The fintech industry provides an opportunity to drive Qatar’s economic diversification, says QDB manager

As an industry, financial technology (fintech) offers a significant opportunity to drive Qatar’s economic diversification, one of the four pillars of Qatar’s National Vision 2030, a Qatar Development Bank (QDB) official has said.
Regulations and support dynamics, such as access to finance, have been put in place to bring up an exciting future for this growing sector, Hilal al-Kuwari, Incubation Specialist, QDB, told the Gulf Times in an exclusive interview.
“In fact, the country is steadily becoming a regional fintech hub with a definite growth agenda,” said al-Kuwari, who explained that QFTH was founded by QDB to support the growth of the fintech industry in Qatar.
According to al-Kuwari, the country is already taking “big steps” to become a global fintech hub, particularly by establishing QFTH. This has created a good ecosystem to incubate domestic fintech and provide an enabling environment for foreign fintechs to invest and grow in the region, he stressed.
With two flagship incubator and accelerator programs, which run two waves per year, QFTH has completed three waves and the fourth is underway, explained al-Kuwari.
“QFTH has already supported 66 fintechs worldwide out of over 2,300 applications we have received in the four rounds we have launched. So far, we’ve invested more than $7 million in fintechs from early-stage startups to mature companies to support acceleration of their growth.
“We have also mobilized partnerships with 13 global fintech hubs and have signed MoUs with the industry’s major players, such as Microsoft, Visa, Mastercard, Vodafone and most of the leading banks in Qatar,” al-Kuwari stressed.
Furthermore, al-Kuwari said that QFTH has launched a whitepaper to analyze the factors and conditions driving fintech in Qatar and to show globally why and how the country is emerging as a new home for this growing industry in the Middle East and North Africa.
He said the report contains the results of detailed studies on various topics, such as new players in the industry, key global fintech trends, drivers of Qatar’s startup attractiveness, key fintech collaborators and venture capitalists in Qatar, and other insights on the fintech ecosystem. and their enabler in Qatar.
Al-Kuwari noted that the white paper had a wide audience of more than 10,000 people and was featured on various platforms across the region. It was in line with Qatar’s central bank’s vision and was welcomed by all the major fintech associations globally, he also said.
Al-Kuwari emphasized that QFTH’s incubator and accelerator programs target entrepreneurs with innovative and cutting-edge fintech ideas, offering financial support, mentorship and training support.
“QFTH has to date registered 25 fintechs in Qatar, of which 15 are Qatar-based startups. These fintechs are operating and creating jobs in the local market. The impact of QFTH’s efforts can also be seen in the achievements of QFTH alumni – from raising funds to to collaborate with global players and launch new services in the local and regional markets.
“Furthermore, we are in talks with Qatar University and others to create an internship program for students, in collaboration with QFTH fintechs with an aim to further cultivate and nurture fintech talent in the country,” al-Kuwari added.