The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), one of the world's leading and fastest growing onshore business and financial centres, celebrated Qatar's historic victory at the Asian Cup, and with it, the growing importance of Qatar's sports ecosystem.

The QFC recently welcomed the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC to its platform. The joint venture will be responsible for key aspects of the 2022 edition, such as planning and delivery of operations and services for the tournament.

The QFC continues to make progress towards developing the sports sector and becoming an international hub for sports services, and in 2018 signed an MoU with Aspire Zone Foundation to establish the Qatar Sports Business District. The MoU aims to attract large sports-related

multinationals, promote the setup of sustainable businesses and start-ups and facilitate the commercialisation of sports-related products and services in Qatar.

Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, Chief Executive Officer, QFC Authority said: "We are extremely proud of Qatar's historic victory at the Asian Cup, a win which undoubtedly emphasises the growing importance of sports on all levels - including from a business perspective. We are also proud to welcome FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC to the QFC platform, and are confident that through this new joint venture, Qatar will deliver a remarkable tournament. We are honoured to be an integral part of this journey."

Al-Jaida added: "The sports sector offers a rich variety of business and investment opportunities and impressive potential for future growth. The QFC's unique platform provides a gateway to businesses, and in the process continues to facilitate Qatar's long-term position as an international sports hub. The number of firms registered on the QFC platform increased by 31% in 2018 to reach over 600, and includes amongst them many sport-related business services."

With a well-established world-class sports infrastructure, Qatar has a long history of successfully hosting international sporting tournaments such as the 2018 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, 2015 World Men's Handball Championship, 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships, as well as the 2006 Asian Games, and many others.

Furthermore, Qatar's sports sector is expected to reach USD $20 billion by 2023. This growth comes as momentum continues to build in the lead up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ and as the country continues to develop best-in-class facilities and services as part of its estimated USD $200bn Qatar National Vision 2030.

The QFC is an onshore jurisdiction that allows registered companies to enjoy competitive benefits, such as working within a legal environment based on English common law, the right to trade in any currency, up to 100% foreign ownership, 100% repatriation of profits, 10% corporate tax on locally sourced profits, and an extensive double taxation avoidance agreement network with 70+ countries.