BrazilKPMG Qatar launches Turkey desk to support growing business ties
KPMG in Qatar has established a Turkish desk to support the growing number of businesses operating between the two nations.
The Qatar member of global professional services firm KPMG has launched a new Turkish desk, marked with a trade and investment event held in Istanbul and attended by a large number of executives from Turkey-based firms. The new service line intends to tap into the growing business activity between the two nations, and will provide tailored services for both established companies and market entrants.
“We have established strong business partnerships and relationships with many countries in the region through our financial centre and free zones,” said regional Qatar Free Zones Authority head Fahad al-Kuwari at the trade seminar. “Turkish companies can now easily benefit from the investment friendly policies. We are proud to see an increase in the number of Turkish companies operating in our country.”
The new dedicated offering will be led by Country Senior Partner Ahmed Abu-Sharkh, partner Barbara Henzen – the firm’s Head of Tax & Corporate Services since the middle of last year – and Tax & Corporate Services senior managers Ahmed Hamza and Orhan Berberoglu, the latter a Turkish-speaking VAT specialist who spent over ten years with PwC in Turkey and Dubai before crossing to KPMG in 2017.
“New regulations have made it possible to establish a company in Qatar with 100 percent foreign capital, which is an advantage for investors,” Henzen said. “Qatar continues to offer attractive opportunities for many sectors, with targets set in line with the 2030vision. In particular, the companies operating in the construction, technology and manufacturing sectors are offered various investment opportunities.”
KPMG Qatar’s Turkish desk will offer a broad range of services spanning its Advisory, Tax and Audit functions, including among other provisions the identification of investment opportunities, financial, tax and commercial due diligence, M&A business implementation planning, and training in local reporting systems and new accounting standards – with Qatar expected to introduce VAT at the start of next year.
“Our Turkish Desk team work closely with other professionals from KPMG in Qatar to support their ongoing needs,” the firm states in its brochure. “We appreciate that every business’s journey is unique and can support from inception, throughout the growth trajectory, when developing people, performance and culture, when refining technology and operations, and by helping to shape the vision for the future.”
Altogether, KPMG in Qatar – which was established more than 40 years ago in 1977 – has a headcount of around 250 professionals and partners, including recent partnership additions Nizar Hneini and Ali al Shabibi, who were recruited to the firm’s Advisory team. Another recent partnership recruit, Diana Gerrard, joined the firm’s Audit practice in June, after over a decade with Deloitte in Central Asia and Africa.
