Businessmen and industry experts affirmed that the state’s plan to support Qatari products contribute to achieving competitiveness, supporting the business and investment environment and stimulating the private sector to advance the role dominated by the best international experiences and practices. They stressed that the state is always keen on issuing incentives and facilities for producers from the beginning of the establishment of the project until the start of actual production and marketing products in the local market, and the mandatory list of national products for projects implemented by the state in this context comes to give priority to the national product in all projects.
Enhancing the role of the private sector
Businessman Ahmed Al -Khalaf asserts that supporting the local product is a slogan that the state constantly raises to encourage the local industry and enhance the role of the private sector in economic development. And that the state, for its part, is always keen on issuing incentives and facilities for producers from the beginning of the establishment of the project until the start of actual production and marketing products in the local market, and the mandatory list of national products comes in this context to give priority to the national product in all the projects undertaken by the state.
He adds that supporting the local product is not limited to its goals on the local market alone, but rather export abroad, competition and raising the reputation of the national product in the global markets, so the state spare no effort in encouraging the local industry, and issuing the necessary legislation to settle it, the most important of which is to rely on the local component in the projects implemented by the state in the various sectors, foremost of which is the infrastructure projects carried out by the Works Corporation, which sets Strict conditions in their projects to rely on local companies to supply components for all projects.
High quality
And he confirms that the local product must be characterized by high quality according to international standards in order to be a fan and motivation to rely on it in those projects.
Al -Khalaf stresses that the local product has a higher quality than the importer and better than it, and the evidence for that is the demand for local goods and products throughout the past years despite the presence of the importer in the local market, but the local product has proven its worth, whether in terms of quality or price, because imported products are present in the market and the state did not prevent import. He adds that the state is working to protect the local product from the non -honorable competition and dumping, as the local product is able to compete in the global markets.
Al -Khalaf focuses on the state’s plan to support Qatari products contributes to achieving competitiveness, supporting the business and investment environment and stimulating the private sector to advance the role dominated in accordance with the best international experiences and practices, in order to achieve the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030, and the state’s plans aimed at economic diversification.
Preferred prices
For his part, Dr. Khaled Al -Buainain, a businessman and expert in industry affairs, explains that the new list that the Ministry of Finance and the Qatar Development Bank is looking for a set of incentives for the national product, including preferential prices, even if there is an increase in the national product, it is preferred on the foreign product, in addition to awarding projects on the local contractor in all works that require local products, and therefore the priority is for the local producers and contractors.
He added in television statements that the specifications and standards will be the separation in identifying the different criteria for each product, whether local or foreign, and therefore there must be accurate specifications during the launch of the tender so that the factory and the local product recognize them to ensure the quality required in all products.
The Ministry of Finance had organized, in cooperation with the Qatar Development Bank, a special meeting to present and discuss the draft “mandatory list of national products”, within the framework of the efforts of the State of Qatar to enhance the national industry and develop local content in government purchases.
This meeting targets the owners and managers of Qatari factories and contracting companies, as it formed a platform for direct dialogue on the mechanisms of implementing the proposed list, and listening to the opinions and observations of representatives of the industrial sector regarding the opportunities for activation and integration with government agencies.
The organization of this meeting comes in the context of the concerned authorities ’keenness to enable national factories to benefit from government purchasing opportunities and strengthen the partnership between the public and private sectors, which contributes to achieving Qatar’s national vision towards a diversified and sustainable economy based on knowledge.