Cultivating ties with Qatar

Given Pakistan’s less-than-easy relations with its neighbours, Qatar is a safe & attractive relationship to cultivate

Qatar may only be a small country geographically, but based on per capita income it is the richest country in the world. It is also one of the few countries where the indigenous population is outnumbered by expatriates. It will be hosting the 2022 football World Cup becoming the first Arab country to host the event. It sits on considerable natural resources in the form of the world’s third largest natural gas reserves and oil reserves in excess of 25 billion barrels. In short, a country well worth fostering the very best of relations with, and it is no surprise that the visit to Pakistan of the Qatari emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al Thani, was warmly welcomed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who also expressed interest in developing mutual links in respect of energy, trade and investment, defence and manpower.

Currently, business value between Pakistan and Qatar stands at $300 million, which is considerably below what it may potentially be. There are over 100,000 Pakistani migrant workers in Qatar, and their remittances are one of the lifeboats in which sits the Pakistan economy. That number could increase as the infrastructure projects surrounding the 2022 World Cup are built. Although exchanges of diplomatic niceties such as this are routine in many ways, they are also the oil in the engines of international relations; and given the less-than-easy relations Pakistan has with all its immediate neighbours, Qatar is a safe and attractive relationship to cultivate. The problem that Pakistan faces in developing external markets and inwards investment is the poor security environment that affects the whole country and the endless crisis in the energy sector. Agreements were signed in the ‘soft’ sectors — culture, youth and sports along with higher education and scientific research; none of which are significant revenue earners. That aside we warmly welcome this development and hope for more to come of it in the future.

Published in The Express Tribune, March  26^th,  2015.

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