What has Bangladesh gained from the Qatar Emir’s visit

Though  Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani’s visit in Bangladesh lasted for less than 24 hours, its significance outweighs his staying time by manifold. The Qatar Emir in his 70-minute discussion with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in two spells spoke openly about the future of bilateral relations between Bangladesh and the Middle Eastern country.

Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani expressed his amazement after coming to Bangladesh 19 years after the visit of his father Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani in Dhaka. He observed various infrastructural development activities undertaken in Bangladesh that include the expansion of Dhaka and Cox’s Bazar airports, metrorail and elevated expressway. The excited Qatar Emir at one stage of his discussion with the Bangladesh prime minister said, “Seeing is believing.”

Diplomatic sources in Bangladesh and Qatar told Prothom Alo Tuesday evening that the Qatar Emir is keen to find trade and investment potentials in connectivity, tourism and other sectors. He informed the Bangladesh prime minister that he will give necessary orders to the relevant authorities to take initiatives upon returning home.

Trade and investment in energy and other sectors come up whenever the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Qatar. But this time, a message of enhancing political relations has also been given.

The Qatar Emir visited Bangladesh on Monday and Tuesday. His meetings and other agenda were scheduled on Tuesday. He started his flurry of activities with a 25-minute one-to-one meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the morning. Later, they held a bilateral meeting for over 45 minutes. Following the meetings, five agreements and five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed. Later, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani took part in a lunch hosted by the Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin in the honour of the Qatar Emir at Bangabhaban. He went to Shahjalal International Airport from Bangabhaban via the elevated expressway.

This correspondent talked to diplomats of Bangladesh and Qatar regarding the meetings of the Bangladesh prime minister and the Qatar Emir. Both the sources said the two leaders came out of the one-to-one meeting with pleasant countenance. Both of them answered questions on mutual issues and passed opinions. As a result, the bilateral relation will go ahead following the discussions in Dhaka.

Foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen told Prothom Alo the Qatar Emir himself said that he was amazed seeing Bangladesh in his own eyes. At a stage of the meeting he expressed his amazement seeing the development activities in Bangladesh and remarked, “Seeing is believing.” This suggests that there has been a qualitative change in Qatar’s outlook to Bangladesh.

The foreign secretary further said, “Through this visit the relation would be multidimensional and it has graduated at the political level too. Overall, the relationship has advanced several steps, we hope.”

Qatar is a major source of Bangladesh’s liquified natural resources (LNG). The bilateral trade has crossed USD 2.5 billion with LNG as the central commodity. The way development activities have been going on in Bangladesh, the demand of LNG will soar here, thinks Qatar, a major partner to ensure energy security of the country. That is why, for them, it was important to find out the other potential sectors of trade and commerce and investment.

Masud Bin Momen said currently vessels with imported LNG from Qatar anchor at the outer harbour. They have been proposed to construct a terminal at the port to supply LNG to Bangladesh. Qatar also has shown interest in joining the supply chain using the infrastructure at the seaport.

Bangladesh’s Petrobangla has signed an agreement with Qatar Gas in January this year to import 1.5 million tonnes of LNG annually. The agreement will be implemented in 2026.

At one stage of the meeting, prime minister Sheikh Hasina requested the Qatar Emir to invest in Cox’s Bazar, a coastal town with major tourist spots. She informed him about the expansion of Cox’s Bazar airport and construction of a deep seaport in Matarbari. Qatar could think of investing in Cox’s Bazar considering those, Sheikh Hasina told Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani.

She also spoke of investment opportunities at the special economic zones (SEZs). The Qatar Emir showed interest in the proposals of the prime minister. He assured the prime minister about asking the relevant authorities to take initiatives to grab the opportunities.

The Qatar Emir visited Bangladesh at a time when the whole world is in conundrum over the Middle East situation including the Iran-Israel clash. The issue was raised in the summit meeting. Both the leaders expressed their concerns over escalating tensions and violence in the region. They also urged the global leaders to play an effective role to find a sustainable resolution to the Palestine crisis.

The Qatar Emir in the summit meeting termed the attacks of Iran and Israel as “measured steps”. He said it is not that they carried out attacks on each other in full swing. He thought the clash won’t spread on any large scale.

Qatar is a large market for Bangladesh to export human resources. Currently over 400,000 Bangladeshis work there. A large number of Bangladeshis contributed in construction of various infrastructures including the stadiums where the matches of football World Cup matches were held in Qatar in 2022. But like many other countries, Qatar also seeks skilled workers from Bangladesh. Qatar seeks to import skilled manpower in the health sector and engineering from Bangladesh. Bangladesh, however, requested the country to import semi-skilled workers too. Qatar responded positively to the request.

* The analysis has been rewritten in English by Shameem Reza