INTERWIEW WITH AZURANEWS MAGAZINE QATAR
INTERWIEW WITH AZURANEWS MAGAZINE QATAR
UBB Consulting Company:
“Turkish investors should
turn towards Qatar”
Founded 14 years ago in Qatar as the first company with 100% Turkish capital, UBB Consulting Company provides their clients with the most favourable, cost-efficient and
reliable structuring conditions in Qatar, GCC countries and Turkey. We visited the Qatar office of UBB Consulting Company, which gave us great support in our efforts to launch our magazine, for a lively interview with the manager and owner of the company, Hasan Basri Coskun.
Mr. Coskun, first of all, could you tell us about your reasons for turning towards Qatar?
UBB Consulting Company’s story in Qatar started almost 14 years ago. I first came to Qatar to draft a feasibility report for a businessman. While doing the relevant research and inspection, I got to know Qatar and recognised the short-term opportunities it would offer. Bearing this in mind, I decided to do business and live in Qatar. Our company operates in Qatar, and has been providing commercial and legal
consultancy services for 14 years. It has had numerous successes.
Could you briefly tell us about your achievements?
From my point of view, our greatest success is to be the first company founded with 100% Turkish capital and the Minister’s approval, followed by the opening of our first ‘Representative Offices’ subject to the same procedure. So far, no-one else has achieved that.
Well, what is the secret of your success?
The secret to our success is being highly familiar with the legislation requirements
and procedures between our country and the State of Qatar. We are very competent at knowing what is expected during the operation of these procedures. Besides our professional background, the fact that we reside in Qatar and can directly follow the necessary stages has a great role.
What services do you offer to the firms consulting you?
We provide the firms consulting us with the most favourable, cost-efficient and reliable structuring conditions in Qatar, GCC countries and Turkey. We specialise in partnership, consolidation, joint venture contracts, country reports, market and competition analyses, brand positioning and market penetration strategies, feasibility
and structuring processes, international tax planning, providing incentives and support, finding investors and capitalists, consolidated financial statement works and more. You can visit our website at www.ubb.com.tr for more information on our related references and fields of operation.
How would you define Qatar in terms of finance and business?
First of all, there are enormous opportunities in Qatar and other GCC countries. Significant funds have been accumulated to be directed towards investment, and there is a strong relationship between business and demand. However, no-one has readily-available jobs to offer. Jobs are distributed based on concrete business principles. Due to the governance style of Qatar and other GCC countries, the owners of these countries are those who are in power themselves. Therefore, employers and purchasing firms are either directly owned by these people, or they are government entities that directly operate in the public sector. The public sector’s share of total trade is very high, and these entities rightfully strive to procure the best service for the cheapest price, using a standard procedure to sift out companies.
What would you advisethose considering investment in Qatar?
Any firm coming to Qatar needs a business plan outlining the real shape of the business, and enough capital to support it. In addition, it is absolutely essential that they can finance the time-period until they start earning money. Making profit and being successful without putting money into these markets is merely a dream. If you don’t make your payments mostly in cash and on time in Qatar, or if your check bounces, not only your reputation but also your legal freedom will be compromised. You must have outstanding, professional-quality products and firms. Those who consider investing in Qatar should pay attention to the work requested from them. They should adopt the practice of doing business through formal correspondence and professional contracts from the very start.
What are your expectations from the State of Qatar?
Our expectation from the fraternal State of Qatar is to facilitate company foundation, renewal and licensing procedures. As well as that, it would be accurate to state that Qatar’s economy today is based on fossil-sourced energy and the development of its derivative industries. However, due to the wealth and vigorous business life here as well as in other GCC countries, significant funds have been
accumulated by individuals and private sector firms. I would like to suggest that capitalists with such funds establish partnerships or invest in firms in the industry sector which are developing in Turkey, and/or turn to alternative agriculture, which is at an advanced level in Turkey, so that they can switch from idle capital to earning capital.
What are the basic shortcomings and things to consider with regard to the Turkish and Qatari business community engaging in mutual operations? Do you have any suggestions?
I believe there are three main problems for Turkish business people. Firstly, although we have firms offering very high-quality goods and services, they cannot document their operations on paper according to international standards, and despite completing other accreditation processes, they do not have the type of accreditation certificates that are mostly granted by US and UK organizations.
Unfortunately, although we produce high-end products, we cannot technically demonstrate this to internationally accepted, demanding auditors during sales or cooperation. Therefore, we sadly see that many collaborations cannot go ahead despite price issues being resolved. In addition, almost all the business conducted in Qatar is under the domination of US- or UK-based auditing firms, or local auditing firms which are structured through partnership and work within the framework of the same school of thought. So it is important that firms selling products and services pay attention to this point when obtaining accreditation and overcome their inadequacies in this area.
Secondly, we see some firms wanting to open out to Qatar and other markets abroad, who take action without adequately investigating the legislation and basic operation principles of doing business in these markets. We have seen that without sufficient knowledge about the country, they lay a heavy burden on their directors, or rely on incompetent and commission-oriented agencies to reduce their costs.
However, foreign firms do exactly the opposite. Eventually, these Turkish firms end up paying much more than the initial amount they saved. Thirdly politics, friendship and bilateral relations are very influential in the arena where business is shaped. In Qatar, you don’t say things like, ‘Just sign it today, and I’ll complete the job tomorrow’, or, ‘I have used a different product. Just let it pass, will you?’ If you do, you’ll write off the most extravagant loss on your own bottom line.
