Qatar’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, HE Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad bin Qassim al-Thani has stated that the country offers great opportunities for international fintech firms, especially in light of the projected expenditures allocated for information and communications technology, which could reach $9 billion by 2024.
“The Islamic fintech market in Qatar was estimated at $850 million in 2020, and is expected to grow to $2 billion in 2025,” the minister said at the 8th Doha Islamic Finance Conference, entitled ‘Digital FinTech and Decentralization’. The event was organized by Qatar-based Islamic financial advisory company, Bait Al-Mashura Financial Consulting Company.
HE Sheikh Mohamed highlighted Qatar’s developing Islamic finance process and ongoing efforts to strengthen it. “The Qatar FinTech Hub ranked as the second-largest investor in the FinTech sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in the first quarter of 2021, hence consolidating Qatar’s position as a financial innovation hub, regionally and globally,” the minister said
Further, the minister noted that the assets of Islamic finance in Qatar had amounted to about $145 billion (QR528 billion), of which the assets of Islamic banks accounted for about 86 percent
“The Islamic banking sector today represents a key pillar of the financial sector in Qatar,” HE Sheikh Mohamed commented.
Sheikh Dr. Khalid bin Mohamed bin Ghanem Al-Thani, Director General of the General Department of Endowments at the Ministry of Endowments (Awqaf) and Islamic Affairs, highlighted “the critical importance of digital transformation in the endowment field, to develop its mechanisms and products.”
“This approach has gone hand-in-hand with the General Department of Endowments’ future vision, knowing that the department is currently launching the website and a new application for endowments,” Dr. Ghanem Al-Thani added.
