The nearly $30bn North Field Expansion project is expected to drive significant economic growth in the country and would provide number of opportunities for banks, said HSBC Qatar CEO Abdul Hakeem Mostafawi.
The opportunities, he said are in the areas of advisory and capital markets, contract financing, corporate and project financing and supply chain for state entities, local corporates and multinationals.
“With the $30bn North Field Expansion project, Qatar is on track to return as the world’s largest LNG producer by 2030 and will be able to supply for the increasing global demand of this transition fuel to greener energy sources,” Mostafawi said in an interview with Gulf Times.
The HSBC Qatar CEO was bullish about growth opportunities in Qatar.
“We are experiencing a sense of optimism for growth in Qatar. All indicators suggest that the economic outlook is positive and boosted by the ongoing investment in the country’s infrastructure and economic diversification driven by an expected boom in the services sector ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the North Field gas expansion project.”
Asked about HSBC’s focus areas in Qatar in the light of new trends in banking – digital, blockchain etc, the CEO said, “Investing in the digitalisation of banking services has been a priority for HSBC for many years as the needs and demands of corporate and personal banking customers have changed. The investments we have made over many years meant that our networks and operations were well-positioned to respond to the unprecedented demand for digital services as the global coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020.” He said HSBC could offer customers comprehensive service levels from the comfort and safety of their homes.
“We launched new mobile digital security features, including ‘live sign’ on digital forms, and virtual customer meetings in record time. The overwhelming majority of our corporate customers have moved all their transactions to our ‘HSBCnet’ digital platform. Our personal banking customers have access to all their banking needs on our advanced Internet and mobile platforms, as well as at our digital branch in Msheireb.
“Blockchain is also likely to be an important feature of future trade transactions that will speed up processes and make it even more secure, once Qatar grants the technology regulatory approval.”
On the possible expansion of HSBC’s physical branches/ATMs in the country, Mostafawi said, “The need for more physical branches is decreasing while customer demand for digital is rising. We are investing to meet the digital needs of our customers. Future branches will always focus on ensuring our customers have access to the digital services they tell us they want.”
During the interview, Mostafawi touched on HSBC's plans for high networth/private banking customers in the country.
He said, “According to the Capgemini World Wealth Report of 2020, the Middle East has the fastest growing wealth of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in the world and HSBC has a service proposition designed specifically to respond to that growth. The number of HNWIs in the region rose by 9.3% in 2019 while the value of their wealth jumped 10.2%. That compares with rises of 8.8% and 8.6%, respectively, in the global averages.
“HSBC offers world class services for High Net Worth and Ultra High Net Worth individuals and institutions, interested in diversifying their assets outside the region, and in Qatar we have a representative office that offers private banking customers with access to global solutions with the help of advisers and experts based in our Private Banking headquarters in Geneva, but also in our other HSBC Private Banking booking centres like London, Paris, Hong Kong and Singapore, where our clients’ accounts are booked.”
