Veteran expatriates laud Qatar for being their second home

Two industry leaders from the Indian expatriate community have shared their experiences as longstanding residents of Qatar during a seminar organised by the Ministry of Culture at the Darb Al Saai main stage on Saturday.
Titled ‘Experiences of Long-Term Expatriates in Qatar’, the event was moderated by Dr Abdullah Faraj and featured a panel discussion with Dr Mohamed Althaf, director of LuLu Group International, and C V Rappai, director & CEO of Jumbo Electronics Qatar.
During the event, Dr Althaf lauded His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, saying that his wise leadership guided Qatar in its preparation to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup and for the highly-successful organisation of the tournament.
“By far, this is the most well-organised, safest, and family-friendly World Cup that I have personally seen. The leadership of Qatar, including residents and citizens of this country, can be very proud of this achievement,” he stressed.
Dr Althaf said: “We have shown the world what we could give back and achieve through unity, hard work, and resilience, regardless of the silly propaganda hurled at Qatar. Today, every visitor to Qatar will testify how the people living in this country had opened their homes, their minds, and hearts to the millions of World Cup fans who came here.
“All good things happened in my life when I came to Qatar 22 years ago. This is where I got married and raised my children. I have been so fortunate to witness the progress that Qatar has made over the years.”
Dr Althaf added: “When I arrived in Qatar, the country was preparing for a lot of transformations. But even then, I could feel a tremendous energy, positive attitude, and enthusiasm of the people. Qatar is very unique in the sense that it extended its generosity to all the people living in the country.
“We witnessed this while Qatar was preparing to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup and at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. I consider myself very fortunate to be living in this country, which is arguably the largest sovereign wealth fund, and the safest country worldwide, and while it is a small country, Qatar was more than able to successfully host the largest sporting event in the world.
For his part, Rappai said he arrived in Qatar in 1980 and considers himself “one of the luckiest persons from India” to be living “in this blessed land” for the past 42 years.
“Words cannot describe how I have witnessed the growth of this county. Qatar continues to progress daily in infrastructure and in different sectors, such as education, health, and sports, among many other landmark achievements.
“The Qatari government and its wise leadership were able to successfully convert different challenges into opportunities, which we have witnessed in the past three decades,” Rappai pointed out.