Dear Colleagues,

First, I would like to greet everyone with a belated Eid al-Fitr. I hope you had a peaceful Ramadan and a pleasant holiday. I also want to thank those who attended our annual Suhoor, which we were able to finally resume after a three-year hiatus. It was good to be able to meet again as a community in person, and I hope you enjoyed what we have prepared for the event.

As we look at the developments of April 2023, our activities have demonstrated once again our commitment to promoting Qatar as a destination of choice for international investment and collaboration. During the month, we added 23 more members to our community of over 1,600 firms and formed new partnerships by signing Memoranda of Understanding with R3 and SettleMint NV, two organisations specialising in distributed ledger technology (DLT).

These strategic partnerships were made to help accelerate the development of Qatar’s financial technology sector by fostering synergies between various industry stakeholders and promoting education and training on the use of DLT, enabling companies to maximise the full potential of blockchain technology to improve their service and efficiency.

Fundamental to our growth strategy, we continued to engage with relevant stakeholders globally by participating in various events, including the Hannover Messe and City Week London 2023, where our representatives shared insight on developing the financial industry and the QFC's role in Qatar's economic growth and diversification.

Our collective efforts are aimed at opening new avenues to develop frameworks that facilitate effective interaction between QFC firms and the larger business community and create opportunities for collaboration and investment. I am confident that the QFC's innovative initiatives and firm commitment to excellence move us steadily further in our mission to establish Doha as a leading global financial and commercial capital, helping transform Qatar into an advanced and sustainable economy for generations to come.

Thank you for your invaluable contributions and continued support in this journey.

Sincerely,