DOHA: Qatar is hosting a key convention of business leaders from G20 countries on October 6 ahead of a larger G20 meeting slated to be held in Cannes, France, November.
The conference to be held in Doha is expected to back Qatar's efforts to diversify its economy away from oil and gas.
This was announced yesterday by Finance and Economy Minister H E Yousuf Hussein Kamal.
The whole world is keen to know about Qatar, he said adding that added that the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) is playing a key role in strengthening the Qatari economy and making the country known to the world.
He was speaking after presiding over a function to unveil a directory entitled 'Forty Years of Excellence and Achievements' which outlines the Chamber's activities in the past four decades at the Doha Sheraton here yesterday.
Minister of Business and Trade H E Jassem bin Abdul Aziz Al Thani and Chairman of QCCI Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani were aslo present with dignitaries from the government and private organisations. Also present at the event were senior officials of Qatar Development Bank (QDB), various industry leaders, senior diplomats and foreign delegates from leading companies and industry chambers from across the globe.
The event was sponsored by a host of major companies working in Qatar; to name a few are: Qatar Development Bank, Qatar Industrial Services, Iberdrola, Qatar Navigation, Qatar Steel General Trading Group and many more.
"Qatar Development Bank has been very active in the recent past. We are initiating a host of new products which will diversify the Qatar economy which will help the private sector businesses to get access to easy finance, said Abdulaziz N Al Khlifa, Executive Director, Strategic Planning and Control of QDB.
Yousef Hussein said that the Chamber had taken some key initiatives to promote small and medium enterprises (SMEs) details of which are to be made public soon.
He said SMEs were making the Qatari and international markets highly competitive, while hailing the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consultancy (GOIC) and the Qatar Development Bank (QDB) for making the QCCI directory a success.
A lot of progress has been made by Qatar in the past 40 years but the last 15 years have been very eventful in terms of economic growth, said the Minister.
© The Peninsula 2011
