(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Mohammad Shoeb / The Peninsula
DOHA: Some five to eight small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are expected to be listed this year, on Qatar Stock Exchange's (QSE) junior index ‘QE Venture Market', which is designed to attract smaller companies, Rashid Ali Al Mansoori, CEO of the QSE told reporters yesterday.
The Qatari bourse is working in close cooperation with Qatar Chamber (QC) and Qatar Development Bank (QDB), which has a dedicated programme for SMEs-listing, to support and create a pipeline from their activities to encourage listing of new companies.
'We are working continuously in the market to offer new listing opportunities at QSE. We are also working to introduce more products, and enhancing regulatory environment for more IPOs in the primary market, Al Mansoori told reporters on the sidelines of a press conference held to announce the launch of the second edition of the ‘SME Excellence List 2018' at QDB headquarters, yesterday.
The main objective of the SMEs excellence list and award is to stimulate smaller firms to develop its performance and to continue focusing on innovation in all aspects of their work, so that they can compete locally, regionally, and globally.
The 'Excellence List programme, which kicked off yesterday will remain open until March 31, 2018. The event is being held under the patronage of the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani.
The press conference was addressed by Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa, QDB's CEO, and Saleh bin Hamad Al Sharqi, Director-General of QC, and Al Mansoori.
This year's edition of the award is expected to shed light on more outstanding SMEs and their achievements, successes, innovation and contributions to the growth of the national economy and their contribution to achieving self-sufficiency.
Commenting about the distinguished programme, Al Khalifa (QDB's CEO) said that this will provide SMEs an appropriate platform for their development and as a culmination of their efforts to advance and contribute to building a diversified economy.
The programme also aims to highlight their successes and showcase their outstanding and innovative efforts in managing their companies. It is part of QDB's ongoing efforts to catalyse the private sector and entrepreneurs.
'After the excellent success of the first phase of the programme, QDB has opened the door once again for the companies that have not been lucky in the first edition, and can return to 2018 competition, said Al Khalifa.
The terms of application to participate in the programme are very simple. They minimum age of the company should be 3 years, it must fulfill the national definition of SMEs, and be able to share its financial statements duly evaluated by an independent team.
The assessment will be based on financial criteria representing 40 percent of the company's final grade, and technical standards representing 60 percent weight.
'Following the very successful first edition of the ‘SMEs Excellence List 2016' which witnessed honouring 50 outstanding enterprises from the local private sector out of more than 800 SMEs, the second edition of the award is being held this year in the frame of the strategic partnership between Qatar Chamber and QDB, added Al Sharqi.'Beyond any doubt, the SMEs ranking programme in an excellence list is built in accordance with a set of precise and specific criteria including financial and professional standards. This definitely served as a platform for distinctive enterprises to have an access to numerous world markets. The Director-General stressed that QC is very keen to improve the performance of SMEs to enable them to compete internationally.
'We help them promote their products in exhibitions and conferences held abroad and in meetings with foreign trade delegations hosted by the chamber, noted Al Sharqi.
The chamber's interest to support the ‘SMEs excellence list 2018', according to Al Sharqi, stemmed out from the role it plays as a protector and incubator to the Qatari private sector.
MENAFN1302201800630000ID1096460927
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.