Tahfeez, Tawteen to boost Qatar’s private sector, homegrown companies

The Ministry of Finance’s ‘Tahfeez’ and QatarEnergy’s ‘Tawteen’ will strengthen and support the growth of Qatar’s private sector and homegrown companies.Qatar’s policy has been to diversify its economy away from oil and gas and reduce dependence on hydrocarbon resources. Undoubtedly, initiatives such as ‘Tahfeez’ and ‘Tawteen’ will enhance Qatar’s local offering and contribute to diversifying the economy in line with the National Vision 2030 set forth by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.Recently, the Ministry of Finance said ‘Tahfeez’ will consist of three pillars - Qatar In-Country Value (QICV), Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).‘Tawteen’ is based on three pillars, with the ambition to build a resilient and competitive energy sector in Qatar.“The programme is designed to support the growth of Qatar’s private sector development, create jobs and promote further exports of local products to the world,” noted HE the Minister of Finance, Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari.Tahfeez will launch via its first pillar, QICV, an extension of QatarEnergy’s ‘Tawteen’ programme launched in February 2019.Its objective is to create new investment opportunities and enhance the private sector through knowledge transfer.QICV’s roll-out will consist of several phases, starting in the first quarter (Q1) 2022, with the first one being made available to contractors in collaboration with the Public Works Authority, before extending to other government entities and institutions.One of the most important aspects of QICV is the adoption of the In-Country Value policy designed to reward contractors, suppliers, and service providers who fulfil their contracts by contributing to the growth of the economy.This initiative is part of several measures taken by the Ministry of Finance to stimulate the local market, starting with the system contracts between Hamad Medical Corporation and national companies in healthcare, and the development of food security policies for national products.The Ministry of Finance continues to collaborate with various government entities and institutions to develop policies, regulations, and incentives to further attract businesses to expand to Qatar.The ‘Tawteen’ programme primarily aims to foster the development of the energy sector’s local supply chain and to expand small and medium enterprises’ base in Qatar. It currently offers investment opportunities for a range of fields, including engineering services, maintenance, repair, and overhaul, digital technologies, subsurface, chemicals and metals, as well as light equipment, business services and others.It will be extended to more fields in the future. Overall, the programme aims to create more than 5,000 white collar jobs and add QR8bn-9bn additional value to the local economy, translating to a GDP growth of 1.6%.QatarEnergy has been a main pillar of Qatar’s economy for almost half a century. QatarEnergy has already declared that it seeks to further develop its social and economic contribution to foster local economic development to strengthen the local energy sector.Ultimately, suppliers and contractors, who are contributing the most to the local economy, will acquire a commercial advantage.Clearly, ‘Tahfeez’ and ‘Tawteen’ will contribute to the development of Qatar’s industries and promote the country’s self-reliance.