Insights On Project Finance In Qatar

• Law Firm: Sultan Al-Abdulla & Partners
• Subject Matter: Finance and Banking, Financial Services, Project Finance/PPP & PFI, Commodities/Derivatives/Stock Exchanges
• Author: Mr Ribal Fattal
• Published date: 07 March 2023

After successfully hosting of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022", Qatar plans to host other major events in the near future, including the AFC Asian Cup 2023, the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix 2023, Expo 2023 Doha, the Category A1 International Horticultural Exhibition, and the 2030 Asian Games.

In addition to those events, Qatar is also engaging in other projects such as large-scale energy, oil and gas, infrastructure, construction, leisure and hospitality for, among other purposes, achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030.

Whilst there is no specific law addressing project finance in Qatar, nonetheless, there are provisions that deal with certain aspects of project financing arrangements that may be taken from, inter alia, Law No. 22 of 2004 (Civil Code), Law No. 11 of 2015 (Commercial Companies Law), Law No. 27 of 2006 (Trade Law), Law No. 13 of 2012 (QCB Law), Law No. 8 of 2012 (QFMA Law), Law No. 16 of 2021 (Movable Assets Security Law), and Law No. 12 of 2020 (the PPP Law), in addition to other legislations.

Most project finance arrangements, if not all, require issuing a particular type of security to the lenders. Based on experience, most of the commonly used types in the Qatari market are the assignment of contractual rights (such as receivables), real estate mortgages, pledging of shares, bank account pledges, Letters of Credit, bank guarantees, and Parent Company Guarantees.

Each security pertaining to...