The ‘Own your Factory in Qatar in 72 Hours’ project, a government initiative aimed at fast-tracking the establishment of more manufacturing companies and factories in Qatar, has attracted 9,349 applications from local and international companies representing major industrial sectors.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Salman Mohamed Kaldari, the chairman of the coordinating committee for the Single Window System Management, said the project attracted investors vying for 250 opportunities in the industrial sector, mainly in eight major areas: food, paper, medical, chemical, electrical, machinery and automotive, rubber and plastics, and metals.
Kaldari noted that the food sector took the lion’s share or 34% of the total number of registered investors with 3,168 applications, while applications in the metal sector stood at 1,334. This was followed by the paper sector with 1,086 applications, rubber and plastics sector (941 applications), chemical (826), medical (710), electrical (732), and machinery and vehicles (552).
Of the total number of applications, Kaldari said Qatari investors comprise nearly 85%, while around 15% are 3,000 investors from 52 countries, including Russia, Germany, France, China, India, Iran, and Pakistan, among others.
Aside from licensing, the project guarantees qualified investors with land readiness and immediate access to visas, including readiness of industrial infrastructure like water, electricity, gas, and roads, as well as priority for purchases with local manufacturers.
Kaldari said other privileges include platforms for exports, 10-year income tax exemption, customs exemptions for raw materials, and the provision of a 10% support for national and government products, in addition to financing services provided by Qatar Development Bank (QDB).
Kaldari said the committee will take a month to study the applications submitted by investors. After selecting qualified investors, the winners will be given a wide range of privileges like environmental and operational licenses with a plot of land.
He said the committee distributed yesterday 75 market studies on the basic activities proposed to investors. It also provided them with information on how to conduct feasibility studies based on the products needed in the domestic market.
Established in 2016, the coordinating committee for the Single Window System Management represents one of the key government initiatives launched to develop Qatar’s business environment, stimulate real participation of the private sector, encourage domestic and foreign investments and channel them towards sectors with added value to the national economy in line with Qatar National Vision 2030, Kaldari said.
He said the committee’s first initiative was the launch of the Single Window System, which streamlines the administrative procedures in the state. The second initiative, the ‘Own your Factory in Qatar’, helps investors in the industrial sector get all the necessary facilities to start a business in just 72 hours.
The initiative is spearheaded by the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Energy and Industry, Ministry of Municipality and Environment, Ministry of Economy and Commerce, and Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, as well as QDB, Manateq, and Qatar Chamber.
