OIL OUTPUT | Page 2 BUDGET VIEW | Page 15 Iran pumps Trump seen more despite to shun policy To advertise here calls for cuts of restraint Call: Monday, November 14, 2016 Safar 14, 1438 AH A.T. KEARNEY REPORT : Page 16 GULF TIMES GCC e-commerce on the cusp of becoming BUSINESS world’s fastest growing Alabbar, Saudi PIF to set up $1bn Mideast QDB services benefi t 5,000 e-commerce firm Bloomberg Dubai A group of investors led by Emaar entrepreneurs in Qatar Properties chairman Mohamed Alabbar and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign By Peter Alagos wealth fund will each contribute Business Reporter $500mn to an e-commerce venture to tap the Middle East’s fast-growing online retail market. ore than 5,000 Qatari entrepreneurs E-commerce firm Noon will go live have benefi ted from “strategic serv- in January and provide 20mn items Mices” provided by Qatar Development for customers Alabbar said at a news Bank, said an executive offi cial, who reiterated conference in Dubai yesterday. Saudi QDB’s role in encouraging the youth to pursue Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will innovative business ideas to transform the coun- provide half of Noon’s capital and will try into a knowledge-based economy. be an active participant in its board, Speaking at the opening of the ‘2nd Global while Alabbar and about 60 other Gulf- Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) Qatar’ at the area investors will contribute the other Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre yester- half of its capital. The firm could be day, QDB CEO Abdulaziz bin Nasser al-Khalifa listed in five to seven years, he said. reiterated HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Ha- Aramex, the Dubai-based courier and mad al-Thani’s resolve to tap the potential of logistics company in which Alabbar Qatari youth to meet the objectives of the Qatar bought the founder’s entire 9.9% stake National Vision 2030. in July, will back Noon’s operations. It Citing HH the Emir’s speech during the 45th will go live in January. session of the Shura Council in November, al- Economic prosperity and an expand- Khalifa said the state has provided the private ing population in the Middle East are sector with a wide range of benefi ts to help de- leading to increased investments in velop Qatar’s small and medium-sized enter- the consumer industry by companies prise (SME) sector and promote the culture of and private equity firms. Amazon.com entrepreneurship. is weighing a bid for a stake in Dubai- Al-Khalifa emphasised that the benefi ts pro- based online retailer Souq.com FZ, vided by QDB include access to information and people with knowledge of the matter training, funding, local and international mar- said earlier this month. Careem FZ, a kets, and a business ecosystem, among others. ride-sharing service that competes Citing the bank’s recent achievements, al- with Uber Technologies in the area, is Khalifa said, “QDB’s direct lending has exceed- seeking as much as $500mn in new ed QR6bn, while the Al Dhameen programme funding, people with knowledge of the or partial guarantee scheme has surpassed the developments said in September. QR1bn mark; our guarantees for exports have The e-commerce venture is the latest that exceeded QR600mn.” Alabbar has been associated with outside He also noted that QDB’s Jahiz initiative, a Emaar, the developer of the world’s joint programme with the Ministry of Energy highest skyscraper in Dubai. Alabbar said and Industry, has benefi ted 46 factories con- last month he planned to launch a social centrated in the electronics, plastics, chemicals, app similar to WhatsApp for the region. In wood, and food sectors. The QDB offi cial said the June a UAE-based investor group he led Jahiz initiative focuses on leasing complete and agreed to buy a majority stake in Kuwait equipped facilities to SMEs and entrepreneurs to Food Co (Americana), which operates encourage the establishment of innovative and HE Sheikh Abdullah and al-Khalifa visit one of the participating companies at ‘GEW Qatar.’ PICTURE: Anas Khalid. KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in the Mid- environmentally-friendly businesses. dle East and North Africa. “We are focused at creating the next gen- tem, which is why QDB is playing a vital role in Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani. Al-Khalifa showcase many Qatari products from the 100 Alabbar said he expects Noon to be eration of industrial Qataris. We have also taken helping the ecosystem in Qatar to work in a good said QDB participated in GEW, a worldwide companies participating in the event. profitable in five years and to enter into consideration that those industries must be way where all enterprises and all ministries’ initiative, to promote Qatar’s private sector and Held simultaneously in 160 countries an- Egypt and Iraq