Tasdeer participated along with 29 leading Qatari companies at Big 5 Saudi

Exhibition designed for operators in the construction industry, including manufacturers of construction equipment, technology, machinery, materials as well as product suppliers

The event draws the attention of major developers, contractors, suppliers and distributors

Similar culture and architectural styles of Qatar and KSA give Qatari companies a natural advantage in acquiring significant deals in the Saudi Arabian construction sector

Doha, State of Qatar – 4 April 2017

In its drive to promote Qatari products across local, regional and global markets, Qatar Development Bank (QDB), through the support of its export program, Tasdeer, participated along with 29 leading Qatari companies at Big 5 Saudi, an exhibition for operators in the construction industry. The expo was held at Jeddah Center for Forum and Events from 27 – 30 March 2017.

The latest participation of Tasdeer comes against the backdrop of a series of initiatives the development agency has undertaken to support the entry of Qatari small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across regional and global markets. Through its involvement in Big 5 Saudi, QDB aims to facilitate the entry of local companies specializing in the construction industry – including manufacturers of construction equipment, technology, machinery, materials as well as product suppliers – in the largest market in the region.

QDB’s pavilion in Big 5 included the following shortlisted 29 Qatari companies: Advanced Pipes & Casts Company, Al Farraj Trading & Manufacturing Company, Al Jattal Industry, Al-Sada Factory for Plastic Pipes, Albayan for Electronics and LED Technologies, Doha Plastic, National Paints Factories, Qatar Aluminium Extrusion Co., Qatar German Pipes Company W.L.L., Qatar International Cables Company, Qatar Paving Stones, Qatar Plastic Products Company, Qatar Wire Products, Qatari Canadian for Energy and Electrical Industries, Qatari Saudi Gypsum Co., Sarplast Qatar, Seashore Steel, Uniplast Factory, Bumatar German Factory for Plastic Products, Doha Factory for Paints & Chemicals, Al Muftah Fiber glass Products, Khaled Manufacturing Co.,  Jersey Glass, Al Bateel Interior, Qatar National Aluminum Panel, G-walls, Elan Signage, Qatar UPVC for Windows and Doors, and Qatar Wooden Products Co. 

Commenting on the latest exhibition, Executive Director for Tasdeer, Hassan Khalifa Al-Mansoori said: "At QDB, we are delighted to partake in the regional Big 5 exhibition series for the third time. This expo holds particular importance for our local companies as it is considered to be amongst the most important construction sector exhibitions. In the past, Qatari companies have achieved significant success in this diverse sector within Qatar, and we believe that the time is ripe to launch and expand their success story into foreign markets."

He continued: "The Saudi market is the premier destination for Qatari products as it is the most important regional market. Furthermore, the culture of both countries and architectural styles are similar, which allows Qatari companies a natural advantage in acquiring important deals in the Saudi Arabian construction sector."

The Big 5 exhibition series, held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) this year, is amongst the most important events in the construction and building materials sector in the region. It brings together five separate product-focused events under one roof, and the Big 5 network today includes more than 300,000 suppliers and buyers from 120 countries around the world. The expo hosts national pavilions representing all major exporting countries of the world, and draws the attention of major developers, contractors, suppliers and distributors from both the eastern and western hemispheres of the globe. The exhibition’s success has given rise to various national chapters of the same series, making the Big 5 a global name with editions in Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. Furthermore, the scope of the event has broadened to now include the following exhibition portfolios: concrete, PMV, stone, HCAV, solar, glass and facilities management sectors.

The development agency’s participation in Big 5 Saudi comes as the latest in a series of activities undertaken to consolidate Qatar-KSA economic partnership. To this end, last year in September, QDB held an ‘Exporting to Saudi Arabia’ workshop, and in August, welcomed a delegation of officials from the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) at its headquarters to promote cross-trade opportunities, exchange experiences and broaden existing cooperation.

Upcoming Tasdeer events include the PlastExpo, one of the leading international exhibitions in the plastics and packaging industry, scheduled to be held in Casablanca, Morocco, from April 5 to 8, 2017.

The scope and breadth of Tasdeer was recently recognized on the international stage when International Trade Center (ITC), a joint agency of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), recently nominated QDB for the 2016 Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Award, under the category of the best development agency in a developing country.

Incidentally, QDB was the sole development agency shortlisted from amongst the countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Other nominated development agencies, under the same category, included those from the following countries: Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Jamaica and South Korea.

-Ends-

About Qatar Development Bank (QDB)
In 1997, Qatar Development Bank (QDB) was first established as Qatar Industrial Development Bank (QIDB) in a fundamental step to expanding Qatar’s indigenous industrial infrastructure. The aim of the newly-created 100% government-owned developmental organization was to develop investments within local industries, thereby accelerating growth and economic diversification of the private sector in Qatar.

Since then, its portfolio has greatly expanded—today, QDB is a centerpiece to achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030.

To promote the private sector, QDB locally extends wide-ranging financial and non-financial support to entrepreneurs across a myriad of industries—the development organization runs a series of initiatives that promote the entrepreneurial spirit in the citizenry to create private startups on an ongoing basis. One case-in-point is Al-Fikra National Business Competition, whose fifth edition was launched in August 2016, and yet another is Global Entrepreneurship Week, the second edition of the Qatar-based instalment of the worldwide initiative, launched in November 2016. Other schemes, such as the eco-friendly Jahiz I and Jahiz II initiatives, seek to empower already-existing local SMEs that are operating across a diverse range of industries, including: chemicals, electronics, plastics, wood materials as well as food and beverage. Furthermore, Al Dhameen service proves critically important in the service of entrepreneurs because these indirect loan facilities are viable by both existing companies as well as completely new startups. The purpose of these initiatives is to strengthen the non-oil and gas product manufacturers in the private sector.

Through its Tasdeer export program, QDB aims to strengthen the presence of Qatari companies on prestigious global platforms, linking Qatari specialists to international experts across the world’s production industries. In 2016, QDB took part in a number of expos from across a broad spectrum of industries—to cite a few examples, the bank recently concluded the showcasing of over 20 local manufacturers from Qatar’s agri-food, plastics and rubber industries at globally-renowned expos like SIAL Paris and K2016 in Paris, France and Düsseldorf, Germany respectively. Most notably, QDB was the sole development agency nominated from amongst the countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for the 2016 Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Award, under the category of the best development agency in a developing country, in Marrakech, Morocco.

In the days to come, embracing its national responsibility, QDB will continue to empower the nation’s citizens to tap into the latest wave of economic globalization and evolve Qatar’s economy as outlined in National Development Strategy (NDS) 2017-2022.

For more information, please contact:
Mostafa Talaat
Kalimat
E-mail: mostafa@kalimat.qa
Mobile: +974.7077.0789

© Press Release 2017