Ashud Ahmed.
Ambassador of Bangladesh to Qatar, Ashud Ahmed, has said that Qatar-Bangladesh relations are strengthening with every passing day.
“Both brotherly countries enjoy excellent relations which are going to strengthen in coming years.” He said that the number of Bangladeshi expatriates increased manifold in recent years. “They are playing an important role in the development of Qatar as well as Bangladesh by sending remittances to their home country.”
In an exclusive interview with The Peninsula, the Ambassador said that the population of Bangladeshi community in Qatar had crossed 400,000. “It was just 45,000 in 2012 and witnessed a significant increase in last six years.” He said that a large number of Bangladeshi expatriates were working in construction sector.
He said that the embassy’s capacity had been upgraded in recent years to serve the large community. “We are offering services to community members at their doorstep. The Embassy’s teams visit different areas like Al Shamal and Shahaniya etc. during weekends to listen to expatriate workers complaints and issues and resolve them promptly.”
Responding to a question, he said that sometimes labourers would complain about non-payment of salaries but such cases were diminishing with the passage of time. “The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs always promptly looks into such complaints and gets them resolved immediately.”
Lauding newly opened Qatar Visa Centres in Dhaka and Sylhet, the Ambassador said that it was a great initiative that would definitely protect migrant workers rights and open opportunities for Bangladeshi skilled and unskilled workers to find employment opportunities in Qatar.
He said that the amount of remittances sent by Bangladeshi workers to Bangladesh was gradually increasing and currently around $1bn per annum.
Commenting on labour law reforms introduced by Qatar in recent years, the Ambassador said that they were very important and the migrant workers were happy over them.
When asked about the possible need of more community schools in Qatar due to rapid increase of Bangladeshi expatriates population, the Ambassador said that the embassy was planning to open another community school for which they were set to approach concerned authorities in near future.
With the passage of time, the Ambassador said, both countries were exploring sustainable areas for close cooperation like trade, investment and tourism.
The Ambassador said that there existed a lot of potential in those areas. “Another sector which has tremendous potential is the pharmaceutical sector of Bangladesh. Qatar can import medicines from Bangladesh which are cost-effective as well as meeting international quality standards.”
Regarding bilateral trade, he said that Bangladesh was importing LNG from Qatar under a long-term agreement. “Our exports to Qatar are not as big in volume as that of India or Pakistan. One of the reasons behind this is the absence of direct shipping line between two countries. But a pact to start a direct shipping line connecting two countries is in the pipeline which will be signed during high-level visit from either side.”
Ahmed said that there was a little surge in imports from Bangladesh after June 2017 blockade of Qatar. “Some food items like vegetables, seafood and garments are being imported from Bangladesh.”
He said Doha and Dhaka were well-connected with three Qatar Airways flights daily, three weekly flights by Bangladesh Airlines and other private airlines’ services.
The Ambassador said that to showcase Bangladeshi products in Qatari market, Bangladesh Forum Qatar would organize ‘Made in Bangladesh’ expo in Qatar in October this year for which the embassy was extending full cooperation to BFQ.
To a question regarding Qatari investments in Bangladesh, the Ambassador said that the current investment was very little. “There is huge scope to invest in different sectors in Bangladesh like ports, infrastructure development, telecommunication, tourism etc.”
Cox Bazaar, he said, has the longest (stretching over 90 miles) sand beach where foreign investments can be made in tourism and hospitality sector.
The Ambassador also praised the way Qatar dealt with the blockade and overcome challenges posed by current Gulf crisis. “Qatar managed the crisis very efficiently and turned the challenge into a blessing. Now Qatar is self-sufficient in dairy, poultry products; has opened new trading routes and has shown the world effects of soft power diplomacy.”
On Qatar 2022 preparations, the Ambassador said that Bangladesh was happy over the fact that first time an Islamic state was organizing such a mega sport event and Bangladesh was ready to extend all-out support and cooperation to Qatar in this regard.
To a question, the Ambassador said that the Bangladeshi community in Qatar was also very active in marking cultural activities. “Different community organizations organize such events. Bangladesh MHM School and College is also doing a great job in this regard.”
