2/11/2017
The Ministry of Energy and Trade, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance held a forum to discuss supporting local products.
In his welcome speech, Director-General of Qatar Chamber Saleh bin Hamad al Sharqi said the forum followed a number of steps taken by the country to support local production, including raising the purchase of local products from 30 percent to 100 percent if they were in line with the adopted standards.
Sharqi said the decisions were a real boost to the local products as they contribute greatly to enhancing national industries and encouraging Qatari businessmen to establish new projects.
He noted that the chamber is committed to supporting national industries and investors by facilitating all challenges they could face by cooperating with the Ministry of Energy and Industry. The chamber also organized many exhibitions to showcase local products, Sharqi pointed out.
Inviting manufacturers to take part in the Made in Qatar expo on December 14-17, he said the event would be the best platform to promote locally-produced goods.
For his part, Director of the Department of Industrial Zones at the Ministry of Energy and Industry Yousef al Emadi said the forum was held within the government’s framework to support the domestic industries and encouraging them to boost locally-produced items and enhance the contribution of the private sector.
Emadi said the aim of the forum was to introduce the local factories and products to ministries, governmental entities and institutions, and suppliers and contractors from the private sector. He said the ministry published the locally-produced products on its website for easier access to information about them.
Emadi called on the factory owners to provide the ministry with accurate data and information to help the ministry to market their products online by providing its information to the interested parties.
Director of Government Procurement Regulation at the Ministry of Finance Abdulaziz Zeid al Taleb said the forum reflects the increasing importance of local products ‘role in achieving self- sufficiency in most sectors. He said the forum is considered a key opportunity for the private and governmental sectors to exchange ideas and visions on developing the local products and increasing its competitiveness, and effectively contributing to increase its contribution in the national economic development through government tenders. Taleb said one of the methods to achieve competitiveness is to sign long-term contracts with local producers and suppliers in public tenders.
He also called for hosting conferences and workshops to introduce government entities to local producers and suppliers. Taleb said the Ministry of Finance had registered and classified more than 2,000 companies in the contracting, services and supply sectors.
He called on all local companies that haven’t registered yet to submit a classification request through the Government Procurement Portal.
He said the forum is considered the first of its kind for local producers, where at least 737 local producers working under the supervision of the Minister of Energy and Trade were invited. He said the idea of organizing the forum was based on the directives of the Cabinet of Ministers on the urgency to support local products.
Taleb said an inventory would be created for the local products followed by a meeting with the registered companies to establish long-term contracts with 57 government entities.
