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Doha - Qatar

The Ministry of Transport and Communications today signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar National Bank (QNB) to roll out an e-payment gateway as one of the most significant new digital government projects in Qatar. The memorandum was inked in the presence of HE Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti and Acting Chief Executive Officer of QNB Group Mr. Abdullah Mubarak Al Khalifa.

The MoU signing event was held on the sidelines of the Qatar IT Conference and Exhibition (QITCOM 2019) being held until November 1 at the Qatar National Convention Center in Doha.

As per the MoU, which is considered as one of the key new projects of the Qatar Digital Government, which includes the Ministry of Finance as the entity responsible for the collection of revenues in the country, QNB will establish the portal according to the highest international standards, and will effectively go online by the third quarter of 2020.

 

The MoU was signed by Director of E-Government Programs & Standards and Acting Director of Information Systems Dept., MOTC, Ms. Mashael Al-Hammadi, and General Manager, QNB Group Retail, Ms. Heba Al-Tamimi.

The Qatar e-Government 2020 Strategy aims to make the Qatari government more efficient, effective and focused on serving the public by improving the level of government services for individuals and companies, raising the efficiency of administrative processes, and enhancing transparency and community participation.

The e-payment portal will allow all private and corporate users to pay online for e-services provided by various government departments in the country. The portal will cater for the current and future needs of electronic payment by providing various payment options including credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards and bank account transfers. The portal will also employ multiple payment channels such as the Internet, mobile phones and Points of Sales (POS).

At the individual users’ level, the portal will provide an easy, efficient, reliable and multi-channel payment instrument compared with conventional methods while reducing the time and duration required to process the payment. While this portal will bring to government agencies several advantages, most notably cutting operating expenses due to the decrease in the number of resources required to establish, operate and support electronic payment, it will also assist in providing government e-services in as little time as possible.

Ms. Al-Hammadi said: “The signing of the MoU with the Ministry of Finance and Qatar National Bank for the development of an e-payment gateway is one of Qatar e-Government 2020 Strategy's objectives, which seeks to develop common services for government entities, simplify procedures, increase efficiency, reduce effort, standardize procedures and ensure better utilization of ICT resources through projects that support the country's digital transformation.”

 “The portal will provide various online payment options to all government entities, which in turn aim to develop their digital services that require online payment. This will allow for the full automation of services by enabling service users to pay online safely and reliably," she added.

Ms. Al-Tamimi said: “We commend the efforts of the Ministry of Transport and Communications to develop the telecommunications and information technology sector in the country. We hereby reaffirm QNB’s keenness on providing advanced and secure banking services, which is what the e-Pay portal will offer, through which we aim to remain at the forefront of the global digital revolution. The State of Qatar is taking confident steps toward digital transformation in all sectors in the country, and we affirm our support of this approach for its vital role in the development of all areas of the country.”

The Qatar digital government vision seeks to support government entities to integrate all the services they provide by activating and accelerating the digital transformation of all e-services provided in line with Qatar Digital Government 2020 Strategy and Qatar National Strategy 2030. The number of government services launched as part of the Qatar Digital Government 2020 Strategy reached more than 2,500 services as of last April.

In addition to the Ministry of Transport and Communications' pavilion, where the Ministry will put on display all developments, projects and programs related to the digital transformation of various sectors of the country, QITCOM 2019 will feature a special Qatar e-Government corner bringing together various ministries and government institutions under the Qatar Digital Government program. The exhibition will showcase the latest digital services offered by government entities and will highlight investment opportunities and projects available to attract the private sector and specialized companies and encourage them to leverage these opportunities.