News
Zoho Expands Qatar Operations & Releases New Survey Data
The productivity platform has seen strong regional growth and increased demand for its cloud-based solutions.
Productivity and collaboration platform Zoho has announced the opening of its first office in Doha, Qatar, following significant regional growth. The company experienced a 29% increase in revenue while expanding its partner network by 50% in 2023.
Zoho’s remarkable growth in Qatar underscores the rising demand for its cloud-based business applications. The firm’s new office and strategic expansion should enable it to offer more tailored services while strengthening customer relationships.
Hyther Nizam, President of Zoho for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) stated: “We are excited about our continued success in Qatar […] The dynamic business landscape and progressive approach to digital transformation provide an ideal environment for our expansion. We are committed to supporting the country’s journey towards digitalization by offering cutting-edge solutions that cater to the evolving needs of businesses and contribute to national economic growth”.
Productivity & Collaboration Trends In Qatar
The announcement of a new local office was accompanied by news of a Zoho productivity and collaboration survey that revealed important insights into the challenges and opportunities faced by businesses in Qatar, as well as local productivity and collaboration trends.

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Here are some of the key findings:
- Despite the shift towards hybrid and remote work post-pandemic, 60% of Qatari businesses have fully returned to on-site work, while 32% have adopted a hybrid model. Only 8% of respondents work fully remotely.
- The use of digital tools was widespread, with 51% of respondents using 1-5 apps daily, 31% using 5-10, and 18% using more than 10 apps.
- Unified task tracking was shown to save time, with 76% of those using it reporting savings of up to three hours. However, 77% of those manually tracking tasks or not tracking at all also noted potential time savings with a unified system.
- Access to information remains a challenge, with 25% of respondents reporting limited or no access, and 24% needing occasional help finding information.
- The survey highlighted a lag in technology adoption, with 72% of companies reporting no significant changes in the last two years, despite the competitive advantages of AI and automated workflows.
- Remote workers were more likely to adopt new technology and use a broader range of apps, but they struggled with data access. In contrast, hybrid and on-site workers expressed a greater need for improved collaboration tools and communication.
News
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
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The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
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