BUSINESSTHURSDAY 19 MARCH 2020

QC sets up panel for monitoring economic impact of COVID-19 crisisTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

To take stock of the possible impact of pandemic COVID-19 crisis on Qatari economy and businesses, the Qatar Chamber (QC) has set up a panel to closely monitor the developments.

The Qatar Chamber Board of Directors meeting, chaired by QC Chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani (pictured) yes-terday, decided to identify the proactive measures to be taken by the Chamber to join hands with the Government in curbing the outbreak of the virus and to minimise its negative impacts.

Addressing the meeting, Sheikh Khalifa expressed his sincere thanks and appre-ciation to the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for his directives to the Supreme Committee for Crisis Man-agement to provide financial and eco-nomic incentives amounting to QR75 billion to the private sector.

He praised the Amiri directives to direct banks to postpone installments, exempt some sectors from electricity and water fees and exempt from rents for the logistical areas and small and medium industries for a period of six months.

Sheikh Khalifa also extended his sincere thanks to His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani, Deputy Emir, and His Excellency Sheikh Khalid

bin Khalifa bin Abdul Aziz Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and all relevant ministries and agencies that dealt with the crisis with a great degree of responsibility.

Based on the importance of allowing the private sector to be more active and coop-erative during the crisis, the Qatar Cham-ber’s Board of Directors meeting decided to form an emergency committee to follow up on all developments at the level of all eco-nomic sectors and to serve as a focal point between companies and government agencies.

The Council called on all business owners to facilitate defaulters, especially SMEs, whether by exempting the rental value or postponing the dues until the crisis ends. The meeting also decided to extend all possible support to the Supreme Committee for Crisis Man-agement to help counter the spread of the Coronavirus.

The Board also stressed that the Chamber and the private sector is fully pre-pared to make use of its potentials to help in accomplishing the Government’s goals in facing this crisis. �P19

Based on the importance of allowing the private sector to be more active and cooperative during the crisis, the Qatar Chamber’s Board of Directors meeting decided to form an emergency committee to follow up on all developments at the level of all economic sectors and to serve as a focal point between companies and government agencies.

General Tax Authority announces extension on tax returns by two monthsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The General Tax Authority (GTA) has announced extending the period for tax returns by two months. The new deadline date to file returns will be June 30, 2020.

This decision comes in line with the directives of the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to provide the necessary services to citizens and res-idents, foremost of which is to provide safety and pro-tection from COVID-19 and to ensure the continuation of their healthy life.

GTA Management said, “At GTA, we work closely with the government offices to monitor the current situ-ation. We recognise the challenging times we are encountering, especially in matters of finance. As part

of our social responsibility, we are committed to show-casing our assurances to all our investors and partners to tackle the financial consequences.

We value our rela-tionship with our taxpayers and our partners alike, and we are confident that our united efforts with the State of Qatar will help all of us not only to prevent further outbreaks but will exhil-arate our economy ahead of time.”

GTA supports Qatar’s COVID-19 resilience and hence extending all the tax filing deadlines to 30 June provides support to busi-nesses during these chal-lenging times.

Tadmur group eyes overseas marketsMOHAMMAD SHOEB THE PENINSULA

Tadmur Holding, one of Qatar’s leading business groups owning and operating a number of multi-disciplinary subsidiaries across the country, is set to export some of its world-class ‘Made-in-Qatar’ products to overseas markets, including to many European countries, according to a senior official of the company.

The Company, immediately after the economic blockade in June 2017, made some critical investment decisions and established and expanded new factories to manufacture several key products such as construction chemicals and other products that find use in the construction sector.

This became possible with the valuable support and coop-eration extended by gov-ernment and other state-backed agencies as part of gov-ernment’s efforts to achieve self-sufficiency and economic diversification.

Tadmur group is a premier supplier of a wide range of products and services to the construction and associated infrastructure sector in Qatar. It is one of the several other companies that ramped-up production after the unjust eco-nomic blockade by setting up new production and manufac-turing facilities.

