2023 POLICY ROADMAP

In recent years, the Qatari economy has exhibited positive growth, with expansions in GDP and various sectors. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy rebounded notably in 2022, with a real GDP growth rate of 4.3%. Notwithstanding the effects of inflation on businesses, efforts have been made to address this issue, resulting in a decreasing inflation trend observed in 2023, reaching 2.4% by August.

While inflation poses challenges for businesses, particularly those reliant on imports, the impact
can vary across industries. Small businesses and startups, with limited capital reserves, may face
greater difficulties due to rising interest rates aimed at countering inflationary pressures. However, the Qatari government has implemented programs to support entrepreneurs, enhance their access to capital, and mitigate the impact of inflation. Looking ahead, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts a further decrease in inflation rates in Qatar, potentially reaching around 2% by 2024.

In line with Qatar National Vision 2030, the Qatari government has implemented various policy changes and initiatives to strengthen entrepreneurship and the SME sector. Notable examples include encouraging SME participation in government procurement, and opening new opportunities for small businesses and startups. The launch of the Qatar Fintech Strategy by the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) has fostered innovation in the finance sector.

2023 Framework Conditions Review1

Qatar has a quality entrepreneurial environment, consistently ranked among the top 10 of GEM participating economies in the past five years. This quality dipped a little during the pandemic. The National Entrepreneurial Context Index (NECI), based on insights from national experts, fell from 5.9 in 2019 to 5.5 in 2021. The score has improved since then and reached 6.0 in 2023, above the corresponding pre-pandemic level.

Of the 13 individual Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions (EFCs) that make up the NECI, nine improved in 2023 compared to 2022, with just one score declining. As a result, all 13 EFCs scored as sufficient or better in 2023 (score ≥5.0), the only economy to do so besides the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands. Both finance scores improved, as did both government policy and both education scores. New 2023 National Expert Survey (NES) questions asked about the level of social support for women entrepreneurs, as well as those women entrepreneurs’ access to the resources needed to start and run a business compared to that of men entrepreneurs. Qatar was among the top 10 in GEM 2023 for social support (sixth), with a score of 5.9, and 11th for relative access to resources with a score of 5.4.

2023 Entrepreneurial Activity Review

One in four Qatari adults in the GEM Adult Population Survey (APS) reported that their household income had fallen in 2023, a significant proportion but much less than the one in two of a year earlier.

Entrepreneurship has a reasonable profile in Qatar, with around one in two adults knowing someone
who had recently started a business, and two out of three seeing good opportunities to start a business locally, or considering themselves to have the skills and experience to start their own. Just over two out
of five of those seeing good opportunities would not start a business for fear it might fail, a proportion that has been fairly consistent in the past few years. Despite this, business intentions are very high, with nearly one in two of those adults not already doing so expecting to start a business in the next three years.

The proportion of adults already starting or running a new business in 2023 was just over 14%, up from nearly 11% a year earlier. Men and women were more or less equally likely to start a business, demonstrating that the new entrepreneurial activity rate among women has grown faster than that of men. However, Established Business Ownership rates remain very low, at just over 4%, although an improvement on the previous year. This implies that Qatar has more than three adults starting or running a new business for every Established Business Owner, so that established rate should keep increasing.

Three out of four new entrepreneurs agreed with the motivation to build great wealth or very high income. Many were outward-looking, with nearly three in 10 having customers beyond Qatar, perhaps reflecting the relatively small size of national markets. Two out of three new entrepreneurs expected to use more digital technology in the next six months. Job expectations were very high, with nearly three in five expecting to employ at least another six people over the next five years.

1 A brief description of the GEM approach is given in the footnote on p. 107 in the GEM Global Report.