*ISLAMABAD: **Pakistan and Qatar take important decisions on economic frontincluding the Free Trade Agreement.*
Pakistan and Qatar have agreed on a free trade agreement (FTA) to enhancebilateral trade. The agreements will soon be signed after necessaryformalities.
Pakistan has also offered to establish a plant in Qatar to manufacturefootballs for the FIFA World Cup 2022 as well as subsequent footballtournaments.
Nebras Power, a major investment group in Qatar’s energy sector, hasexpressed an interest in investing directly in Pakistan’s power sector.
The Nebras Power Consortium will take part in the privatisation of theHaveli Bahadur Shah and Balloki power plants in Pakistan.
It has formally informed the Pakistani government about its interest andhoped that it would promote direct cooperation between the two governmentsin the fields of energy and power generation.
According to a document available with *The Express Tribune*, thePakistan’s commerce and energy ministries attended the 5th Pak Qatar JointMinisterial Commission meeting held in Qatar last month.
A copy of the minutes issued by the signatories of the two countries wassent to the respective ministries for implementation of the decisions madeby the two countries.
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Pakistan has expressed an interest in exporting sports goods for the FIFAWorld Cup 2022. Qatar has welcomed Pakistan’s interest and said it wouldconsider its goods on the basis of price and quality for the mega event.
The document also read that the Pakistani government had fully endorsed areport sent by the Qatar government to the World Trade Organisation (WTO)to recognise its products, including Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) andnatural gas, as eco-friendly.
Qatar has also requested additional traffic rights to enhance aviationlinks with Pakistan. The two countries will consider the matter on acommercial basis.
The two countries have agreed on an air service agreement in the nearfuture to enhance bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Qatar in otherareas of aviation, and agreed to hold further meetings during theforthcoming air service talks scheduled to be held in Shi’ar Uqba, Jordanwhere further progress is expected in this regard.
According to Qatar’s media, the two-way trade exchange between Qatar andPakistan reached QR9.5bn in 2018, witnessing an unprecedented 63 percentgrowth) as a result of better ties. The balance of trade is currentlyskewed in favour of Qatar due to the export of high-valued products toPakistan. But the South Asian nation is also working aggressively toenhance collaboration in the field of manpower aiming to increase the flowof remittances, which will eventually make the economic relations morebalanced.
Currently some 150,000 Pakistanis live and work in Qatar and remittingabout $400m annually to the Pakistani economy. Pakistan has been working tosecure more Qatari visa to provide doctors, engineers and other skilledmanpower.
