In a move designed to meet the growing needs of current and future clients in Qatar, OMD has officially launched operations in the country with a new office in Doha. Until now, the communications planning network was servicing its portfolio of Qatari clients from Lower Gulf in Dubai.

The decision to open a local operation comes after the network was appointed by three advertisers in the past 12 months, including the Qatar Foundation’s state-of-the-art medical and research facility, Sidra Medical and Research Center. OMD’s Qatari accounts currently include the Doha Film Institute and beIN Sports.

The new operation is headed by Mark Soufiar, a former business unit director in Dubai with over 12 years of experience at OMD UAE and its sister agencies. In his new role as general manager for OMD Qatar, he will report to Nadim Samara, managing director of OMD UAE & Lower Gulf.

“Mark is extremely fluent in the market’s nuances and, as a seasoned OMDer, is able to seamlessly transcend the products and services that OMD offers to advertisers,” says Nadim Samara in a press statement. “Qatar does and will continue to present exciting opportunities, both for home-grown brands and beyond, and our team in Doha is more than ready to unlock growth for them. This is the first step of a broader expansion plan for the OMD network in the Middle East and I look forward to sharing further developments in the near future.”

“Qatar is buzzing with intense energy as a result of all the developments currently under way and to play an active part of its rapid growth is an absolutely incredible and exciting opportunity for us,” Soufiar says. “We have been managing Qatar-based accounts for some time and we’re now ideally placed to contribute to their growth in the country and beyond more deeply thanks to our new local operation.”