27-11-2019
Qatar Chamber hosted a trade delegation from Pakistan led by Sayed Z Abbas Bukhari, the Minster of State and Special Assistant to the Prime Minster on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development.
The meeting, which was presided over by Qatar Chamber second vice chairman Rashid bin Hamad al-Athba, touched on trade and economic relations between both countries and ways of enhancing relations in labour-related affairs.
During the meeting, al-Athba affirmed that Qatar and Pakistan enjoy “strong and distinct relation at all fields.” He also lauded the interest of both countries’ leaderships to develop existing ties and to push them to higher levels through mutual visits and agreements.
According to al-Athba, Qatar-Pakistan bilateral trade grew by 63% from QR5.8bn in 2017 to QR9.5bn last year. He also noted that Pakistan “is among Qatar’s important trade partners.”
“There are 1,500 Qatari-Pakistani joint-companies operating in various sectors of the Qatari market. There are many Qatari investments in Pakistan’s agriculture, ICT, financial, insurance, and real estate sectors, among others,” he noted.
Al-Athba stressed that the chamber encourages local companies to recruit qualified and skilled Pakistanis in their companies to give them an opportunity to take part in the Qatar’s economic development.
For his part, Bukhari said Qatar and Pakistan “are linked by deep and fraternal relations.” He also lauded the State’s decision in 2015 to recruit 100,000 Pakistanis, and noted that more than 80,000 were employed in Qatar.
He also hope that more Pakistanis would be employed in the future so they could participate in the mega projects being implemented in Qatar for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and development of other vital infrastructure.
