(MENAFN - The Peninsula) Qatar Development Bank (QDB), said yesterday that the new set of regulations, which were introduce in early 2012, to achieve the effective and timely implementation of projects (SMEs) has been proved successful, a statement issued by the Bank said.
The first project, under the new regulations, is being implemented in Mesaieed, and the results are very encouraging, a QDB statement said.
Engineer Issa Al Hammadi, Director, Project Engineering Department at QDB, said: "The bank has adopted new regulatory measures since early 2012 for the effective implementation of projects to facilitate small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Qatar."
As per the new regulations, the intended beneficiaries of a project now will have to submit all the necessary documents and papers related to the project in question to the Project Engineering Department (PED), that include land, design, licence and others.
And after the submission, the PED will review the papers of the project to be announced for an open-tender to select the appropriate consultant and contractor for the same.
Under, the new regulations, the QDB will seek assurance from the contractor for the effective and timely completion of the projects ensuring good quality as per the industry standards.
Notably, as per the earlier provisions, after the due submission of papers for finance, it was the responsibility of the beneficiary to find an appropriate consulting and contracting firm. And in most of the cases, the projects were not completed timely, due to financial misappropriation or use of the funds for projects other than it was meant for.
Al Hammadi said: "With the introduction of the new regulations, now projects will be completed within the given time-frame. And it will also ensure better quality, cost efficiency, transparency and optimum utilisation of resources."
He added that many projects financed by the bank earlier, have not complete yet, as the beneficiaries have diverted the funds for purposes other than it was allocated for.
QDB has also set up a project-based time-frame (two years) for the completion and actual start of production for the every project financed. As per the new regulations, the two-year time period has been declared as a "grace period" by the Bank.
"If we compare with other banks, we will find that two years time period is the best grace period offered by any banks in Qatar", Al Hammadi added.
Reiterating the significance of the new regulations, Al Hammadi said: "The PED was established a couple of years ago aiming to protect the interests of the beneficiaries as well as to have an effective check on the misuse of Bank's funds. And this will also ensure the timely completion of the projects with high efficiency and quality."
As per the new rules, all the projects spread in 1000-5000sqm area will have to be completed within a year since the start of construction date. The statement also said that there are 200 firms which have been registered now, and QDB will periodically classify the firms as per their performance in future.
Highlighting the significance of the new regulations, Al Hammadi, said that the new set of rules will ease the difficulties faced by the aspiring entrepreneurs, and will also help them to have easy access to required services such as power, water, telecom and others.
The beneficiaries will also be provided with regular updates and information about their respective projects every month.
