Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari (third left), Minister of State and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, with his delegation during a meeting with Qatari business leaders, who were led by Rashed bin H
The bilateral economic and trade ties between Qatar and Pakistan has been witnessing unprecedented growth over the last couple of years, especially in the field of trade, commerce and labour affairs, which is expected to be accelerated further in the coming years as both the countries are working to expand the ties.
The total trade volume between the two countries reached QR9.5bn ($2.61bn) in 2018 registering a remarkable growth (year-on-year) of about 64 percent compared to QR5.80bn ($1.59bn) in 2017.
The combined value of two-way trade exchange between the two friendly countries during the first six months of this year reached QR3.89bn ($1.07bn), according to official data released yesterday on the occasion of a meeting with members of high-level trade delegation from Pakistan.
The bilateral trade balance is currently skewed in favour of Qatar as the energy-rich country exports a lot of high valued commodities to the South Asian nation. Qatar’s trade surplus with Pakistan for the last six months of this year reached at QR3.36bn, which stood at QR8.55bn ($2.35bn) for the full year in 2018.
Qatar’s exports to Pakistan include oil & gas, chemicals & petrochemicals, tools & equipment, iron & steel, lead (raw) and other products. Qatar imports a wide-range of goods and services from Pakistan. Among them are vegetables, fruits and other food items, garments, apparels, textiles, meat and poultry products, electrical instruments and other miscellaneous items. In addition, the number of Pakistani workforce in Qatar has reached nearly 150,000 who remitted nearly $400m (QR1.45bn). Pakistan is working to secure more work visa, especially to offer skilled labour force such as doctors and engineers, to Qatar, aiming to increase the level of remittance in the coming years.
The bilateral cooperation between Qatar and Pakistan got impetus after Prime Minister Imran Khan came to power some 16 months ago. And the level of cooperation got further accelerated after the leaders from both the countries exchanged visits in the middle of this year.
The officials from both sides have noted that the trade and economic cooperation between the two countries will get a major boost in the coming years as both the countries are working aggressively to expand and deepen the relationship in new areas, including energy, power, tourism, and many other sectors.
Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari, Pakistan’s visiting Minister of State for overseas affairs and human resource development, who is also the special assistant to Prime Minister Khan, and members of his accompanying delegation, yesterday held a meeting with prominent Qatari businessmen and top executives at Qatar Chamber headquarters. During the meeting both sides discussed ways of boosting cooperation, especially in the field of labour affairs and private investments in both the countries.
“The relations between the leaders of our friendly countries are extremely close and strong. They are very fond of each other, and because of that, the relationship between the two countries has gone to a level which is unprecedented, especially over the last 16 months,” Minister Bukhari said.
Bukhari added: “The purpose of my visit to Qatar is to meet with the stakeholders and recruiting agencies, to achieve the target of 100,000 work visa for Pakistani labourforce. In 2015, Qatar had pledged that quota for work visa, and of that some 82,000 Pakistanis have already been recruited by Qatari companies, and the remaining 18,000 visas are to be issued over the next few months.”
On his part, Rashid bin Hamad Al Athba, Second Vice-Chairman of Qatar Chamber, said: “We are experiencing rapid growth in bilateral cooperation between Qatar and Pakistan. The relationship between the two brotherly countries is very strong and wide-spread covering almost all aspects of live such as trade, commerce, investment, security, tourism, and culture. The agreements signed between the two countries have brought us closer and cemented the ties, which is reflecting in the growth in our bilateral trade volumes.”
Al Atba added: “Our relation with Pakistan is very strong. The number of Pakistani companies and joint ventures that are operating in Qatar has reached more than 500, which is likely to grow further. And Pakistan’s is a good destination for Qatari investors, especially in the field of real estate, insurance, energy and tourism. And we at QC are ready and committed to cooperate and facilitate.”
