Credit Suisse and IPA Qatar announce new partnership

The Investment Promotion Agency Qatar (IPA Qatar) and Credit Suisse have announced a new partnership in which the bank will expand on its existing operations in Doha and establish the Qatar Technology & Engineering Hub.

This expansion will further strengthen the bank’s leading wealth management business, deepen the bank’s local footprint and contribute to accelerating Credit Suisse’s development and digitisation in Qatar and the wider region, according to a press release.

In addition to strengthening Qatar’s position as a leading financial services hub, Credit Suisse will create up to 100 jobs over the next few years across all of the bank’s divisions as well as through the launch of the technology and engineering hub. The hub also serves as a strategic asset in the region and a resource pool for numerous Credit Suisse business divisions.

The announcement builds on the October 2021 memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between IPA Qatar and Credit Suisse, which aims to further bolster the financial services sector by accelerating the business growth of Credit Suisse in Qatar, and the wider Middle East region.

New Strategic Step

Sheikh Ali Alwaleed al-Thani, chief executive officer of IPA Qatar, said: “We are pleased to embark on a new strategic step in our partnership with Credit Suisse and jointly advance the digital transformation of the financial services sector.”

He continued: “The launch of a world-class technological hub in Doha provides further impetus and expertise for the sector development and opens many windows of business growth opportunities by fostering technology and innovation. We look forward to continuing our distinctive collaboration with Credit Suisse to advance Qatar’s financial services for years to come.”

Given that the Middle East is a key growth market for the bank, Ulrich Körner, chief executive officer of Credit Suisse, said it is excited to further scale up operations in Qatar.

“We are planning to expand our existing business operations over the next few years across all of our divisions as well as adding new functions which will strengthen, broaden and ensure quicker delivery of our offerings to clients. The creation of our Qatar Technology & Engineering Hub will be instrumental in supporting the growth of our franchise across the Middle East and beyond,” he added.

Credit Suisse is present in more than 50 countries around the world and has been operating and actively expanding in Qatar since 2006 via the Qatar Financial Centre platform.

Qatar Holding is one of its top shareholders with a stake of just over 5%, according to the bank’s website.

Qatar has been trying to diversity its economy by promoting its financial sector, which it said now ranks second after the hydrocarbon industry.