From makeshift rooms and portacabins a few years ago to posh offices in prime areas of Doha and its immediate suburbs, business is truly booming for agencies providing translation services in the country.
As more expatriates from different nationalities arrive in Qatar, the demand for translation agencies' services keeps growing rapidly. The resultant increase in number of customers and the expanded scope of work have led to greater business for these offices, say industry sources.
Speaking to Gulf Times, a manager at a well-known translation house, said business has been growing at a "phenomenal pace" across the country.
"We get a new corporate client virtually every fortnight. Handling high-profile customers, who are generally very demanding, is a big challenge. For this, we are making use of the services of our own staff as well as freelancers," he explained.
Agencies providing translation and other services, such as typing out official forms, come in various sizes. While some can be found inside small rooms, many have moved to bigger and more impressive offices in their bid to expand their business and woo customers.
"There are different options to choose from, depending on the nature and quantum of work involved. Some agencies have high-profile corporate clients while others cater mostly to individuals and small firms," said a source.
The scope of work has expanded over the years. Until sometime ago, translation centres in Qatar mostly did Arabic-English translations and vice-versa. The arrival of expatriates from several nationalities over the last few years has prompted translation agencies to hire people with a sound knowledge of different languages. This has also led to the emergence of a number of professional translators, many of whom can undertake assignments in three or more languages other than English and Arabic, it is understood.
While the standard rate for translation to Arabic from languages such as English, German and French ranges from QR60 to QR80 per page, one can get the work done at lower rates if bulk orders are made with the translation centres, according to sources.
"What surprises customers like us is that despite the arrival of several new firms and individuals in the business, the rates keep going up," said a manager whose office entrusts translation assignments to local agencies.
Along with the languages mentioned above, there has been an increasing demand for translation jobs in the Chinese and Spanish languages as well.
"In less than three years, there has been a significant rise in the number of South American embassies in Qatar, most of which have Spanish as their official language. For doing business with China, it is useful if correspondence is carried out in that country's language," said an official of a translation centre.
Recalling the growth seen in the industry over the past decade and how the demand for services moved beyond Arabic and English, an agency official said: "Now, we get frequent orders for translation jobs involving at least six other languages."
It is also understood that some agencies undertake translation jobs for languages that are spoken by small groups of expatriates in Qatar. However, the rates for such works are on the higher side in general.
While translation works are mainly done for government-related works, such as those pertaining to labour, immigration and legal issues, a large number of assignments pertain to business operations as well.
The quality of translation from foreign languages to the local one has improved in recent years, it is generally believed. However, some customers feel this may not always be the case the other way round.
© Gulf Times 2014
