cardiff Council visited Qatar yesterday to discuss trade and investment deals. The leader of Cardiff Council, councillor Huw Thomas, who led the delegation, said, “The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently predicted that 90% of economic growth will come from outside the EU. As the uncertainty around Brexit grows, it is promising opportunities vitally important that Cardiff , as the capital city of Wales, looks to encourage more trade and investment from overseas and from emerging markets. “This trip gave us the chance to tell Cardiff ’s story to key investors in Qatar. Our city is booming and there are fantastic opportunities for global companies to come and invest here. We want to make sure Cardiff is in a good position to capture some of this in Qatar, QSE urges investment. “We have a multi-million pounds portfolio of major projects in the pipeline. This is on top of the new business district in the city to the north and the south of Cardiff Central station. As part of my administration’s Capital Ambition programme, we are also creating a new vision for Cardiff Bay as a major leisure destination and we have plans for a new multi-purpose arena in the Bay. German companies “So it is important - despite Brexit - the world sees Cardiff as being open for business and we need to ensure that all of these big he Qatar Stock Exchange has urged foreign capital infl ows; accelerate devel- city projects and plans translate into economic prosperity whose German companies to take advan- opment in all economic and commercial benefits can be shared by everyone who lives here.” Ttage of the changed investment activities; and achieve economic diversi- Cardiff Council’s chief executive Paul Orders; director (economic scenario in the country, especially in view fi cation in accordance with the Qatar Na- development) Neil Hanratty; head (economic development) Ken of liberalising foreign investments up to tional Vision 2030. Poole; and chair, Cardiff International Airport Roger Lewis, all 100% in certain sectors. Through its active participation in the joined councillor Thomas in Doha. This was conveyed to them by the QSE forum, the QSE has sought to introduce In May this year, Qatar Airways set up a direct service from chief executive Rashid bin Ali al-Mansoori QSE to the German investment commu- Cardiff to Doha and the new route is seen as a potential catalyst at the recently concluded Qatar German nity and promote the progress achieved by for creating business opportunities between the two cities. The Business and Investment Forum in Berlin. the bourse, highest disclosure and trans- airline has also been in discussions with the council and Welsh The bourse hopes that the forum will parency levels, profi tability of listed com- government for developing a new 5-star hotel in the Welsh capital contribute to the promotion and show- panies, and the upgrade to emerging mar- and the council hopes to progress this proposal during the visit. casing of Qatari listed companies, and ket in various global indices such as MSCI The Doha visit, which has been facilitated by the UK government the promising investment opportunities and FTSE, al-Mansoori said. and Welsh government off icials based at the British embassy off ered to foreign investors taking advan- Ever since the upgrade, the QSE has wit- in Doha, included a presentation to four, leading financial tage of the recent regulatory improve- nessed increasing interests from foreign institutions, among them the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), ments permitting foreign investors to own fund houses. Unperturbed by the block- the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar. shares in the Qatari market with limits up ade, more than 50 international invest- Councillor Thomas said, “We had the opportunity not only to to 100% in some companies. ment portfolios opened their accounts on talk with the Qatar Investment Authority, but also to the Qatari The potential benefi ts of the new for- the QSE, where the investors’ confi dence Diar, which co-ordinates the country’s real estate development eign investment rules include provisions is back with much vigour, especially after priorities. They have a large London-based portfolio and we are for foreign investors to invest in banks and the fourth quarter of 2017. keen to show them some of the plans we have for Cardiff . insurance through a decision of the cabi- The sentiments are high not only owing “We also met the chief executives and senior management teams net, exemption from income tax and cus- to the growing confi dence of institutional of the Qatar International Islamic Bank and the Qatar National Bank toms duties and that foreign investments investors in the country but also due to the Capital. All of these meetings will allow us to present a significant are not subject to expropriation, according attractiveness of the bourse, according to range of major investment opportunities in Cardiff to potential to Ernst and Young, a global consultant. sources. Qatari investors who we understand are encouraged by the launch The Ministry of Economy and Com- During the last one year, the QSE had in May of the direct daily service by Qatar Airways to Cardiff .” merce (MEC) had stated that the revision undertaken roadshows to the US, UK, Eu- “I am hopeful our visits will pay real dividends. It’s important to the existing laws is meant to attract for- rope and Asia in order to tap international that Cardiff – as the capital city for Wales – continues to seek out eign capital in all sectors of the national fi nancial powerhouses. new investment opportunities. We can’t allow the uncertainty economy. The changes would also facili- The QSE is believed to have received surrounding Brexit to halt our plans for the city and the city tate investors’ entry into the market and more than 140 investor applications from region’s development and growth. Cardiff must continue to be an increase confi dence in investment secu- new foreign investment portfolios, re- outward looking, international city, acting as the connecting point rity. fl ecting the growing interest of global fi - between Wales and the world,” Thomas added. The draft law is intended to attract nancial entities in the bourse. Al-Mansoori: Showcasing progress achieved by QSE. NBK International signs MoU with Ehrhardt + Partner Group Qatar entrepreneurship sector advances in 2017 he 2017 Global Entrepreneurship degree of entrepreneurial determination considered to be the highest in the Middle Monitor (GEM) report on Qatar in an encouraging manner (with about East and eighth globally. Tlaunched recently by Qatar De- 45.6% seeing an opportunity to start a In innovation and internationalisa- velopment Bank (QDB) revealed that the business). tion, respondents pointed to high levels country’s entrepreneurship sector made The percentage of those who believe of innovation in Qatar since 2016. In 2017, “remarkable progress” compared to 2016. that there are opportunities to start a 63.5% of entrepreneurs said their products The report revealed that Qatar ranked business among Qataris (48.6%) is higher were new to all or some consumers, while 33 in nascent entrepreneurship in 2017 than among expatriates (38.4%). Simi- 52.2% are completely diff erent from their compared to 44 in 2016. It also ranked larly, the percentage of females (55.8%) competitors (they noted that there were 42 in the new business ownership, 42 in who see chances of starting a business is no businesses off ering the same products total early-stage entrepreneurial activity higher than that of males (43.4%). or services), and 37.9% indicated that they (TEA), 54 in the rate of ownership of es- In the societal values about entrepre- were selling new products or services to all tablished businesses, and 17 in business neurship in Qatar, the 2017 results show a or some of the customers, with few facili- discontinuance rate. positive attitude towards the community ties off ering the same products or no facili- GEM tracks rates of entrepreneurship of entrepreneurship in Qatar. In fact, most ties (compared with 22.8% in 2016). across multiple phases in 54 economies, of the adult population believe that entre- The report recommended multiple making it the world’s most authoritative preneurs have a high status and respect in focus areas such as government poli- comparative study of entrepreneurial ac- society (77.3%) and that the establishment cies, fi nancial support, social and cul- tivity in the general adult population. of a new project is a good career choice tural norms, and training and education. QDB, a member of the GEM alliance, (65.9%). Additionally, more than half of Among those recommendations, the fo- said the report drawn on fi ndings from the the population consider public media and cus areas are government policies, access NBK Group chairman and CEO Sheikh Nawaf bin Nasser al-Thani and EPG president Marco Ehrhardt sign Adult Population Surveys (APS) – results the internet to be providing good coverage to fi nancial support, social and cultural a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the presence of (from left) Ambassador of Qatar in Germany are drawn from a

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