Qatar Financial Centre wants to attract companies other than just banks and asset managers to position itself as a multi-faceted business hub with better access than the country’s rival Dubai to markets including Turkey, Pakistan and Kuwait, Bloomber reported.
The new strategy is focused on building out four "clusters" for activities ranging from sports to Yousuf Al-Jaida, chief executive officer of the Qatar Financial Centre Authority, said in Doha.
The center drew up the plan after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut economic and diplomatic ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing the Gulf country of financing terrorist groups and having close ties with Iran. Qatar rejects the charges. Doha shifted trade and transportation routes to Kuwait and Oman and to buy goods from Iran and Turkey.
Doha is working toward taking on rivals in the GCC by trying to attract overseas investment and developing into a bigger business hub. Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E.
“There has always been this view that there can only be one hub in the region,” Al-Jaida said. The embargo has provided a chance for QFC to be an alternative financial center, “especially with the current geopolitical tensions.”
The center will continue to help its fund managers expand their assets, and plans to link up with Turkey and Malaysia Islamic services worldwide, Al-Jaida said.