Ministry of Finance Highlights Prominent Amendments to Law Regulating Tenders, Auctions

Ministry of Finance

On the occasion of Cabinet Decision No.11 of 2022 amending some provisions of the Executive Regulations of the Law No. 24 of 2015, the Ministry of Finance held a press conference on Tuesday, in which it shed light on the aforementioned amendments.

During the press conference, the ministry stated that one of the most prominent of these amendments is the addition of a definition of In-Country Value, defining it as the total expenses incurred by the contractor, supplier, or service provider within the country to develop national businesses, services or human resources to stimulate productivity in the local economy.

The In-Country Value is determined through a certificate on previously executed contracts, or the plan presented by the tenderer within his bid showing the target amount of the In-Country Value of the contract value, it pointed out.

The ministry indicated that the In-Country Value was adopted as a measurement tool in the process of differentiation when awarding tenders to companies, as it moved from a mere project or initiative with a specific space to a reality whose features became clear through these amendments to the regulation, which is considered the most important projects adopted by the state to apply it to state purchases, as it aims to maintain the economic value within the State of Qatar by creating new investment opportunities and providing new high-level business in the private sector.

The In-Country Value will also provide valuable business opportunities for local business owners or attract investors who are planning to set up their businesses in the country.

The Ministry of Finance said that the aforementioned amendments to the executive regulations added more support to small, medium, and micro companies, by adding some articles to the regulation, including: - Exempting micro-companies in tenders with a value of less than QR 1 million from providing primary and final insurance.

- Exempting micro, small and medium companies from paying tender documents valued at less than QR 1 million.

- Exempting micro and small-sized companies from half the value of the fee prescribed for classification.

- Permitting participation in tenders valued at less than QR 5 million to micro, small- or medium-sized companies.

The amendments also included the development and acceleration of procurement in government agencies by introducing a specific timeframe to organize transactions and complete them within 60 working days, setting a deadline of 20 working days from the date of submitting the final insurance to sign the contract and setting a deadline of 90 working days to start the execution of the contract after signing.

The ministry indicated that restricting the duration of the procedures stipulated in the regulation aims to speed up the procedures and raise the efficiency of tenders and that the companies will not incur any losses caused by the length of the previous procedures period.

These amendments come within the continuous efforts of the State of Qatar to support economic activities in the non-oil sectors with an increase in the trend towards strengthening the role of the private sector in implementing a wide range of development projects through In-Country Value, within the framework of the comprehensive economic development that the country has been witnessing for several years, and to provide opportunities to the private sector by supporting the participation of small, medium and micro companies effectively through legislative amendments to encourage the private sector in the next stage.

In 2021, the Ministry of Finance launched the "stimulus" program, which included three main pillars: the Qatar In-Country Value (QICV) Program, the promotion of the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the environmental, social, and general governance for the financial sector (ESG) to achieve Qatar Vision 2030. The "stimulus" program targets the development of the private sector and its important role in economic growth, and its contribution to a sustainable economy through production, job creation, industrialization, increased exports, and GDP.

(QNA)