The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), a leading onshore financial and business centre in the region, revealed a significant increase of 63.7% in the number of new firms licensed on the QFC platform in 2020, compared to 2019. The QFC registered 334 firms in the year to 31 December 2020, compared to almost 200 firms registered over the same period in 2019.

Ending the year on a high note, the QFC maintained its business growth for the 8th consecutive year, despite the unprecedented global economic slowdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The expansion of the QFC-registered firms, which represents a variety of industries, both financial and non-financial services, included a record increase of 139.5% in the digital sector. Given the tremendous opportunities that emerged in the technology and digital sectors amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, and backed by the QFC’s fintech services provider license, the platform welcomed 91 new digital firms, hailing from diverse countries including India, USA, Pakistan, France, Russia and the United Kingdom. The QFC also continued to leverage its support to other firms across its strategic clusters, namely sports, media and financial services, registering 62 newcomers from these sectors. This increase pushes the QFC much closer to achieving its goal of registering 1,000 firms, ahead of the designated date as per its 2022 Strategy.