06 Apr 2017

The second edition of 'Moushtarayat 2017' expo, an SME-dedicated procurement and contracting event, is offering at least 2,000 business opportunities worth more than QR2.5bn. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud yesterday inaugurated the Procurement and Contracting Conference and Exhibition, ''Moushtarayat 2017' , which aims at promoting and enhancing the competitiveness of local businesses. The three-day event, being held under the patronage of the Minister and Interior Minister, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, will conclude tomorrow at the Doha Convention and Exhibition Center. 

The Deputy Prime Minister honoured five companies who won the first edition of the 'National Purchasing Award' launched for the first time in appreciation of the role being played by government and semi-government agencies in supporting Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and providing them with the opportunity to showcase their services and products. The Government Procurement and Contracting Conference & Exhibition aims to demonstrate the ability of national SMEs to compete in a highly professional way to execute local market tenders, while ensuring high standards of performance and providing companies with opportunities to network with a large number of buyers from government, semi-government and private sector companies. 

Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa, CEO of Qatar Development Bank (QDB), in his opening speech, said: 'Moushtarayat 2017' aims at spreading a culture of cooperation among exhibitors from the government and semi-government sectors, private companies as well as SMEs, that face great difficulties in accessing bid opportunities. The event seeks to complement the efforts being exerted by the Ministry of Finance in this level to open the way for SMEs to communicate directly with requester of services or products, Al Khalifa added. He stressed that this year's edition witnessed an increase in terms of number of exhibitors, who raised from 25 to 30 offering at least 2,000 opportunities worth more than QR2.5bn compared to 450 opportunities only last year amounting to QR3bn. This increase is an evidence of the great interest of exhibitors, he said, stressing that the increase of the number of less value opportunities would enable SMEs to easy access to them.

© The Peninsula 2017