A factory in Qatar needs a commercial registration with an industrial activity and an industrial licence from the Industrial Development Department of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI). The path runs from an initial approval, through the environmental permit and the industrial licence, to building the plant and, once production starts, entry in the industrial register.
What counts as an industrial activity
Industry in Qatar is governed by Law No. 18 of 2024, which brought in the GCC Unified Industrial Regulation Law and repealed the version issued in 2006. It defines an industrial project as any economic activity whose main purpose is making products, in whole or in part, by turning raw materials or processed materials into finished, semi-finished or intermediate goods. Mixing, separating, shaping, assembling, filling and packaging all count, provided that some or most of the work is done by machine.
Manufacturing and processing
Turning raw or semi-processed materials into products, including assembly and packaging lines.
Knowledge industries
Projects built on intensive use of technology, research, development and know-how, which the law names separately.
Environmental industries
Waste treatment, recycling, pollution control and projects that cut emissions.
Under Article 4, nobody may set up an industrial project without an industrial licence. The same applies to changing what the plant produces, expanding or developing it, merging or dividing it, moving it to another site, or selling all or part of it. We found no executive regulations for the 2024 law on Al Meezan. Until they are issued, Article 7 keeps the decisions already in force where they do not conflict with it.
Industrial licence or commercial licence
The activity codes on your commercial registration decide which route you take. A company that imports and sells finished goods uses trading codes and a commercial permit for an office or shop. A company that makes goods uses manufacturing codes, and those bring in the Industrial Development Department.
- Commercial permit for an office, shop or warehouse
- Approvals only where the activity needs them
- Imported goods pay customs duty under the normal rules
- Initial approval from the Industrial Development Department before the CR
- Commercial permit for an “Industrial: Factory” location, QAR 500
- Industrial licence, then entry in the industrial register
We checked two manufacturing codes on the Single Window: 310010, wooden furniture, and 239530, ready-mixed concrete. Both list the initial approval before the CR is issued, as an automatic step with an estimated 7 days and a fee of QAR 500, and the issue of the industrial registration before the commercial permit, as a manual step with an estimated 80 days. Both list foreigners among those allowed. Law No. 1 of 2019 allows foreign ownership above 49% on application, and a lawyer confirms the share for your codes.
Initial approval and site
The Single Window’s factory establishment service combines the trade name, commercial registration, memorandum of association, initial approval, establishment card and tax card in one application. The Single Window gives an approximate cycle of three months and an approximate cost of QAR 3,200. If you already hold a CR with industrial activities but no initial approval, a separate service, Resume factory establishment, applies for the approval alone.
- A feasibility study with the business plan, market study, financial study, technical study and implementation plan.
- Quotations for equipment and raw materials (optional).
- Initial drawings of the land use (optional).
- An environmental permit, if the activity requires one.
- For Qatar Development Bank financing: a financial study on QDB’s template, a bank comfort letter, credit report consent, the owner’s CV and a statement of personal net worth.
The initial approval is the Ministry’s consent for you to complete the steps towards the industrial licence. It lasts one year and may be extended. Documents issued outside Qatar must be attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Qatari embassy in the country that issued them.
- Rent per m² a year for the first three years
- QAR 5
- Rent per m² a year from the fourth year
- QAR 10
- Lease term
- 25 years
- Rent held as security
- 6 months
From MOCI Decision No. 6 of 2025 on leasing land in industrial zones, Arts. 4 to 6, checked 21 Oct 2026. After that the rent may rise by up to 5% a year, paid half-yearly in advance.
Keep to the timetable once a plot is allocated. Work must start within 12 months of receiving it, and the Ministry may cancel an allocation if no serious steps, such as drawings and building permits, follow within six months.
Industrial licence, building and production
MOCI publishes six stages for a new factory, with its own estimate for each:
- Project, land and allocation
Apply for the industrial project and land and receive a provisional allocation. About one month.
- Environment and licence
Environmental approval from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, then the industrial licence. About one month.
- Design and building permit
An engineering office prepares the site plan and drawings for the building permit. About nine months.
- Construction and services
Build the plant and connect utilities. About 24 months.
- Operation
Inspection and entry in the industrial register. About one week.
- After operation
Renew the registration, pay land rent and keep the factory’s data current.
The law sets the pace for the licence itself. The department decides within 30 days of a complete application and tells you within seven days of its decision. If it asks for more information, you have a week to supply it or the application lapses. A refusal must give reasons, silence after 30 days counts as a refusal, and you may file a grievance with the Minister. The licence states the period within which production must start.
Once the plant is producing, the owner applies for entry in the industrial register within 60 days of actual production. After that the law requires the owner to renew the registration, send the department the yearly information it asks for, report any full or partial stoppage within 30 days, and make products to the national or GCC standards. A plant that stops producing for more than a year without approval can lose its licence. Tenants in an industrial zone must also meet civil defence and occupational health and safety rules and insure their buildings.
| Industrial service | Fee |
|---|---|
| Initial approval for an industrial project | QAR 500 |
| Licence to set up an industrial project | QAR 500 |
| Licence to expand, develop or change a project | QAR 500 |
| Licence to move a project to another site | QAR 1,000 |
| Extending the initial approval or the licence | QAR 100 a year |
| Entry in the industrial register | QAR 1,000 |
| Renewing the entry in the register | QAR 500 |
Links with customs and ICV
Article 14 of the 2024 law exempts the imports of industrial projects from customs duty where they are needed for production, under the GCC rules on industrial inputs. Decree No. 18 of 2013 lists what that covers: machines, equipment, spare parts, raw and semi-finished materials, and filling and packaging materials needed directly for production. Exempt items may be used only for the purpose they were exempted for, and the owner keeps a record of them.
Equipment and raw materials
MOCI’s factory guide places the exemption request about three months before operation. QAR 1,000 per request under Schedule 10.
Production inputs
Once the factory runs, raw material imports are exempted through Al Nadeeb. QAR 10 per request.
ICV
Tawteen’s ICV+ raises the ICV score of eligible manufacturers identified by MOCI by 50%.
You still register as an importer with the General Authority of Customs, as any company that imports does. The exemption changes the duty, not the clearance.
How we help
We help you choose the manufacturing codes, prepare the factory establishment application on the Single Window with the feasibility study and supporting papers you or your consultant supply, and apply for the initial approval, the industrial licence and the customs exemption. We also prepare the establishment card and work visa files for your staff. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and the other authorities decide each application.
