Qatar amends law regulating tenders and auctions

Qatar has amended laws regulating tenders and auctions to support economic activities in the non-oil sectors of the country, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference on the occasion of Cabinet Decision No.11 of 2022 amending some provisions of the Executive Regulations of the Law No. 24 of 2015, an official of the Ministry of Finance said the amendments include the addition of regulations that fall under three main areas of incorporating in-country value, supporting small-and-medium-sized companies and enhancing governance and procurement processes.

The most prominent of these amendments is incorporating in-country value into the overall procurement and purchasing processes, particularly the financial assessment, the official said.

The amendments will ensure that national micro companies are exempted from providing primary and final insurance, and from paying for tender documents valued at less than QR1 million. The amendments will also ensure that micro and small-sized companies are exempted from half the value of the fee prescribed for classification and permitted participation in tenders valued at less than QR5 million to micro, small or medium-sized companies.

Providing various privileges and exemptions to local micro, small- and medium-sized companies, the official said, the amendments will ensure opportunities that allow national micro, small- and medium-sized companies to grow, increase the number of tenders available to them and facilitate their cooperation with the public sector.

The amendments also included the development and acceleration of procurement in government agencies by introducing a specific timeframe to organise 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 a deadline of 90 working days to start the execution of the contract after signing.