Press Arabia

Doha: October 06 – Visit Qatar hosted a two-day workshop for local stakeholders from the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) industry.

The event aimed to equip participants with essential tools and insights to effectively position Qatar as a premier destination for business events and to enhance their bidding strategies for international gatherings as well as educate international MICE buyers on the varied assets of Qatar for events.

An insights workshop gathered more than stakeholders from the hospitality sector, including Destination Management Companies (DMCs), hotels and special event venues to explore collaborative approaches for attracting business events to Qatar. Attendees gained valuable insights into the key characteristics of the Chinese, Indian, and Russian MICE markets and guidance to support a successful business event bid and a compelling pitch.

The full-day program on the 23rd for international MICE buyers included panel discussions featuring key figures from Qatar’s M
ICE ecosystem, as well as one-on-one meetings to explore future business opportunities.

Visit Qatar’s strategy underscores MICE as a priority pillar in driving growth within the country’s tourism sector. By increasing the number business events, Qatar aims to strengthen its position as a leading global hub for the MICE industry. With well-developed infrastructure, a business-friendly environment, and state-of-the-art venues, Qatar has established itself as a premier destination, renowned for its capacity to host world class events.

Source: Qatar News Agency

European stocks ended with small gains Monday.

The Stoxx 600 index closed 0.1 percent higher, with the banking sector leading the sectoral gains, but the real estate sector fell 1.4 percent and the utilities sector fell 0.5 percent.

German stocks fell 0.1 percent after factory orders fell more than expected in August.

The German Economy Ministry separately said that the European Union’s largest economy is expected to shrink by 0.2 percent in 2024, for the second year in a row.

Among individual stocks, Orsted jumped 6 percent after Equinor bought a stake worth about $2.5 billion in the Danish wind energy company, and Equinor’s shares fell 3.4 percent.

Source: Qatar News Agency

European stocks slipped on Monday as the initial euphoria over strong US jobs data last week faded and rate-sensitive sectors such as real estate and utilities came under pressure from higher bond yields.

The STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), opens new tab was down 0.2 percent, with real estate (.SX86P), opens new tab and utilities (.SX6P), opens new tab sectors losing 1.1 percent and 0.5 percent.

Among stocks, Richemont (CFR.S), opens new tab rose 1.3 percent.

Shares of Heidelberg Materials (HEIG.DE), opens new tab climbed 5.6 percent following a report that the Adani Group is in talks to buy the German company’s Indian cement operations a deal that could be worth about USD 1.2 billion.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: Qatar Finance and Business Academy (QFBA) launched the first edition of the annual “Finance Researcher Award.” The Finance Researcher Award aims to encourage and support Qatar’s next generation of financial researchers, promote an academic excellence, creativity, and innovation culture, and provide a platform for young researchers to present their research and contribute to the growth and development of Qatar’s financial and banking sectors.

The award seeks to honor undergraduate and master’s students in Qatar for their unique and significant research, with a specific category for Qatari nationals. Nominations for the award will be open from Oct. 15 to Dec. 1, 2024.

CEO of QFBA Dr. Khalifa Al Salahi Al Yafei said that the First Annual Finance Research Award will foster a culture of innovation and promote research within Qatar’s financial and banking sector, while also supporting the forthcoming generation of financial experts who are pivotal in this rapidly evolving field.

HE CEO of Doha Bank Group S
heikh Abdulrahman bin Fahd bin Faisal Al-Thani said that the bank’s sponsorship of this award is consistent with its plans and commitments to invest in young national talents within the financial and banking sectors. He also emphasized the banks commitment to efforts designed to furnish young professionals with critical knowledge and requisite skills to prepare and qualify them for the future.

The winning projects will get certificates and cash awards, and an award will be conferred for the best research project by a Qatari student.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: QatarEnergy has announced the launch of ‘Tawteen’ initiative’s enhanced In-Country Value (ICV) program, a move that will further align it with the objectives of the State of Qatar to enhance the sustainable development of the local economy.

The enhanced ICV Program is the result of strategic collaboration and alignment with key stakeholders, mainly the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as well as suppliers, energy champions, and industry experts.

Building on the foundations laid by the original ICV program launched in 2019, this enhanced version brings forward significant improvements that make the program more inclusive, adaptable, and beneficial for all participants.

One of the Program’s key amendments is the refined ICV formula, which is engineered to provide a wider scope of the local contribution for all companies. A bonus scheme was also introduced to reward companies for their positive contributions in selected fields, hence, ensuring an accurate reflection of each
company’s impact on Qatar’s economy.

The enhanced ICV Program also introduces the ICV+ policy, which is specifically designed to provide targeted support to local manufacturers. This policy underscores the program’s emphasis on developing the capabilities of Qatar’s manufacturing sector, enabling local companies to meet the evolving demands of the industry and contribute to the country’s economic growth.

