ISLAMABAD
Foreseeing better opportunities of business, after the blockade of Qatar by neighbouring countries, two prominent pharmaceutical companies of Pakistan have started opening their factories in Doha while some others are interested in opening outlets in the Arab country.
According to sources, as the government in Qatar is especially facilitating firms and businessmen from Pakistan, Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry has come forward to expand its business in Qatar. The firms including Getz Pharma and Martin Dow have reportedly completed arrangements for opening their business in Qatar. The Arab country, which was depending on the supply of many goods from Saudi Arabia, is looking for alternate sources besides trying to manufacture the required goods.
“Qatar could emerge as another destination for Pakistani businessmen/investors after Dubai for investment and expansion of business,” said the sources adding that Doha, which has become a major exporter of LNG to Pakistan, may also import food items from Islamabad. Pakistan’s trade bodies were ready to meet the demand for food in Qatar, which has heavily been dependent on food imports to feed its mostly foreign population of 2.6 million.
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Bahrain have recently severed relations with Qatar, charging it with financing “militant” groups. The moves isolating Qatar are disrupting trade in commodities from crude oil to metals and food, and deepening fears of a possible jolt to the global gas market, where the Gulf state is a major player. Qatar’s ports and airports are however open to trading with countries not taking part in the Saudi-led boycott.
It may recall here that to boost the existing trade ties a direct trade route between Qatar and Pakistan has launched this month, bypassing a blockade imposed by Doha’s neighbouring Gulf countries and Egypt.
Qatari shipping company Milaha is set to launch what it has called the fastest direct service between Doha and the Pakistani port city of Karachi, as the Gulf state seeks to establish new trade routes amid a land, air and sea blockade from its Arab neighbours.
The first vessel had arrived at the newly-inaugurated Hamad Port outside the Qatari capital on September 11, following a transit time of four days – compared with the usual six-to-seven-day journey. Previously, most of Doha’s shipments to and from Pakistan docked at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port – a regional hub – now off-limits due to the Saudi- and Emirati-led blockade.
According to available data, Pakistan exports small quantities of rice, textile goods and meat to Qatar. Qatar has a population of 2.3m, of which 325,000 are Qataris, 150,000 Pakistanis, 615,000 Indians, 260,000 Filipinos, 280,000 Bangladeshis, 200,000 Egyptians and 145,000 Sri Lankans.
According to data of State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan exported goods worth $ 42.6 million to Qatar during July 2016 to April 2017 as compared to imports from the foreign country which was recorded $ 864 million in the same period.
As per Pakistan Bureau of Statistics LNG imports from Qatar jumped to 129 per cent have crossed $ 1 billion in July-April as compared to $ 439 million a year ago.
