In the meeting of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in the current situation, they discussed wider issues of mutual interest between the two countries and in other fields, including economy and investment, to further strengthen the excellent bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Discussions on investment, trade and the ways and means of increasing the export of skilled people from Pakistan to Qatar are undoubtedly an important development regarding the Pakistani economy. He arrived in Qatar on Monday to participate in the fifth session of the conference.

The Emir of Qatar appreciated the efforts of Pakistani workers in the development of Qatar, especially the excellent performance of Pakistani security officials on the occasion of the successful holding of FIFA World Cup 2022 hosted by Qatar. He praised Pakistan. He reiterated Qatar’s strong commitment and continued support for its development agenda. During this conference held in Doha under the auspices of the United Nations from March 5 to 9, measures to accelerate sustainable development in less developed countries is being considered. The severe economic crisis Pakistan is suffering from requires this. That trade and economic relations with our friendly countries should be promoted more and more. Pakistan has always had excellent relations with Qatar apart from the Islamic brotherhood relationship. Pakistan has also been taking LNG on deferred payment and both countries have the same stand on international issues. Pakistan should pay full attention to increasing cooperation from friendly countries like Qatar in all spheres of life, especially commercial and economic spheres.

There exist good chances for further enhancing the economic ties. It may be recalled here that trade volume between the two nations has been flourishing and as par recent report, it has enhanced by 230 percent to an estimated $2.6 billion. Qatar also invests in Pakistan and in 2019, it came up with huge announcement to invest $3 billion in our country, most of this investment was in the form of deposits and what we call the direct investments.

The total investment from these venues is said to have touched $9 billion which is good one. As a matter of fact, the ties between the two nations are deep-rooted and based on mutual trust and understanding. In these testing times when our country is faced with unprecedented economic crisis, Qatar can help Pakistan through  wide-ranging projects in various fields like IT, business and manufacturing plants.  Natural resources are the main strength of Qatar, which has been utilizing its resources to the optimum and has become a regional hub in this regard. Pakistan can learn from its example and can avail Qatar help in this regard.

Qatar also enjoys a special place as it has been turned out to be playing a good role of mediator among Muslim states on various issues, which need to be further strengthened so that the existing conflicts among Arab countries and other Muslim countries can be resolved.  Pakistan has also supported Qatar on almost all fronts and in fact, Pakistan felt no hesitation in accepting Qatar as an independent state. We have also been supporting their Defence mechanism. In turn, Qatar also supports Pakistan in its conflict with neighbours like India which has occupied Kashmir. Qatar has been viewing Kashmir as disputed region and has been extending support to Pakistan on Kashmir issue.

There are many Qatari investments in Pakistan in important sectors such as agriculture, information, and communication technology and the financial sector, Insurance, and real estate, along with others. However, recently, there emerged the issue of Pak-origin labour force in Qatar recently.  And the issue so serious that Pakistan Govt had to intervene on behalf of its one and a half lakh workers in Qatar who were engaged for the last year FIFA World Cup projects.  Our Govt not only engaged the Qatar authorities in this regard but also by asked the latter to address payment issues, which is a good omen.

According to data collected by the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Pakistanis, over one and half lakh Pakistani labour force is working in this Gulf state. Most of these workers were sent to Qatar in 2015 for the FIFA world cup projects.

There is no denying that Pakistani migrant workers in the Gulf estates including the Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar etc are not paid according to international standards. Their exploitation is a known fact. Not only they are meagerly paid, a large number of them are languishing in jails for petty charges. In fact, it is a deeper malaise. Hundreds of thousands of Pakistani workers flock to Gulf and other states in bid to secure jobs and feed their families back home, but for many of them, it is not good experience.

Time has come we must value the expat workers who remit money back home in a record number and pay heed to their issues in real sense of the word.

The remittances sent by overseas Pakistani back home are the backbone of our economy as they are the main source of foreign exchange, but the rewards for these migrant workers are almost nonexistent, which is a matter of serious concern.

However, the good news that Qatar has assured Pak authorities of issues being faced by Pak migrants on Qatari soil.

Another good news is that this rich Gulf country has promised to increase migrant workers quota for Pakistanis substantially i.e. to three lakh from the current one and half lakh workers working in Qatar.  This will provide employment to Pakistanis who are faced with severe economic crunch at home due to financial crisis being faced by our country.

This enhanced number of workforce will also add to the remittances by Pakistanis earned for the country in this hour of distress when the country is on the verge of default and is making hectic efforts to avoid the default.

Published in The Daily National Courier, March, 09 2023

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