“The blockade was indeed a challenging for us, but it also offered a lot of opportunities for local businesses in so many sectors that nobody would have thought to enter into in normal circumstance,” Omar Halawa, Business Development Manager at Tadmur Trading, a subsidiary of Tadmur Holding, told The Peninsula in an interview recently.

Halawa added: “After the economic blockade on Qatar, Tadmur group launched three new factories, including the ASAS Construction Chemicals

Factory, Tadmur Pump Factory and Tadmur Solid Surface Factory . The chemical factor is a state-of-art facility man-ufacturing high quality chemical formulations for con-struction, petrochemicals, and oil & gas sectors. It began oper-ations some 18 months ago, and today it has become a leading construction chemical factory in Qatar, which pro-duces more than 120 catego-rised products, the only one which does that in the country.”

He further added that a wide-range of Tadmur group’s products is specified with Ashghal (Public Works Authority). The company has formed joint ventures with

foreign companies, including a leading UK-based firm to export its products to other markets such as Asia, Europe and Africa.

“We have also negotiated with one of the leading sup-pliers of construction chem-icals, and we are producing for that brand name in Qatar. And soon Made-in-Qatar con-struction chemicals and other products will be available in international markets,” he said.

He said that in addition to construction chemicals, there are many other products of Tadmur group which are going to be exported to other markets

very soon. The company is taking the needful steps in this regard.

He noted that due to the nature and characteristics of several products, especially those which cannot be sourced from other countries by ship, Tadmur group started to produce them domestically to become self-reliant and cost efficient.

Tadmur’s Pump Factory is now manufacturing a wide range of pumps such as chilled water pumps, dewatering pumps, booster sets control panels and many other products. While its Solid Surface Factory is also producing several products related to solid surface architectural features. Its products has been extensively used in Doha Metro and other projects, according to Halawa.

“The 2020 started very good for us and we hope that the demand will continue to remain robust for the year and beyond. In fact the demand for our products and services picked up momentum from the fourth quarter of last year itself. It is going on really well. We are involved with many big projects in Qatar,” he added.

“ As everything is locally produced and there will be no delay in delivery of goods that were earlier sourced from outside and we are now offering complete solution. This has opened huge market opportunities for many other local companies which were earlier depended for supplies on other countries.”

Omar Halawa, Business Development Manager of Tadmur Trading. PIC: ABDUL BASIT/THE PENINSULA

Tadmur group’s products is specified with Ashghal. The company has formed joint ventures with foreign companies, including a leading UK-based firm to export its products to other markets such as Asia, Europe and Africa.

COVID-19 impact on economy

19THURSDAY 19 MARCH 2020 BUSINESS

The missing fundamental ingredient for a sustainable recovery in risk appetite is some evidence that the growth of global COVID-19 infec-tion rates is peaking.

Paul O’Connor, Head of multi-asset at Janus Henderson Investors

Qatar International Court encourages use of eCourt

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

F o l l o w i n g r e c e n t Government directives and in a continued effort to provide access to justice, the Qatar International Court and Dispute Reso-lution Centre (QICDRC) is encouraging its users to file claims, appeals and other miscellaneous applications online via its specialist elec-tronic case management system, eCourt.

eCourt, is safe and secure, free to use, acces-sible from all portable devices and available in English and Arabic, QICDRC said in a statement, yesterday.

Finance chiefs vie to inoculate world economy against virusAFP — LONDON

Governments and central banks are injecting eye-popping sums and emergency policy remedies into the global economy as the coronavirus pandemic upends all normal life.

Markets have crashed as world growth faces its biggest crisis since 2008, and have so far resisted the efforts to restore calm as the outbreak engulfs the West.

AFP surveys responses by major economies as the coro-navirus has spread from China to infect the rest of the world, enforcing national lockdowns and crippling businesses:

NORTH AMERICA: On Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said officials were drawing up a package that could surpass $1 trillion, on top of $300bn in deferred tax payments.

The measures – far sur-passing aid during the 2008

financial crisis meltdown – are likely to include direct cash payments to struggling families. The package is in addition to $100bn directed at paid sick leave and expanded unem-ployment benefits already moving through Congress.

