Plans afoot to further boost private sector: Qatar's PM
Doha, Qatar: Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has said that Qatar is preparing plans that will stimulate the private sector so that it participates more effectively in the state’s development.
He said that the state worked to prepare these plans and tried to consult with all parties and stakeholders as much as possible. The Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs was speaking at the National Development Forum recently.
The forum was held aimed at providing opportunities for the private sector to become an effective partner in delivering the Third National Development Strategy (NDS3).
“Currently, the government is going through a complete exercise for all government agencies to identify the areas where we can take a step back in and let in the private sector,” said the Prime Minister.
He said that the private sector can offer them in a better and more efficient way, creating an opportunity for itself and boosting the economy.
“There are many opportunities that will be presented soon, but in the end, the state, and any government in the world, is the one who can, legislate, and regulate,” said the Prime Minister.
He said that Qatar is a small country where all parties cooperate, whether the country, the citizens, or the private sector adding: “This means that if the government, the citizens, and the private sector do not work towards the same goal, we will not be able to achieve it.”
He said: “The successes that have happened, whether it was for Qatari companies and creating a name for themselves, whether we are talking about Qatar Airways, one of the best airlines in the world, Ooredoo, one of the largest telecom companies in the world, or Qatar National Bank, there are many examples of what we call National Champions.”
“All support will be provided to the private sector to get to this stage."
“There are many means with which we will prepare them for global competition, to be ready for export, just look at the Qatar Energy Program, which has added local value, the localisation programme in the Ministry of Finance as well,” the Prime Minister added.
He said: “We are looking internationally at what we can do, whether it is in Qatar’s development projects, how to create opportunities for Qatari companies.”
“The State of Qatar and its position in the international community and the trust it has built with its partners, will allow us to harness government-to-government relations to serve the private sector and the economy,” said the Prime Minister.
He said that Qatar National Vision 2030 started many years ago when the country began implementing the strategies from the first National Development Strategy in 2011. “We have made many achievements, and the country has gone through a lot of development.”
“First of all, success from Allah and a clear vision from the leadership, whether it was from the days of H H the Father Amir and then H H the Amir, and the directives that he always gives us that Qatar must always be a pioneer in all fields,” said the Prime Minister.
He added: “We have seen in the past few months the launch of a group of strategies by some ministries, and there is also a continuation of the launch of strategies that are still under development, so that everyone in the country, whether from a government agency, the private sector, or a citizen, knows where we are headed in the coming years.”
He said some things directly touch the citizens, whether it is related to the problems and challenges that he may face in the health sector, such as late appointments.
“We are considered, without any shortcomings, to be one of the best countries in providing services, but there is a challenge in our way of providing the service and the speed of response to it, and we must deal with such weak points and try to find solutions for them as well,” said the Prime Minister.
Minister of Municipality H E Abdullah bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al Attiyah said at the National Development Forum that the recently launched strategies focused on cooperation with the private sector. “For us in the ministry, the idea is to enhance cooperation with the private sector to boost efficiency - financial and operational efficiency,” said the Minister.
He said that many projects will be launched in the coming years, especially in the next two years, because the focus is very distinct on the private sector.
“Over the next two years, 2025 and 2026, the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) will award infrastructure projects and government facilities worth approximately QR81bn,” said Al Attiyah.
"As the new idea of BOT or private sector involvement in terms of investment in infrastructure, in the next quarter, three investment opportunities will be offered with a new idea from Ashghal in cooperation with the Ministry of Municipality."
“The new idea is to develop citizens’ plots of land. We are choosing three different projects distributed throughout the State of Qatar. These projects will be awarded to Qatari developers and investors,” said the Minister.
He said that the idea is that the investor will build the integrated infrastructure and operate and maintain this city for ten years after the infrastructure is completed, and the state will take this land from him and allocate it to the citizens. The Minister said that these projects will be officially announced in the next quarter.
As for the strategic projects, he said: “We have two major projects. One of the largest projects that we have announced is in cooperation with the Qatari Diar Company, which is the premier tourism destination ‘Land of Legends’ in Simaisma.”
He said that the second project is the Safari Zoo project, which is currently in the design phase. “The construction will be done by the private sector and operation and maintenance as well.”
He said under the Integrated National Solid Waste Management Program, there are two main projects within other projects.
“Number one, we announced that there are 30 plots of land that will be allocated to the private sector for recycling wastes such as wood, glass, plastic, or other activities that have been announced,” said the Minister. He said that a huge project will be launched at the beginning of next year for the private sector, which is the waste-to-energy plant.
“Waste and energy will be a large project. I think its investment will be approximately QR5bn, and it will be offered to the private sector,” said the Minister.
