Under the patronage of Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatar Development Bank (QDB) will officially open the 3rd Government Procurement and Contracting Conference and Exhibition – Moushtarayat 2018 – from 23 to 25 April at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre (DECC).
The upcoming expo will be held in partnership with the Ministry of Finance, who used the support of their specialist procurement regulation department to help frame and support the expo series since it was first launched two years ago.
Building on the momentum of its preceding editions, Moushtarayat 2018 will usher in a wave of new opportunities for the government-private sector cooperation. The expo welcomes members of the private sector, particularly small and medium enterprises (SME), to attend and participate in a wide range of public tenders, publicly announced throughout the year. A key aspect of the conference is to educate the local SME about the procedures involved in existing public tenders extended by big buyers, such as larger private sector companies, semi-governmental and governmental bodies.
Executive Director of Advisory Services, Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al Mannai said that the launch of Moushtarayat 2018 is a testament to the expansive achievements of the first two editions.
It speaks volumes about the quality of cooperative relationship that QDB and the Ministry of Finance enjoy. This project is in line with our organisational objective at QDB to get the SME to widen their engagement with big buyers in the marketplace.’
Last year’s edition, which attracted over 2,000 visitors and 30 exhibitors opened job opportunities for the SME sector with an estimated cumulative value worth up to QAR2.5 billion.
We are confident that our upcoming edition will see an even more widespread attendance besides going a long way in strengthening the bond between public corporations and the private sector.’
The third edition of the Government Procurement and Contracting Conference and Exhibition stems from the development agency’s vision to support local talent and create a cooperative environment for Qatari entrepreneurs.
Held in 2016, the first edition of the expo saw the participation of 25 exhibitors, who made nearly 450 contract opportunities available to the local private sector. Over 10o contracts were awarded as a result of the facilitation that businesses enjoyed during the expo.
Notably, the upcoming Moushtarayat conference and exhibition is the latest in a series of integrated programmes and initiatives offered by QDB to develop the SME sector. QDB introduced the ‘Buy Local Products’ expo series and recently announced the launch of its first nationwide entrepreneurship award in July.
QDB locally extends wide-ranging financial and non-financial support to entrepreneurs across a myriad of industries. The development organisation is dedicated to strengthening the private sector through the provision of special advisory services, indirect loan facilities, seed investment programmes and matchmaking services to increase the competitiveness of the SME sector in Qatar.
Visit the QNB website for more information about Moushtarayat 2018.