A bailout for US airlines could also be in the works, after Mnuchin said they face a crisis now “worse than 9/11”.

The Federal Reserve has taken interest rates down to virtually zero, and massively increased cash injections into financial markets, including an additional $1.5 trillion last week and $1 trillion so far this week.

The US central bank also unveiled a new credit facility to help households and business stay afloat while President Donald Trump has shifted his tone after down-playing the outbreak for weeks, now appealing for bipartisan support. In Canada,

authorities are rolling out a Can$10bn (US$7.5bn) credit package to help struggling businesses and have also cut interest rates.

The International Monetary Fund is making $50bn available for poorer countries and has also appealed for a “global response”. G7 leaders including Trump on Monday vowed to coordinate and “do whatever it takes, using all policy tools” to safeguard growth, but offered no specific action plans.

Dusting off their playbook from 2008, the Fed, European Central Bank (ECB), Bank of Japan and others on Sunday announced measures to try to keep dollars pumping through the global economy.

EUROPE: After China, Europe is now the epicentre of the COVID-19 coronavirus out-break and governments have scrambled to open the spending taps while at the same time closing their borders.

British finance minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday unveiled an “unprecedented package” of government-backed loans worth £330bn ($400bn).

President Emmanuel Macron of France, which is now on total lockdown, said Monday the government would ensure that all bank loans to com-panies are backed by a state guarantee totalling €300bn.

The French government announced a separate aid package worth €45bn to help businesses and employees cope. Germany has unveiled €550bn in government-backed loans “for starters”, and sus-pended legal obligations for firms facing acute liquidity problems to file for bankruptcy.

In hardest-hit Italy, the government promised to deliver a “very strong injection of liquidity” into the financial system to generate €340bn

($380bn) in cash flows. Spain plans to guarantee

up to €100bnin corporate loans.

For the European Union as a whole, finance ministers pledged Monday to fight the coronavirus “war” but declined for now to tap up the European Stability Mechanism, the euro-zone’s €410bn war chest.

The ECB is reviving crisis-era measures to encourage bank lending to beleaguered companies, but surprised the markets by keeping its bor-rowing rates on hold last Thursday.

ASIA-PACIFIC: China, ground zero of the virus out-break with more than 3,000 deaths, has cut interest rates and vowed a range of measures including tax cuts and more fiscal transfers from Beijing to virus-hit regions.

New Zealand Tuesday raided its “rainy day” fund to release NZ$12.1 billion ($7.3bn)

in stimulus spending. Last week, Australia unveiled a $11bn spending plan – equiv-alent to just under one percent of GDP – to help avert its first recession in 29 years.

Japan, which faces a huge financial hit from the possible postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer, is offering at least $15bn in loan programmes for firms.

The Bank of Japan, bringing forward its latest policy meeting to Monday, said it would double its annual capacity to buy exchange-traded funds and property investment funds.

Euronext CEO sees no reason to close markets over virus woesBLOOMBERG — PARIS

Euronext NV sees no need to shut stock markets during the coronavirus epidemic as they’re functioning efficiently and providing liquidity, Chief Exec-utive Officer Stephane Boujnah (pictured) said, echoing senti-ments of many market leaders around the world.

“There is no reason what-soever to close markets,” he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “It’s extremely important to provide a home for liquidity and price formation.”

The Euronext CEO is the latest official to reassure investors that markets will remain open despite the spreading coronavirus that has wiped out nearly $20 trillion from global stocks in the past four weeks. Closing one major exchange while others continue to operate around the world could also be difficult for regulators.

The U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin yesterday said that stock markets will stay open and Americans “need to know they have access to their money.” The Hong Kong stock exchange said it remains com-mitted to keeping its markets fully operational amid the coro-navirus outbreak.

While extreme situations

like the 9/11 terror attacks and hurricanes have led to market shutdowns in the past, “these conditions are not there in Europe,” Boujnah said.

“We have no operational problems,” he said, adding that in the face of lockdown conditions in many European countries essential staff are working on the platforms while most employees are working from home without any trouble.