To further empower micro and small enterprises, the Program introduces a Blanket Score policy offering a standardized ICV score that supports their competitiveness in the market. Additionally, a simplified certification process is introduced to alleviate the administrative and financial burden for micro and small enterprises who work directly with the Energy sector. These introductions underscore QatarEnergy’s commitment to fostering an inclusive local supply chain, where businesses of all sizes can thrive.

The enhanced ICV program considers increasing the number of ICV certification bodies interested in j
oining the program, provided they meet the specified criteria. This will contribute to improving the efficiency of procedures and providing multiple options for suppliers seeking to obtain ICV certification.

The ICV program has made significant progress in the last few years, increasing the local contribution of the Energy sector from 14 percent to 28.5 percent and creating around 7,000 jobs.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: QatarEnergy has announced the launch of ‘Tawteen’ initiative’s enhanced In-Country Value (ICV) program, a move that will further align it with the objectives of the State of Qatar to enhance the sustainable development of the local economy.

The enhanced ICV Program is the result of strategic collaboration and alignment with key stakeholders, mainly the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as well as suppliers, energy champions, and industry experts.

Building on the foundations laid by the original ICV program launched in 2019, this enhanced version brings forward significant improvements that make the program more inclusive, adaptable, and beneficial for all participants.

One of the Program’s key amendments is the refined ICV formula, which is engineered to provide a wider scope of the local contribution for all companies. A bonus scheme was also introduced to reward companies for their positive contributions in selected fields, hence, ensuring an accurate reflection of each
company’s impact on Qatar’s economy.

The enhanced ICV Program also introduces the ICV+ policy, which is specifically designed to provide targeted support to local manufacturers. This policy underscores the program’s emphasis on developing the capabilities of Qatar’s manufacturing sector, enabling local companies to meet the evolving demands of the industry and contribute to the country’s economic growth.

To further empower micro and small enterprises, the Program introduces a Blanket Score policy offering a standardized ICV score that supports their competitiveness in the market. Additionally, a simplified certification process is introduced to alleviate the administrative and financial burden for micro and small enterprises who work directly with the Energy sector. These introductions underscore QatarEnergy’s commitment to fostering an inclusive local supply chain, where businesses of all sizes can thrive.

The enhanced ICV program considers increasing the number of ICV certification bodies interested in j
oining the program, provided they meet the specified criteria. This will contribute to improving the efficiency of procedures and providing multiple options for suppliers seeking to obtain ICV certification.

The ICV program has made significant progress in the last few years, increasing the local contribution of the Energy sector from 14 percent to 28.5 percent and creating around 7,000 jobs.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: The private sector is a key partner in battling money laundering and terrorist financing, and ensuring the effective implementation of international standards, said Qatar Central Bank (QCB)’s Supervision Assistant Governor, Hamad Ahmad Al Mulla on Monday.

This came in an inaugural speech at the 9th Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF) Typologies and Capacity Building Workshop, as part of the implementations of the decisions of the 37th MENAFATF plenary meeting in December 2023 in Nouakchott, Mauritania. The workshop will continue for four days until October 10.

Al Mulla said the MENA countries face complex patterns of money laundering and terrorist financing, which undermines the efforts of their governments to combat them, makes the measures they take against them less effective, and poses challenges that require applications to understand them.

This workshop is a good opportunity to exchange experiences in order to better understand the different and advanced methods
used for money laundering and financing terrorism and the proliferation of weapons, and to provide decision-makers and policy experts with practical information to develop strategies to combat these challenges and to be able to address them efficiently, Al Mulla added.

He hailed the role of civil society institutions that contribute significantly and effectively to promoting effective policies and practices to combat money laundering and terrorist financing and enhancing the safety and security of the global financial system.

These institutions include think tanks ranging from those associated with high academic or scientific activities to those with an explicit ideology that pushes for specific policies.

For his part, Secretary of the National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing and Head of MENAFATF’s Technical Assistance and Applications Team, Issa Mohammed Al Hardan stressed the importance of the workshop and the State of Qatar hosting it, which stems from its awareness of t
he role of applications and studying trends and patterns in raising the effectiveness of the system for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of the proliferation of weapons.

He pointed out that research into the patterns of money laundering and terrorist financing includes studying the methods, techniques and trends used in these two fields, which enhances the comprehensive understanding of the money laundering and terrorist financing environment.

Al Hardan added that this workshop will enable bringing together experts from financial intelligence units, law enforcement, and financial and non-financial regulatory bodies to exchange expertise and raise awareness of the need for national cooperation, with the private sector participating in discussions related to capacity building.

