Qatar-UK Business Forum's First Session Discusses Strength of Qatar's Financial Sector

The first session at the Qatar-UK Business and Investment Forum which inaugurated on Monday in London, discussed the strength of the financial and banking sector in Qatar.
HE Minister of Finance Ali Shareef Al Emadi said Qatar aims to create a knowledge-based economy to achieve the National Vision 2030 through encouraging the private sector and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), all whilst praising the role of British companies in Qatar.
Qatar aims to build a sustainable economy that is able to achieve high growth rates in the future through optimal investment of sovereign funds showing that Qatar is able to diversify its sources of national income by investing in different fields, away from the oil and gas fields, His Excellency added.
HE the Minister said, the banking sector invested almost $7 billion acquired in banks outside Qatar to achieve global expansion.CEO of Qatar Investment Authority HE Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al-Thani said the authority's strategic plan is to achieve sustainable development for the benefit of the future generations by investing all over the world. 
The authority holds a branch in London and is on its way to open a second in Silicon Valley, San Francisco in the United States to explore additional new and promising investment opportunities, His Excellency explained.HE Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al-Thani said the authority is working on developing the cooperation with the UK in different fields in order to explore investment opportunities in major projects in the UK.
For his part, Qatar National Bank (QNB) Group's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ali Ahmed Al Kuwari said that Qatar National Vision 2030 aims to shift from a gas and oil-based economy, into a sustainable economy capable of growing at a great rate in the future, stressing the success of Qatar's banking sector in achieving significant growth in past few years. 
He pointed out that Qatar's investments in London are concentrated in several vital sectors such as the real estate sector represented in London's "The Shard Tower", the retail sector, such as the "Sainsbury's" chain , the shopping sector in the famous Harrods chain, the infrastructure and airports sector, represented in Heathrow Airport in London and other sectors. He added that Qatar National Bank plays a key role in the service of Qatari investments abroad, especially in UK, where the bank serves about 7 million customers around the world through 27,000 employees at the bank. 
Al-Kuwari also showcased the growing presence of QNB, which has branches in 30 countries and has assets of about $198 billion. QNB is the largest banking gateway in Africa and the Middle East, it is also the most valuable brand in the region, he added. 
CEO of Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) Abdulbasit Ahmed Al Shaibei said that the State of Qatar has become the world's Islamic Banking hub, pointing that the establishment of the first Islamic bank in the State of Qatar date back to 1992. Al Shaibi attributed the success of the Qatari banking sector, especially the Islamic banking sector, to the political and economic stability of the country, pointing out that they represent important factors for the growth of this sector. 
He added that the Qatari banking sector has recruited the best banking experts in the world to provide innovative and effective solutions in dealing with the issues and challenges that may face the sector. He pointed out that despite the global challenges facing the banking industry, the Qatari banking sector is able to create new opportunities for growth and investment.
 CEO of London Stock Exchange Group Xavier Rolet said that the Qatari banks finance major projects in the world's most developed regions of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. He pointed out that the State of Qatar is encouraging small and medium enterprises in all economic sectors, where it succeeded in attracting a large number of this type of British companies. He also stressed that the State of Qatar and UK have promising opportunities for cooperation, especially as the Qatari banking sector and sovereign wealth funds are able to provide loans and capital for major projects, as well as the ability of the financial sector to provide financial expertise.

Source: QNA