Following 9/11, Wall Street was shut for four days. The stock market’s reopening trig-gered an immediate 13 percent plunge, and the market con-tinued to drop 30 percent in the 12 months that followed. At no point during the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath were markets closed.

“It’s strange, no one is talking about closing electricity, telephones, the internet or

ATMs and credit, so why should we close liquidity and prices,” said Boujnah. The Federation of European Securities Exchanges, an industry trade group in Brussels, said in a statement Tuesday that it’s crucial that markets remain open to allow investors to price risk, value portfolios and make informed investment and hedging decisions.

However, steps are being taken to mitigate the volatility. Italy’s market regulator this week banned short selling for three months as it seeks to curb vola-tility amid the sell-off, and France and Belgium imposed similar pro-hibitions for a month each.

Declines in the S&P 500 this week triggered so-called circuit breakers that halted trading before the major indexes plunged the most since 1987.

Circuit breakers and bans on short selling are “small adjust-ments that are important to allow for the proper functioning of the markets,” said Boujnah. “It’s better to make these small adjustments and to keep the markets open so that liquidity and prices are available than going to a binary idea of opening or closing the markets.”

He added that as soon as prices and markets are absorbing balanced news flows of fiscal stimulus, “clearly the bans will become less relevant.”

Qatar’s industrial production index edges down in JanuaryTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) for January 2020 stood at 104.9 points, showing a decrease of 1.8 percent compared to the previous month (December 2019). When compared on year-on-year basis, the IPI index has decreased by 2.1 percent compared to the corresponding month of 2019, data released by the Planning and Statistics Authority show.

The Mining sector showed a decrease by 1.3 percent com-pared to the previous month, as a result of the decrease in the quantities of ‘crude oil and natural gas’ by 1.3 percent, while ‘Other mining and quar-rying’ also showed a decrease by 0.3 percent. When com-pared to the corresponding month of the previous year (January 2019), the IPI of Mining decreased by 2.1 percent.

The index of Manufac-turing showed a decrease of 3.8 percent recorded in January 2020 compared to the previous month, which refer to decrease in the following groups: ‘Man-ufacture of chemicals and chemical products’ by 6.7 percent, followed by ‘Manu-facture of refined petroleum products’ by 5.4 percent, and ‘Manufacture of beverages’ by 1.1 percent.

However, an increase was recorded in three groups: ‘Man-ufacture of basic metals’ by 8.9 percent, followed by ‘Manu-facture of Cement and other non-metallic mineral products’

by 4.7 percent, and ‘Manu-facture of food products’ by 0.3 percent. No change has been recorded in ‘Printing and reproduction of recorded media’ and ‘Manufacture of rubber and plastics products’.

In terms of annual change, comparing to January 2019, a decrease of 2.1 percent was recorded, affected by the fol-lowing groups: ‘Manufacture of refined petroleum products’ by 10.1 percent, ‘Manufacture of Cement & other non-metallic mineral products’ by 6.9 percent, ‘Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products’ by 4.4 percent, and ‘Manufacture of food products’ by 2.3 percent.

However, an increase was also recorded in ‘Manufacture of basic metals’ by 23.0 percent, ‘Manufacture of beverages’ by 10.8 percent, ‘Printing and reproduction of recorded media’ by 1.3 percent, and ‘Manufacture of rubber and plastics products’ by 0.9 percent.

The index shows a decrease of 8.5 percent in the production of ‘Electricity’ group between January 2020 and the previous month (December 2019), while the annual decrease (comparing with January 2019), was 12.8 percent, and the index of the Water sector when compared between January 2020 and the previous month, a decrease of 2.7 percent was noticed. Com-paring with corresponding month (January 2019), a decrease of 4.5 percent was recorded.

German Labour Minister Hubertus Heil (left) addresses participants of a meeting with the Economy Minister and with representatives of Germany’s social organisations yesterday in Berlin, to discuss the economic and labour market impacts of the novel coronavirus.

Markets have crashed as world growth faces its biggest crisis since 2008, and have so far resisted the efforts to restore calm as the outbreak engulfs the West.

