Collaboration in financial technology (fintech) between Qatar and the Philippines is among the areas that would spur the influx of more Qatari foreign direct investments (FDI) into the Southeast Asian nation, an official of the Philippine Business Council-Qatar (PBC-Q) has said.
PBC-Q chairman Greg Loayon told Gulf Times on Friday that the Philippine Economic Zones Authority (Peza) is keen to promote the Philippines to Qatari businesses, particularly in the areas of Islamic banking, fintech collaboration, and agribusiness.
Loayon, who is Peza’s investment promotion partner (IPP) for Middle East and Europe, reiterated the initiatives announced by Peza director general Charito Plaza during the virtual edition of the ‘Philippine-Qatar Investment Forum 2020’ held in July.
During the forum, Plaza also stressed that Peza is currently identifying areas to be developed as halal hubs for potential investors from the Middle East, particularly Qatar.
Aside from fintech, Peza has lined up “sustained and strategic business opportunities” across ecozones in the Philippines in the fields of eco-, medical, and wellness tourism; halal food processing; Islamic finance; IT and business process outsourcing (BPO), and agro-industrial exports.
Loayon underscored fintech’s role in stimulating Qatari FDI inflow to the Philippines, saying there is a “massive focus” towards fintech in Qatar.
“Technology took a global leap forward in terms of hastening the development of solutions to various acute requirements created by the pandemic…Qatar was equally adept at positioning the country to be among the global platforms to promote fintech via the rollout of the Qatar FinTech Hub (QFTH),” Loayon pointed out.
“A collaboration between the Qatar Development Bank and the Qatar Financial Centre, the specialised incubator and accelerator programmes attracted hundreds of applications from many countries, which raises Qatar as a destination of choice in the international community,” he continued.
Asked which up and coming sectors could produce potential disruptors post Covid-19 pandemic, Loayon said, “Fintech, healthcare, and clean energy solutions are showing focus post pandemic, and I believe these will be sectors that will continue to evolve going forward.”
On the PBC-Q’s plans in Qatar for 2021, Loayon noted that the council is now open for new members, both corporate and individuals.
“We aim to be able to provide professional development and business matching opportunities to council members, and includes an insurance benefit, as well. They may email [email protected] for more details,” he added.
