Qatar hosts 120,000 Pak workers: envoy

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Qatar Saqr Bin Mubarak Al Mansouri has reminded that his country hosts more than 120,000 Pakistani workers and tendency prevails to bring more skilled and trained Pakistani workers in large number to work in Qatar. The selection of suitable workers to work in private and public sectors in the country has already started.

In a statement on the occasion of his country’s National Day, the envoy announced the decision to issue tourist visa for Pakistanis upon arrival at Doha Airport. The ambassador said that historical ties spanning decades and the strong ties between the two brotherly peoples are getting strength day by day.

He expressed Qatar’s keenness to develop relations between the two brotherly countries in various fields. Qatar seeks to enhance cooperation in investment through Qatar Investment Authority and Hassad Investment Company in the field of agriculture and other spheres through the framework of cooperation of the two countries in the economic and humanitarian fields.

The Ambassador referred to the energy agreements signed between the two countries, which had a prominent role in filling part of the energy gap in Pakistan, especially in the field of electricity, as well as studying the joint projects in the field of energy, which were discussed during the meetings of the Joint Ministerial Committee. In this regard, a coal-fired power plant project was launched with the participation of the Qatari company Al-Mirqab in Port Qasim last month.

He also pointed out that the Qatari businessmen delegation recently visited Pakistan agreed to enhance trade cooperation between the two countries to export a number of Pakistani products to Qatar, reminding that more than 600 joint Qatari Pakistani companies operate in Qatar. The Ambassador referred to role of Qatar Airways in enhancing cooperation, whether by transporting passengers or goods between the two countries. In the humanitarian field, he said that Qatar, through the Qatari charitable organisations, is carrying out various projects throughout Pakistan, serving a large segment of the Pakistani people, especially in construction of schools and health centers and the provision of water to a number of villages.

The Ambassador said that Qatar is seeking to intensify cooperation in the field of education through the programme of teach a child in cooperation with Punjab province. Pointing out in this regard to the educational renaissance witnessed by Qatar through the Education City, which include a number of international universities, he expressed the hope to find students from Pakistan to study in Qatar.

Ambassador Saqr Bin Mubarak Al Mansouri expressed gratitude for Pakistan’s position on the Gulf crisis and its keenness to resolve the dispute through dialogue and its efforts from the outset to contain the crisis and its support for the Kuwaiti initiative. He expressed his strong belief that relations will witness further progress and development for the benefit of the two brotherly peoples, guided by the recommendations of Amir of Qatar and the Prime Minister of Pakistan.