Qatar`s Emir to visit Bangladesh

Energy cooperation, investment, manpower export and immigration will dominate Dhaka–Doha talks during Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani maiden visit to Bangladesh later this month, sources said.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will lead a 150-member delegation during his two-day visit to Bangladesh starting on April 22, 2024.

“The visit of Qatar's Emir Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to Bangladesh will result into establishment of strong friendship and engagement between the two countries. It is also coinciding with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations. And this visit is taking place at this level after almost 20 years” said Bangladesh Ambassador to Qatar Md. Nazrul Islam.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1974, Bangladesh and Qatar have been maintaining exemplary bilateral relations.

The repeated invitations by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina and two successive visits by her in March and May 2023 prove that both the sides keep the other leadership in high esteem, said Md Nazrul Islam.

“Any visit of the Head of State or the government to another country is considered to be the highest level of engagement. It does not only further cement the existing relations but also creates a personal understanding between the leaders. On both counts, the visit of Qatar's Emir will result into establishment of strong friendship and engagement. And this visit is taking place at this level after almost 20 years. It is also coinciding with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations. We expect a number of agreements to be signed. So, this visit of Qatar Emir is extremely important for both countries,” said Bangladesh Ambassador.

In March last year, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had a meeting with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in Doha. The PM requested Qatar Emir to increase cooperation on energy, particularly LNG as the energy demands increases in Bangladesh with economic development in the last 20 years, said a director of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB)

Bangladesh’s export to Qatar stood at 31958080.37 US dollars (32 million US dollars) during July—June period of the 2022-23 fiscal year. Qatar exports to Bangladesh stood at 2366.5 million US dollars during the same period.

Md Nazrul Islam said that “It is expected that during the visit of Qatar Amir, the two countries will discuss a broad range of sectors, including economic and technical cooperation, trade and investment, defense cooperation, energy cooperation, employment of Bangladeshi skilled and semi-skilled work force in Qatar, climate change, education, charitable engagements, immigration, tourism, culture and sports, port handling and human resource development. A significant part of the discussion will also highlight the Palestine and Rohingya issues along with a few other international crises”.

“Qatar is a major exporter of LNG and fertilizer to Bangladesh. Bangladesh exports some garments items, vegetables and processed foods. The bilateral trade is heavily tilted in favour of Qatar. We see that we have huge opportunity to further extend our exports, especially for non-traditional items. For investment, we expect that the Qatari investors will take advantage of the best investment opportunities offered by Bangladesh. We have one of the most open investment regimes in the region. We may allot an economic zone exclusively for Qatar. Qatar can further extend their engagement in the energy sector by investing in the storage and distribution of LNG. Qatar can also invest in the infrastructure and real estate sector,” another EPB director said.

Md Nazrul Islam said that around 350,000 Bangladeshis consider Qatar as their second home by participating in development activities of the Gulf country. Bangladesh expats enjoy the similarity of religion, social values and practices, foods and strong connectivity while living Qatar. Actually, the authorities of Qatar take very good care of all expatriate communities. Bangladeshis are strongly interested to further contribute in the infrastructure and other developments and economic activities of Qatar”.

Qatar is a unique country considering its size, resources and the amount of influence it cast in the world. The way Qatar advanced in the way of modernization and development keeping its social, cultural and religious traditions intact is truly exemplary. Qatar Emir has transformed the path to development which is hugely beneficial both to the Qataris and the expatriate communities. It can be rightly said that the expatriate communities are more comfortable in Qatar than in their own country, accourding to sources.

“Meanwhile, Qatar has emerged as an honest broker in the international relations. I will say that Qatar has earned it through its goodwill and sincere efforts. As a result, Qatar has very good relations not only with all other countries but also it enjoys respectable position at all international organizations. Another good issue to commend is Qatar’s strong commitment to preserve its Islamic traditions and strengthen the global universal Islamic ummah. So, I will say that Qatar has a very balanced foreign policy based on its principled position which has secured respect and recognition from all countries,” Md Nazrul Islam mentioned.

Meanwhile, former Head of Department of Chemical Engineering of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Professor Dr. Ijaz Hossain while talking to this correspondent said the visit of Qatar Emir to Bangladesh is a historic moment to Bangladesh.

He said that Bangladesh should pursue Qatar on deferred payment in energy import in some emergency situation as the country has been going through the dollar crisis.

He also said Bangladesh should welcome Qatar’s investment in setting up a petrochemical complex as the country does not have a polymer industry.

He also said that Bangladesh can also ask Qatar to give long term loan to Bangladesh at low interest rate in some development projects.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh exported a total of 810,151 workers to Qatar during 2004- 2024, sharing 6.47 per cent of total manpower export to the global manpower market. Bangladesh exported a total of 56,148 workers to Qatar in 2023. Bangladesh exported a total of 6,779 workers to Qatar during the January-February period of the current calendar year.

