The second visit by the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan H E Imran Khan to Qatar, after he became the Prime Minister in August of 2018, shows the strong ties existing between the two countries.
The Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani had also visited Pakistan in 2015 and again in June 2019. The two leaders met yesterday at the Amiri Diwan and had official discussions, which covered bilateral cooperation in economic, investment and energy fields.
There is a 20-year agreement to export LNG from Qatar to Pakistan and another agreement for a direct shipping service between Hamad and Karachi ports. They also talked about regional and international issues including the Afghan peace deal that is set to be signed in Doha in few days.
Earlier in an exclusive interview with The Peninsula, H E Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Foreign Minister of Pakistan, who came to Doha yesterday with Pakistan Prime Minister said that Pakistan’s relations with the State of Qatar are time-tested and are getting stronger with the passage of time. “Qatar has shown deep interest in investing in various sectors of Pakistan’s economy including aviation, hospitality, energy and petrochemical industries. We are expecting very positive and long lasting outcomes out of this,” he said also emphasizing Qatar’s role and contribution in US-Taliban peace deal. Bilateral ties between Qatar and Pakistan are strong and wide-ranging. They cover politics, commerce, defense, and culture. “Our bonds of friendship are connected with common religion, culture and geographical proximity,” H E the Pakistani Foreign Minister had told The Peninsula.
The relations between both countries will boost further with more cooperation especially in labour affairs, security, tourism, energy, aviation, food and agriculture among others. The economic and trade ties between the two friendly countries have already witnessed unprecedented growth over the last couple of years registering steady and double-digit growth. The total trade volume between Qatar and Pakistan reached QR9.5bn ($2.61bn) in 2018 registering a remarkable growth of about 64 percent compared to QR5.80bn ($1.59bn) in 2017. The combined value of two-way trade exchange between the two countries during the first six month of this year reached QR3.89bn ($1.07bn).
The number of Qatari-Pakistani joint companies operating in Qatar exceeds 1,500 companies working in various fields. The bilateral relations between Qatar and Pakistan have seen unprecedented growth and great success in several areas and with these high-level visits, this will only become even better.
