DOHA: President Mamnoon Hussain called upon the Qatari government on Sunday to enhance the quota for Pakistani workers and relax visa regime for them as Islamabad could provide unskilled, skilled and highly professional manpower to Doha in various fields.

The president was talking to Qatari Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Special Affairs Dr Issa Saad Al-Nuaimi, who called on him here and discussed bilateral relations and cooperation in the area of manpower.

Mr Mamnoon said that around 125,000 Pakistanis work in Qatar and they were playing a vital role in the development of Qatar and considered the country as their second home.

He recalled that Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani during his visit to Pakistan in 2015 had expressed interest in importing more manpower from Pakistan. The matter was again discussed during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Qatar in February this year, he said.

The Qatari labour minister said that his country was interested in hiring Pakistani professionals in the fields of medicines, nursing and engineering. He said the process for the import of Pakistani manpower would be expedited after devising a mechanism.

He also praised the role of Pakistani expatriates working in Qatar.

Qatari defence minister

Qatari Minister of State for Defence Affairs Dr Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah also met President Mamnoon Hussain on Sunday and discussed prospects for defence cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed in detail the prospects for defence cooperation and the Qatari minister expressed his country’s keen interest in the purchase of defence equipment and hardware from Pakistan.

The president said Pakistan attached great importance to its cordial relations with Qatar and added that the relations between the two countries were based on mutual respect and shared values.

He expressed satisfaction over the level of defence cooperation between the two countries and desired to enhance mutual cooperation to take the relationship to newer heights.

The president said that exchange of defence delegations and interaction strengthened the bonds of friendship between the two countries. He said Pakistan looked forward to have more positive outcome from the scheduled Oct 27-28 visit of the Qatari minister of state for defence to Pakistan.

He informed Dr Khalid bin Mohammad that Pakistan had developed state of the art defence production facilities and could fulfil growing needs of Qatar, especially in the military equipment and hardware.

He also expressed Pakistan’s desire to further enhance defence collaboration with Qatar, adding that training of Qatari armed forces’ personnel and deputations from Pakistan armed forces were central to their defence cooperation.

The president said Pakistan could share its expertise of Low Intensity Conflict (LIC) by providing specialist military officers to train Qatari armed forces personnel, adding that the two sides could also explore possibilities of establishing joint industries to meet requirements of the Qatari armed forces.

The president further said that Pakistan could provide technical assistance to the Qatari ministry of defence for establishing their own facilities for manufacturing of arms and ammunition.

Pakistan could also offer special courses in the fields of Anti-Terrorist Training (ATT) and curriculum development for Qatari armed forces, Mr Mamnoon said.

The Qatari minister lauded services of Pakistani defence personnel in Qatri armed forces and said they were doing a great job in serving Qatar.

The Qatari minister said his country was keen to have joint ventures with Pakistan in defence production.

Visit to Pakistani school

The president visited the Pakistan Education Centre (PEC), a school being managed by the Pakistan Embassy in Qatar, and interacted with students.

He visited a few classrooms and the library of the Pakistan Education Centre.

The president held frank interaction with the students and also signed a visitors’ book and recorded his expressions.

Earlier upon his arrival at the PEC, the president was received by Principal Nargis Raza Otha and staff members of the education centre. He was presented a bouquet by two children clad in traditional Pakistani dress.

Published in Dawn October 24th, 2016