DOHA, 15 March 2009
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Mr STUART D. PEARCE
CEO and Director General, Qatar Financial Centre Authority
MultaQa Qatar 2009, Sharq Village & Spa
CEO Remarks
Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, QFC colleagues.
I have been asked to bring you up to date developments in the QFC Authority as it has been a very busy and eventful year since we were last here at MultaQa Qatar.
A significant and symbolic moment in our journey took place on 3rd December 2008 with the licensing of Al Mal - the 100th license issued by the QFC. This was an important milestone in the growth of our organization. Not only has it come sooner than any of us anticipated, but it also made a very valuable and important point.
The QFC as you will recall was established to further develop and deepen Qatar’s financial sector and to contribute to the growth of financial services in the region. In so doing it is not only helping to make the financial services market bigger but it is also contributing to the development to Qatar’s economy in a number of different ways.
Not only do QFC licensed firms bring employment opportunities to Qatar but they bring new expertise to the market and help us develop new business opportunities for all participants.
But of course what we are doing must be in harmony with - not at the expense of - Qatar’s domestic financial sector. The expertise of international firms infiltrates and strengthens the financial sector and this drives demand for financial services which feeds into the efficiency and growth of the economy over time.
An important aspect of this development is the fact that 20% of the firms licensed by QFC are owned by Qatari interests, which illustrates that the benefit of the QFC legal and regulatory structure is recognised by local and international companies alike.
What is also of interest is the diversity of the firms within the QFC. Some 33% of our licensed firms are based in Europe and 17% in the US. Over 40% come from the Middle East region. 58% of our firms are regulated, and 33% are rated by the main agencies.
Among the 31 companies licensed in 2008 were ICBC, China’s largest commercial bank, and the first Chinese bank to open a full branch in the Middle East, Coutts, State Street (whose Doha office is their hub for the region), UBS and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation; Marsh, Aon, and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company; Union National Bank, Saudi American Bank, BLOM Bank, Beltone and Bank Sarasin-Alpen; McNair Chambers (the first British Barristers’ chambers to open outside the UK) and DLA Piper; and Qatar First Investment, QNB Capital and (as I mentioned) Al Mal.
As His Excellency the Minister has said two crucial projects were launched in 2008. These will help us to develop the financial sector, and to demonstrate the reason why the QFC was created. QIS and QFBA (talk a bit about both). These will help define the QFC in the years ahead and will make a major contribution to Qatar’s and quite possibly the region’s finance industry in the future.
But the development of the QFC is going on against a backdrop of economic challenges that increasingly impacted the world in 2008 and continue to do so in 2009. This may well slow down QFC’s development but we are isolated to some degree by Qatar’s vibrant economy.
The strength of Qatar’s underlying asset is demonstrated by the launch next month of Qatargas trains 4 & 5, the largest of their kind each producing 7.5 million tons of LNG which will provide the UK with up to 20% of its gas needs. It is this fact which underlines the confidence – a scarce commodity these days - that remains in this economy. It is the rapidly growing confidence in Qatar that enables us to attract new firms to this dynamic market.
In independently conducted research commissioned by the QFC Authority between September and November 2008, firms licensed by the QFC reported continuing optimism in their outlook going forward. They expected continuing growth in the market (and therefore for their businesses) for the coming year, though not quite at the same rate as last year. They also paid warm compliments to the departments in the QFC Authority that provide them with services, such as our Operations Department, our communications team and our business development teams.
Firms’ comments include "QFC’s customer services are one of the best. Highly efficient, reliable and quick", "QFC’s marketing campaign on CNN was excellent" and "The Immigration and Government services department at QFC is very efficient, helpful, understanding and well connected".
Also, in its second survey, for the 1st quarter of 2009, Dun & Bradstreet found subdued but steady optimism among the 500 firms taking part. That is a lot of respondents for a market of this size. It is also unique among the regional surveys currently being produced by Dun & Bradstreet.
In September we convened the first meeting of the UK Trade and Investment Financial Sector Services Advisory Board committee for Qatar. This is the first such body set up in the region by UKTI, a branch of the UK government, which will help to promote the growth of financial services between the UK and Qatar. We are now finalizing similar agreement with EUROPLACE in Paris.
Looking ahead, in October we will launch Qatar Finance – the Ultimate Resource, a joint venture with Bloomsbury Publishing announced in 2007, which is a unique printed and online financial knowledge platform for financial practitioners, academics and students and the business media. This will form the centre of a week of high level events in partnership with the FT, CNBC and The Economist. You will be hearing more about these events and we hope that your firms will be represented at them at high level.
As you will gather 2008 was a busy and productive year, 2009 looks as though it will prove to be the same.
May I wish you a very enjoyable and interesting conference and - for those coming in from outside - visit to Qatar.
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