Pakistani workers sent home $1bn in 2023, says official

The Pakistani community in Qatar sent home about $1bn in remittances in 2023, a visiting senior official said in Doha Tuesday. Jawad Sohrab Malik, special assistant to the caretaker Prime Minister on overseas Pakistanis and Human Resources Development, is visiting Qatar from January 15-18 at the invitation of HE the Minister of Labour Dr Ali bin Smaikh al-Marri.
Malik, who held a press conference yesterday evening at the Pakistani embassy, said that his meeting with HE Dr al-Marri focused on reviewing key issues of mutual interest. They reviewed aspects of co-operation between the two countries, and ways to enhance them in the areas of the labour sector, especially in the field of increasing job opportunities for the Pakistani workforce in the Qatari market.
He praised the labour conditions in the Qatar and the care provided for workers in general and for the Pakistani community in particular. Malik stressed that the Pakistani government welcomes the tangible and purposeful labour reforms that Qatar has undertaken over the past decade, which makes Qatar one of the most popular destinations and a favourite one for workers in general and Pakistanis in particular.
He said that he is on a mission to open avenues with Qatari employers and that he has signed two letters of intent with private companies.
He pointed out that the number of the Pakistani community in Qatar is about 300,000 working mainly in the construction and hospitality sectors and other various professions, adding that Pakistan is constantly working to increase job opportunities outside the country in general and in Qatar in particular. Thus many training centres have been created for workers in Pakistan to suit global demand, especially in skills and soft skills needed in the service industry, hospitality, plus the language skills of the host country.
Malik pointed out that 58,000 Pakistani workers came to Qatar between 2022-2023, and that the financial remittances from the Pakistani community in Qatar to Islamabad in 2023 amounted to about $1bn, which “we look forward to increase continuously to contribute to the development plans and comprehensive renaissance in Pakistan.”
It annually receives about $27bn in remittances annually from its communities working abroad, which reached 12mn people, including 6mn in the Arab Gulf countries.
Malik stressed that “the Prime Minister of Pakistan stated, that Qatar should be praised for its success in organising a huge and unprecedented event for the first time in the world, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, noting that Pakistan was one of the largest contributors to the workforce involved in the preparations for the World Cup, which we are proud of."
He stressed that Qatar implemented many reforms such as abolishing the sponsorship system, implementing the minimum wage, the WPS (wage protection system) paying wages and compensation, and responding to the reported labour problems regarding issues faced by our workers.