With the aim to provide SMEs access to large procurement governmental projects

Doha, Qatar, April 01, 2019:   As part of its ongoing efforts to provide a poised platform to grow for Qatari Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), Qatar Development Bank (QDB) flagged off the 4th edition of Government Procurement and Contracting Conference & Exhibition ‘MOUSHTARAYAT 2019’ yesterday, Under the patronage of HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.

The 4th edition of MOUSHTARAYAT’ was inaugurated by HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, Deputy Governor of Qatar Central Bank and Vice Chairman of QDB, which is scheduled to take place for three days between March 31 and April 2 at Doha Exhibition & Convention Center, and hosted in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, and in partnership with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry (MOCI) and the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), and sponsored by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment.

This year’s ‘MOUSHTARAYAT’ has invited members of the private sector, particularly small and medium enterprises (SME), to attend and participate in a wide range of public tenders. The conference thrusts on educating the local SMEs about the procedures involved in existing public tenders extended by big buyers, such as larger private sector companies, semi-governmental and governmental bodies. This edition is slated to offer 2,600 business opportunities approximately rounding up to QAR 5.8 bn and is expected to feature 10 workshops, with the participation of 40 exhibitors.

Commenting on the launch ceremony, Mr. Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa, CEO, Qatar Development Bank, said:

“We are pleased to launch the Moushtarayat 2019 will usher in a wave of new opportunities for the government-private sector cooperation. The exhibition is an important platform for SMEs to communicate with government agencies and to identify tenders and contracts, thus opening the horizons of cooperation with government agencies and winning their tenders. I would like to express our gratitude towards our partners Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce & Industry (MOCI), Public Works Authority (Ashghal), and Ministry of Municipality and Environment who have supported this endeavor since inception and making this a huge success. We assure the SMEs of Qatar that QDB will keep on bringing newer paradigms of growth to channelize their success and build a sustainable future, and realizing the Qatar National Vision 2030.”

This year’s Moushtarayat conference and exhibition is the latest in a series of integrated programs and initiatives offered by QDB to develop SMEs. To promote the private sector, QDB locally extends wide-ranging financial and non-financial support to entrepreneurs across a myriad of industries so that SMEs may achieve higher scales of competitiveness in Qatar.