Under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) is organizing the Sport Business Opportunities Forum on Sunday the 22nd of May, 2016 in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and Sports (MCS), the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF).
The organization of the forum comes in conjunction with recent developments witnessed by the sports sector in the State of Qatar. These developments include plans to host various international sporting events over the next 7 years, including the 2018 Gymnastics World Championships, the 2019 World Championships in Athletics and the 2022 FIFA World Cup, in addition to more than 30 local, regional and international sporting events, hosted in Qatar each year.
With the emergence of the role of the sports sector as a key driver of development in the State of Qatar, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce is keen to capture and make the best use of available investment opportunities in the sports sector.
Opportunities include the management and operation of current and future sports facilities in order to achieve economic diversification and position Qatar as a global sports hub, in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce has conducted an in-depth study in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Qatar Olympic Committee and Aspire Zone Foundation on available investment opportunities in the sports sector. Accordingly, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce has indicated that the expected market size of the sports sector could reach approximately 72 billion Riyals by 2023.
Furthermore, the ministry has identified 83 commercial, investment opportunities directly from the government sector to the private sector. The investment opportunities have been classified into seven sectors:
Management and promotion of sporting eventsSport developmentEstablishment and construction of sports facilitiesMerchandise and sports equipmentSports marketingSport tourismOperation and maintenance of sports facilitates
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce has also prepared action plans for 30 investment opportunities, with a market requirement worth 22 billion Riyals to 30 billion Riyals, and aims to presents these plans to participants at the Sport Business Opportunities Forum.
In this context, it is noteworthy to mention that a series of workshops will be held during the forum with the private sector to shed light on relevant and key investment opportunities that are available in Qatar’s sports sector.