He added that the application framework is based on the process of collecting and analyzing information and individual case studies. The application and capacity building workshop will also focus on eme
rging threats, especially the violation, non-implementation or evasion of the application of targeted financial sanctions related to the financing of terrorism, the financing of the proliferation of weapons, and the exploitation of the lawyers, notaries and accountants sector in money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

With regard to capacity building, particular emphasis will be placed on the importance of technology and data analysis systems in detecting money laundering and terrorist financing, and on the role of civil society in enhancing the effectiveness of parallel financial investigations.

Al Hardan explained that the National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing attaches utmost importance to this aspect within the framework of implementing the measures recommended in the Mutual Evaluation Report for the State of Qatar issued in May 2023, and its continuous work to align its legislation with the latest amendments to Recommendations 24 and 25 of the Financial Actio
n Task Force recommendations.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: The State of Qatar chaired the 21st meeting of Their Excellencies the heads of the GCC Audit and Accounting Bureaus, hosted by the State Audit Bureau, on Monday.

The meeting comes within the framework of enhancing existing cooperation and exchanging expertise in the field of accounting and financial auditing between counterpart agencies in the GCC, which contributes to raising the efficiency of these agencies’ performance to achieve the desired goals, and supporting the process of cooperation and joint work between sister countries.

HE President of the State Audit Bureau, Abdulaziz bin Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Emadi, who chaired the meeting, praised in his opening speech the development of audit work in the GCC, indicating that this was achieved thanks to the keenness of the GCC Financial and Accounting Auditing Bureaus to keep pace with developments and apply the best professional practices adopted in the field of auditing and qualifying human resources according to the requirements of efficiency and pe
rformance.

His Excellency added that the GCC regulatory bodies, as well as the rest of the supreme audit bodies around the world, face new challenges imposed by the developments and innovations taking place in the profession related to confronting cybersecurity challenges and benefiting from artificial intelligence applications and others, stressing that joint Gulf regulatory work is the best way to confront all these challenges, which requires activating cooperation efforts and enhancing joint work in the future.

His Excellency the President of the Audit Bureau pointed out that the agenda includes a number of items related to enhancing cooperation between the GCC countries, which will contribute to developing the capabilities of the oversight bodies and enhancing their position as model institutions to be emulated.

For his part, HE Secretary-General of the GCC, Jassem Mohammed Albudaiwi said the GCC has achieved great accomplishments that have contributed to reaching many of the goals set by Their Majesti
es and Highnesses, the leaders of the GCC states, to enhance.

He stressed that the important topics on the meetings agenda, including recommendations on a financial control guide – the general guide, the disaster and crisis audit guide, and the plan to enhance cooperation and partnership with the development initiative, will contribute to achieving greater convergence in the areas of financial and accounting control among the GCC countries.

His Excellency noted that the decisions issued by the meeting regarding the approval of a number of regulatory guides that will enhance joint Gulf work in the field of financial control and accounting is the best evidence of the importance of the existing cooperation between the GCC countries in this vital field, indicating that this cooperation goes beyond enhancing financial transparency and credibility to be a fundamental pillar for supporting the sustainable development process.

His Excellency added that the GCC states’ persistent efforts to enhance transparency and
reach an accounting control system led to their distinguished regional and global position.

Many countries and organizations are actively seeking to establish strategic partnerships with the GCC thanks to its credibility, transparency and sustainability in all its national institutions.

The meeting discussed a number of topics related to the updated Financial Control Guide (General Guide), the Disaster and Crisis Audit Guide, and discussed the plan to enhance cooperation and partnership between the Gulf agencies and the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). It also discussed a proposal to enhance audit cooperation across the GCC and the training programs implemented so far for the current year 2024 for employees of the GCC financial and accounting audit bureaus.

On the sidelines, distinguished employees in the GCC financial and accounting audit bureaus were honored.

Source: Qatar News Agency

The dollar index measure against major peers was flat. It rose on Friday to a seven-week high, logging more than 2% gains for the week, its biggest in two years.

Japan’s yen fell to its lowest in nearly two months and other major currencies too were grappling with losses early on Monday as the dollar extended a rally sparked by Friday’s strong US jobs data.

The yen fell marginally to hit 149.10 per dollar, its weakest level since Aug. 16. The euro stood at $1.0970 , down 0.06%. Sterling was also flat around $1.3122, nursing last week’s 1.9% drop. The New Zealand dollar was up 0.1% at $0.6166.

The dollar’s gains followed a US jobs report that showed the biggest jump in jobs in six months in September, a drop in the unemployment rate and solid wage rises, all pointing to the resilience of US economy.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: HE Governor of Qatar Central Bank (QCB), Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani met Monday with President of Barclays Bank PLC and Head of Investment Bank Management, Stephen Dainton.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed the key global financial and banking developments.

Source: Qatar News Agency