Qatar Development Bank Helping SMEs to Grow

Non- agricultural organizations that fall within the middle size of the three categories, that is between large scale companies and microenterprises, are called SMEs or Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. These companies are usually differentiated by the number of employees. For SMEs the lower limit of employee strength falls within 5 to 10, whereas the upper limit resides somewhere between 100 and 200.
The SMEs play an important role in the economy of any country, especially for the ones with a growing economy. The overall development of a country’s economy often depends on the number and growth of SMEs in the country. In order to encourage the growth of SMEs, different extra facilities like easy loans, minimum restrictions, are often provided to these organizations by the government.  

Encouraging SME Exporters of Qatar 

Qatar which has been a prominent growing economy in the world scenario enjoys a favorable situation as an exporter to the world, and in order to support the SME Exporters of the country the Qatar Development Bank has come forward.  The organization has taken some big steps in order to increase the non-oil exports from the country by the way of helping numerous SMEs to grow and expand in the region. The bank has been providing easy loans and payment options for the SME Exporters of the country, and has ensured that these organizations can have their adequate share of profit from the market. 

SMEs and the economy 

Increase in the number of SMEs is directly related to the growth of the country. SMEs take a major role in increasing employment of the country. These companies employ people in huge number as a whole. A big company might offer much more employment compared to a single SME, but due to the large number of SMEs the total cumulative employment offered often goes much higher.  SME Exporters take a major role in influencing the country’s economy as they earn foreign currency through their business with the world.  

Project undertaken by QDB

In order to ensure the best growth of the SME Exporters the Qatar Development Bank initiated a project in 2011-2012. The organization identified the products of the country which had a great growth potential in the target markets. Depending on the results of their study, the export market of Qatar was segmented into 5 different categories including a total of 67 companies. By the way of providing required support to these SEM Exporters the QDB has helped to increase the non-oil exports of Qatar by 77% in the year 2012.