Qatar Economic and Business Insights (21. September 2021): Qatar Witnessing Major Boom in Construction Sector, Lusail Stadium, Qatar 2022 Final Venue, Nears Completion

MARK to hold its EGM on September 28 – Masraf Al Rayan (MARK) will be holding its Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting (EGM) virtually through Zoom platform on September 28, 2021 at 4:30 pm. (Gulf-Times.com)

Moody's: Qatar's Islamic banks top GCC with highest loss coverage ratio of 192% in 1H – Qatar’s Islamic bank’s exhibit high provisioning buffers against expected losses and have the highest loss coverage ratio (192% as of 1H2021) in the GCC region and South and Southeast Asia, a new research by Moody’s Investor Service has shown. Qatar’s Islamic banks are followed by their peers in Saudi Arabia(179%) and Kuwait(140%), Moody’s noted. The financing books of Islamic banks in Qatar, like those of their conventional peers, are heavily skewed toward the government and its related entities, providing an extra layer of resilience, Moody’s said. (Gulf-Times.com)

Survey: Qatar’s economy to expand 3% in 2021; Prior +3% – Qatar’s economy will expand 3% in 2021 according to the latestresults of a Bloomberg News survey of 10 economists conducted from September 10 to September 16. GDP in 2022 is expected to increase +4.2% YoY vs prior +3.8%. The CPI 2021 will be +1.5% YoY vs prior +0.9%, while CPI in 2022 will increase to +1.8% YoY vs prior +1.8%. (Bloomberg)

Chamber Chairman: Qatar's construction sector witnessing steady growth – On the back of massive infrastructure projectsbeing completed across the country, the State of Qatar’s construction sector has been growing steadily, according to Qatar Chamber chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al-Thani. Sheikh Khalifa made the statement Monday on the sidelines of the inauguration of Build Your House 2021, which is running its second edition until September 22 at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC). “The construction sector in Qatar is seeing continuous growth, supported by the economic expansion in the country and the acceleration of projects related to the 2022 FIFA World Cup,” Sheikh Khalifa stressed. He also emphasized that this growth in the construction industry is an indication that the negative impacts of Covid-19 on the sector “have entirely disappeared.” “I am expecting that the sector will witness further growth in the coming years,” the Qatar Chamber official continued. Sheikh Khalifa pointed out that the chamber’s support to BYH 2021 as official sponsor “stems from Qatar Chamber’s interest to support the exhibitions industry in the country and the Qatari private sector, in general.” He noted that BYH 2021 presents a unique variety of advanced technologies in the fields of architecture, interior design, construction, and building materials. The event attracted more than 150 local companies that will showcase their expertise and services to help citizens build their houses. (Gulf-Times.com)

IPA Qatar, PwC release guide to doing business in Qatar – The Investment Promotion Agency Qatar (IPA Qatar) and PwC Qatar jointly released Monday the new ‘Tax & Legal Guide to Doing Business in Qatar’, which provides a comprehensive overview of Qatar’s conducive business environment. The guide was unveiled during a webinar, held in cooperation with the General Tax Authority (GTA), the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), and the Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZA). The release of the guide follows recent tax, legal, and regulatory developments that have further contributed to positioning Qatar as a world-class investment hub. Developed in collaboration with PwC Qatar, the guide provides companies with a full understanding of the tax, legal, and regulatory framework in Qatar, highlighting the ease of setting up and doing business in the country. The guide also details the vast, sector-diverse opportunities where businessescan leverage Qatar’s business-friendly investment ecosystem and highlights how IPA Qatar can help businesses throughout their investment journey, from consideration to operation and expansion to ensure their success in Qatar. (Gulf-Times.com)

ORDS announces date to pay interest to bondholder – Ooredoo (ORDS) announced that Ooredoo International Finance Limited (OIFL), its wholly-owned subsidiary, pursuant to the Terms and Conditions of the Notes and the Final Terms, will pay its Global Medium Term Note (GMTN) holders’ interest payment on October 19, 2021. (QSE)

Nokia, Indosat Ooredoo launch commercial 5G services in Surabaya – Nokia and Indosat Ooredoo announced the launch of commercial 5G services in Surabaya city, Indonesia. Under the deal, Indosat Ooredoo’s customers will experience new enterprise and industrial use cases underpinned by the new 5G network. Nokia will supply equipment from its latest ReefShark based AirScale product range, including its AirScale Single RAN portfolio for both indoor and outdoor coverage. These solutions will offer faster speeds and wider mobile coverage for Indosat Ooredoo’s customers while cutting costs for the operator to run its network. Nokia will also deploy its dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) solution, which will allow Indosat Ooredoo to use its 4G networks spectrum for 5G services, decreasing the time it takes to get 5G up and running. (Bloomberg)

Qatar, Saudi ministries explore avenues to strengthen security cooperation – HE the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior and Commander of the Lekhwiya Force Major General Abdulaziz bin Faisal Al-Thani met Monday with the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior in the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Dr. Hisham bin Abdulrahman Al Falih. The meeting was in the context of the official visit paid by a delegation from the Qatari Ministry of Interior to the Kingdom with the aim of strengthening frameworks of joint security cooperation between the two brotherly countries. During the meeting, they reviewed ways to enhance security cooperation between the two brotherly countries to achieve the objectives of combating and reducing crime, and to support means of joint security action between the two ministries of interior at all security levels, in a way that serves common interests and achieves the greatest degree of cooperation aimed to effectively contribute to raising the efficiency of security agencies and to combat crime in all its forms. (Gulf-Times.com)

Lusail Stadium, Qatar 2022 final venue, nears completion – Qatar ticked off another milestone this week after turf was laid for the first time at Lusail Stadium – the 80,000-capacity venue that will host the FIFA World Cup final in December 2022. The finishing touches are now being made to the stadium, which will be the eighth and final tournament venue to be built or redeveloped by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC). (Gulf-Times.com)