Now Bangladeshi citizens are working in government, semi-government and private sectors of Qatar. Bangladesh has started sending female workers to Qatar in 2013. In 2018 more than 3,000 female workers got their employment opportunities in Qatar. The Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) of Qatar has revealed that the population of Qatar has surpassed three million in January 2024, marking a notable milestone in the country’s growth trajectory.

The PSA said: “As of the end of January 2024, the population within the State of Qatar has reached 3,118,000. This represents a monthly increase of 5.1% from December of the previous year and an annual growth of 5.5% compared to January 2023,” highlighting the dynamic population growth that the nation has been witnessing.

Looking back over the past five years, Qatar has seen a consistent increase in its population numbers, driven by its strategic initiatives to enhance its infrastructure and diversify its economy, particularly in preparation for hosting events such as the FIFA World Cup 2022.

The population in Qatar was approximately 2.95 million in January of the previous year, as indicated by PSA data.

A leader of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agency (BAIRA) while talking to this correspondent said that Bangladesh should pursue Qatar to recruit increase recruitment of Bangladeshi workers as manpower export to Malaysia has dropped and Oman stopped recruitment of workers.

While talking to this correspondent, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Bangladesh and Qatar want to expand the existing ties with broader cooperation in the areas of manpower, energy, trade and investment following the planned visit of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to Bangladesh this month.

The two countries are in discussion to finalise nearly a dozen cooperation documents which will be signed during the visit, said a source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The two sides are now working on the MoUs and agreements that will be signed after the emir's meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The State of Qatar recognised Bangladesh as a sovereign State on March 4, 1974 following the 2nd OIC Summit held in February 1974.

Bangladesh opened its diplomatic mission in Doha on June 25, 1975. The State of Qatar reciprocated by opening its diplomatic mission in Dhaka in 1982.

Bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Qatar are based on mutual respect, shared values, common religious ground, shared culture, and tradition.

People-to-people contacts bolstered by more than four hundred thousand Bangladeshi workers who are highly appreciated as disciplined and hardworking is one of the dominant features of bilateral relations, according to the MoFA.

Bangladesh and Qatar consider each other as brotherly countries and important development partners in materialising Bangladesh's Vision 2041 and Qatar's vision 2030.

Meanwhile, expatriate workers amount to around 88% of the population, the largest of which comprise South Asians, with those from India alone estimated to be around 700,000. Egyptians and Filipinos are the largest non-South Asian migrant group in Qatar.

Meanwhile, Qatar Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said his country is keen to strengthen its friendly relations with Bangladesh on May 24, 2023.

He said this during a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held at Raffles Tower in Doha, Qatar.

During the meeting, the Qatar prime minister told the Bangladesh prime minister that they (Qatar) are true friends of Bangladesh and they want to take the relation with Bangladesh forward further, said the then foreign minister AK Abdul Momen in 2023

The Qatar prime minister praised Sheikh Hasina for bringing stability to Bangladesh.

Mentioning that Bangladesh procures a huge amount of energy from Qatar, the prime minister of Bangladesh said, “We want you (Qatar) to assist us with energy.”

In reply, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman said that Qatar would do as much as possible for Bangladesh.

About the fear of losing jobs among Bangladeshi workers in Qatar after the FIFA World Cup 2023, the Qatar prime minister said Bangladeshi workers are their assets and friends and Qatar will keep them as much as possible in their country.

Later, Qatar Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi called on the Bangladesh prime minister at the latter’s place of residence.

In the meeting, the issue of signing of a fresh contract over the supply of additional liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Bangladesh in future came up for discussion.

Sheikh Hasina has urged to sign the new contract as soon as possible to procure a larger amount of energy from Qatar, said Momen at the press briefing.

The existing 15-year agreement signed in 2017 to import LNG from Qatar will be effective till 2032, but it needs to sign a new contract to get the larger amount of energy after 2025, he said.

Describing Bangladesh as a friendly country that stood with Qatar in their tough days, they (Qatar) promised that they would consider all sorts of concessions whatever possible for Qatar during signing of the contract.

Meanwhile, Ambassador of Bangladesh Md. Nazrul Islam, appointed to Qatar, held a meeting with Sheikha Najwa bint Abdur Rahman Al Thani, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Labor of Qatar, on 16 January 2024 to discuss the bilateral issues of the Bangladeshi labour market and Bangladeshi workers in Qatar.

Various issues related to the Qatar labour market and Bangladeshi workers, the upcoming 7th Joint Committee meeting and bilateral memorandum of understanding were discussed in the said meeting, reads a press release.