Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco), one of the country's leading industrial firms, said it has secured a QR1.1 billion ($296.2 million) loan from Barwa Bank to boost capacity expansion at its plant and also support its working capital.

Over the coming years, Qapco is planning a significant unprecedented expansion in terms of volume and size of its business and production, said a senior official.

Dr Mohammed Yousef Al-Mulla, the vice chairman and CEO said Qapco was a successful industrial company and one of the leaders in its field, hence contributing to the diversification of the Qatari economy.

As the petrochemical industry is set for exponential growth, we have major expansion plans underway, and are focusing on using and developing the best industrial technologies for this promising future."

Qapco, he stated, is committed to expanding its activities and production in a planed, optimized and secured way.

"Therefore Qapco preferred to have the option to secure more liquidity on demand, when required, instead of utilizing the accumulated operational profit surpluses yielded throughout the years," he added.  

Dr Al-Mulla said the interest generated by the bid demonstrated the confidence that the local financial institutions placed in supporting the local industrial sector.

The bidding process was extremely competitive amongst all the local financial institution and included in-depth and throughout financial and investment analysis and credit risk analysis just to mention a few. Supporting the growth of the local economy via competitive financial facilities is fundamental for the development of the industry, he added.

Barwa Bank CEO Steve Troop said the lender was proud to back one of Qatar’s leading national and regional players in the industrial sector and was now looking forward to supporting its further expansion.

"The selection of Barwa Bank for this deal amidst tough competition from other local and international banks is an important achievement for us financially and strategically as we strive to enhance the positioning of Sharia'h compliant banking and finance as a strategic choice for major local, regional and international  companies," he added.-TradeArabia News Service