The Qatar Financial Centre ("QFC"), a special economic business zone with its own set of rules and regulations for businesses licensed therein, recently announced that the standard application fee for applicants seeking to establish there has been cut by ninety percent. Historically, the fee to obtain a license in the QFC was USD 5,000, which has dropped to USD 500 as a result of the recent price cut.
The new fee is available to all applicants seeking a license to conduct non-regulated activities in or from the QFC, but is not available to the activities of Single Family Offices. The fee reduction is another step to simplifying the business establishment process and should make the centre more attractive to businesses, particularly SMEs.
The fee reduction also follows other measures implemented by the QFC, including a seamless company incorporation process that enables applicants to instantly establish an entity and obtain a license to conduct non-regulated activities in the QFC, provided they meet the necessary requirements.
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