US crude futures at 18-year

low as lockdowns trigger

market meltdownREUTERS — NEW YORK

Oil prices plunged yesterday, with US crude futures hitting an 18-year low, as govern-ments worldwide accelerated lockdowns to counter the coronavirus pandemic that is causing global fuel demand to collapse.

W i t h g o v e r n m e n t s worldwide urging residents to limit gatherings and isolate themselves, global oil demand by the end of March could fall as much as 8 million to 9 million barrels per day (bpd), Goldman Sachs said.

Investors broadly fled risky assets again on Wednesday, after equity markets recovered on Monday. US stocks slumped, with the S&P 500 dropping 7 percent, triggering a 15-minute halt to trading,

while copper futures fell 6.9 percent.

US crude was down $5.19, or 19 percent, at $21.76 a barrel. The session low was the lowest since March 2002. Brent crude was trading down $3.37, or 12 percent, at $25.35 a barrel by 1:20 p.m. EDT (1720 GMT) after dropping as low as $25.23, its weakest since 2003.

The oil market was already reeling after Saudi Arabia decided this month to dramat-ically increase supply since it and Russia could not agree to cut output in anticipation of weaker demand.

Saudi Arabia has so far ignored entreaties to act to balance the market, reiterating plans to maintain production at more than 12 million barrels per day, which would be a record.

FROM PAGE 20It also stressed the

necessity of enhancing coor-dination between all con-cerned parties to ensure the smooth and continuous pro-vision of food products and goods in the local market.

The Board of Directors also expressed its readiness to receive all initiatives proposed by private sector businessmen, whether they are material or moral aids or ideas, to con-tribute to overcoming this crisis.

It thanked all businessmen and companies that volun-tarily offered assistance and initiatives to overcome this crisis.

The Board affirmed that the Chamber would continue to provide services to busi-nessmen and members to avoid disrupting their businesses.

The Chamber allocated hotlines to answer any inquiries from merchants and businessmen on (44559122), sectorial committees on (44559187), media on (44555803), member’s affairs, certificates of origin and certifications on (44559118)’.

QC sets up panel

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of COVID-19

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French Finance Minister to meet PSA, Renault over aidREUTERS — PARIS

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire (pictured) said he will meet the heads of French carmakers Renault and PSA yesterday to discuss how to help the sector, as production ground to a standstill in Europe due to the coronavirus.

Auto companies worldwide have been hit hard by the health crisis, first as production stalled in China, where the virus originated from, and now it spreads in Europe, where some governments are ordering unprecedented lock-downs to contain it.

Peugeot owner PSA, which also produces the Opel and Vauxhall brands, said on Monday it would close it European factories until March 27, while Renault has sus-pended industrial activity in France and Spain until further notice.

“Today I will talk to the heads of Renault and PSA as the car sector has come to a halt,” Le Maire told BFM Business radio.

Le Maire said that the meeting was aimed at “making sure second-rank subcon-tractors are treated fairly.”

Tyre maker Michelin has closed its factories in Spain, Italy and France for at least a week, and the car firms work with many smaller suppliers too.

Le Maire also evoked potentially major steps including state bailouts, saying the government had a range of tools at its disposal, including nationalisation, to insure the survival of large companies. He did not say which firms he had in mind.

“The situation is extremely clear ... it is out of the question to see big French companies,

industrial icons disappear,’ he said. “If to protect our national industrial heritage, we have to resort to nationalisation, we are prepared to go that far,” he added.

The coronavirus crisis has caught carmakers at a fragile time, as many were already grappling with a slump in demand in big markets like China and have invested mas-sively in innovations like less polluting cars.

Renault, in which the French government has a 15 percent stake, had in February flagged an extra 2 billion euros in cost cuts over the next three years after posting its first loss in a decade.

The company had at that stage stressed that it had no issues with cash availability. Its debt rating was also down-graded to “junk” status by Moody’s. PSA, which is in the middle of merging with Italy’s Fiat Chrysler, fared better in its recent results, with profitability reaching a record high in 2019 as it focused on pricier models.