by 2018. It is also likely technology-based and promotes sustainable de- support systems are working in harmony to sup- entrepreneurship by connecting startup owners, nually, GEW introduces entrepreneurship to to use warehouses owned by Ameri- velopment and protection of the environment, port the SMEs,” al-Khalifa told Gulf Times on the investors, researchers and policymakers from communities in six continents through a series cana, which has three times the ware- as well as export oriented. sidelines of GEW Qatar, which was inaugurated across the globe. of discussion panels, workshops and training house capacity of Aramex, he said. “All of that cannot work without an ecosys- by HE the Governor of the Qatar Central Bank, He said the week-long GEW Qatar will also courses. Opec production cut imperative, says Saudi Qatar’s planned PPP law seen to support wider economic growth By Santhosh V Perumal bon growth has plateaued,” an analyst micro structure which lacks many fea- Business Reporter with a leading bank brokerage said. tures existent in the emerging markets. HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Ha- Given the need to complete the in- mad al-Thani had recently said Qatar frastructure projects ahead of 2022 atar’s proposed law on public is acting on fi nalising a law on part- FIFA World Cup, and the strain in private partnerships (PPP) is nership between the public and private budget brought about by low oil prices, Qexpected to have a “synergis- sectors, which will enable awarding it has become imperative on the sov- tic” eff ect on the corporate sector and of government projects to the private ereign to fi nd new ways of enhancing may pave way for infrastructure and sector as well as ensuring their high- investment in the vital sector, which project-specifi c bonds, but transpar- quality and low-cost implementation. has strong direct and indirect linkages ent arbitration clauses need to be un- He had said it will also help promote on the economy, a banking source said, ambiguously chalked out, according to foreign investment in Qatar, especially adding there is also a need for long- market experts. in infrastructure. term funds at low costs. Although the broad contours of the “It is diffi cult to provide funds for Cautioning that the low oil prices proposed law is still not known, they all the projects that we want to execute may “aff ect” diversifi cation and fund- have expressed the hope that it could as per the strategic plan,” HH the Emir ing of mega projects, Doha Bank Group turn to be a catalyst for the much- had told the Advisory Council. chief executive Dr R Seetharaman had needed funding, given that the low oil Experts across the fi elds are largely said recently developing the local debt price scenario has led to a reduced cash of the view that a new legal framework market was a crucial solution for Qa- A general view of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ headquarters in Vienna. Saudi Arabia’s oil fl ow from the sovereign. for PPP has the potential to further lift tar’s infrastructure development needs. minister said it was “imperative” that Opec nations finalise an agreement over a cut in oil production aimed at Expectations are that a macro PPP the growth in non-hydrocarbons sec- Qatar has one of the widest range of boosting crude prices, Algerian media said yesterday. Khalid al-Falih met his Algerian counterpart Noureddine framework is expected to create an ec- tor and may not be limited to the infra- maturities compared to international Boutarfa on Saturday and called on group members to stick to the cut deal reached in Algiers in September. “In osystem that not only enhances capac- structure segment. issuances of other GCC (Gulf Coop- this period marked by unstable oil prices it is imperative to reach a consensus between Opec nations and to agree ity creation of individual stakeholders “A broad macro framework for PPP eration Council) countries, he added. on an eff ective mechanism and precise figures to activate the historic Algiers accord,” al-Falih was quoted as in each of the pillars, but also optimally with supporting legislation can go a Considering that infrastructure saying by Algeria’s APS news agency. The September meeting of Opec members produced an agreement to cut allocates risks across stakeholders. long way in strengthening the private projects usually span at least two dec- the group’s output by 750,000 bpd, according to Bloomberg News. Oil rose on news of the deal, but crude prices “It will synergise the private sector, sector, which has long been wanting ades, a source in a law fi rm said there are still more than 50% lower than their mid-2014 levels. Al-Falih said he was “optimistic” that the agreement which has assumed increasing roles such a legal environment,” an econom- should be eff ective dispute redressal would come into eff ect.