| 02 Aug 2009 |
|
Qatar: Incentives sought for small firms
- Text size
DOHA: Since small and medium enterprises (SMEs) worldwide have shown extreme resilience to the current global financial crisis, there is an urgent need to focus on their growth, the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI)Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI)
has said. As the Industrial Development Department is busy conducting a study to identify what ails the SMEs in the country and recommend incentives to encourage them, the QCCIQCCI reiterated SMEs were the only viable means for diversifying the GCC economies away from oil.
"The dependence on oil and gas has shown there can be problems in times of crude price fluctuations in the global market," said the chairman of QCCIQCCI, Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassem Al Thani.
Currently, their contribution to the GDP of the entire region remains low at 10 percent, he said in remarks to Al Sharq.
But trade and industry sources have pointed out a number of obstacles that hinder the growth of SMEs, and on top on the list is the absence of a single-window licensing system.
At present, one has to run from pillar to post to get various clearances to set up an SME and they are not easily granted as in most cases there are large state-backed companies operating in similar fields and they fear that competition from smaller players might ruin their business.
Lack of fully-developed industrial zones where not only plots of land but plots with buildings and other basic paraphernalia are easily available to SME entrepreneurs, is another major impediment to the growth of this sector.
"There is no point if you give us a plot in an industrial zone which has no in-built structure to support manufacturing activity, because we would be required to invest 90 percent of the entire project cost on erecting the building itself," said a source.
In some GCC states, industrial zones have plots with the needed structures and an entrepreneur has to simply install machinery and get going, he said. "We don't have such facilities here."
What is, therefore, required is a free-trade zone or a set of them for various small and medium industries with the required basic facilities, subsidised power and gas with tax concessions and import incentives.
And the procedures of allotment of plots in these zones should be very simple, or else it wouldn't serve any purpose, said the sources.
© The Peninsula 2009
Zawya is a distributor (and not a publisher) of content supplied by third parties and subscribers. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by those third parties, including information providers, subscribers or other users of the Service, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of the Company. The Company neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Service by anyone other than authorized Service employee spokespersons while acting in their official capacities. The Company is not responsible for any infringement of intellectual property rights or breach of any applicable law or regulation, including regulation in relation to financial services or the distribution of financial products, defamation, data protection, telecommunications (including regulations relating to excessive use, spamming or other abusive activities) or obscene, offensive or illegal content). Under no circumstances will the Company be liable for any loss or damage caused by a member's reliance on information obtained through the Service. It is the responsibility of member to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through the Service. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information, opinion, advice or other content.
Read the full Member Agreement
http://www.zawya.com/legal/NewsLetter.cfm?name=disclaimer
Loading ...
Post a Comment
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.