France’s automotive industry federation on Tuesday said it has asked the gov-ernment for a much broader support package than measures already announced to counter the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on car sales.

Tencent sees profit jump, may benefit from virusAFP — HONG KONG

Chinese Internet giant Tencent recorded a jump in profit last year and said it could be a rare beneficiary of the global coronavirus pandemic as people stay home and businesses ramp up remote working.

The Shenzhen-based behemoth, one of the largest stocks on the Hong Kong bourse, said Wednesday net profit last year rose 19 percent to 93.3 billion yuan ($13.3bn).

Total revenues in 2019 were up 21 percent at 377.3 billion yuan ($53.7bn), pri-marily driven by its international gaming and lucrative cloud services, the latter bringing in 17 billion yuan in revenues and consist-ently outgrowing the market.

The company said the global economic chaos caused by the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which began in China late last year, would be a short term challenge.

Initially its fast growing cloud computing services might take a hit, it said.

But the company remained more bullish in the long term, cushioned by the expectation

that many more people will turn to remote working and online health care services that often require significant cloud computing power.

“We believe enterprises will be increas-ingly keen to adopt cloud-based solutions over the longer term, in order to facilitate remote working and remote interactions with their customers,” chairman Ma Huateng said in the annual results statement.

Figures in the annual report revealed how vital remote working apps have become during the pandemic. With vast chunks of China locked down in January and February, users of Tencent’s “meeting” program sur-passed 10 million within two months. Many more users of its WeChat platform turned to “Tencent health” for real-time pandemic data,

online consultation and self-diagnosis services. Ma added that the virus outbreak had boosted the need for home learning pro-grams. More than 120 million users had used the company QQ School-plus-Home groups with features including live broadcast, online tutoring programs as well as tools for schools to facilitate online and offline education.

The company also picked up millions of new gamers during the coronavirus pandemic in China. “Looking forward, we will seek to both meet the immediate needs for our products brought about by the pandemic, and develop our capabilities to anticipate and serve enterprises’ long term demands as the economy digitises,” Ma said.

Shares in the Hong Kong-listed company fell 4.5 percent Wednesday shortly before the results were announced, tracking the continued losses the city’s bourse has faced amid a global sell off. But mainland-based traders have remained bullish on Tencent, boosting their holdings by 24 percent since the start of the year, according to Bloomberg News.

Masraf Al Rayan Ordinary General Assembly elects new Board MembersTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ordinary General Assembly Meeting of Masraf AI Rayan has approved the entire 12-point agenda of the meeting, including the Board’s recommendation to distribute a dividend of 22.5 percent and election of a new Board for the period 2020-2022.

The shareholders gave the nod to the report submitted by the Board of Directors on the activities of Masraf AI Rayan, its financial position for the fiscal year ended on 31st December 2019, and the future plans of the Bank for the year 2020.

The Ordinary General Assembly gave approval of the Board of Director’s recom-mendations concerning the appointment of the Shari’a Supervisory Board of Masraf Al Rayan for the coming 3 years 2020- 2022 and

delegated the power to the Board of Directors to add a new Member / Members or to fill any vacancy in the Shari’ a Supervisory Board and to specify their remunerations

and any other issues related to the Shari’a Supervisory Board during the period mentioned.

The Assembly discussed and approved absolving the

Chairman and Members of the Board of Directors from all responsibilities for the fiscal year ended on 31st December 2019, specifiying their remu-neration for the year ended on 31st December 2019. The General Assembly also approved the new guide of rules for the compensation and the remuneration of the Board of Directors.

The Ordinary General Assembly approved to appoint “Deloitte & Touche” to audit Masraf AI Rayan and its Sub-sidiaries (excluding AI Rayan-UK) for fiscal year ending on 31st December 2020.

The Assembly elected 7 members to be Board Members occupying 7 seats of the Board of Directors for the next 3 years term (from 2020 to 2022), which includes 4 seats for Non-Independent Members and 3 seats for Inde-pendent Members.

18 THURSDAY 19 MARCH 2020BUSINESS