The spirit of community was vividly seen during a recent gathering organised by the Bangladesh Community — Qatar (BCQ) at Crowne Plaza Hotel. It was the launching ceremony of BC-Q where around 300 people gathered and chalked out their plans for future regarding the welfare of the Bangladeshi expatriates in Qatar.
The launching ceremony was attended by Imran Ahmad MP, State Minister at the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment of Bangladesh; Ashud Ahmad, Ambassador of Bangladesh to Qatar; Mohammad Hassan al-Obaidly, Assistant Under-Secretary for Labour Affairs at the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs of Qatar; and Lt. Hamad Ali al-Merri, Officer of Public Relations Department, Ministry of Interior.
The guests and the organisers attended a cake-cutting ceremony to formally inaugurate the community association. The organisers also gave away certificates to the government officers who gave presentations on different community related subjects.
The event turned out to be a useful interactive session for the community members. First, they were explained of the current Qatari rules and regulations by the officials of the Ministry of Interior, Community Police, and Labour Department. The officials with the help of presentations explained how the expatriates could benefit from these rule and regulations. Imran Ahmad MP, who attended the event as the chief guest, informed the expatriates about steps his government was taking for the welfare of the oversees Bangladeshi workers. He asked the audience for their questions and suggestions as well.
Talking to Community, the minister said: “I came here specifically for the inauguration of this community. Hopefully, as I saw there were people from the government of Qatar, there will be a good interaction. I hope, ultimately, they [BQ-C] will be able to do something good for the community.”
When asked for his comments on Qatar Bangladesh ties and his government’s plans to further improve the ties, he said: “Relations between Qatar and Bangladesh have always been very good. The ties will remain very good. We are buying LNG from Qatar and we have about 400, 000 Bangladeshi people working here in Qatar. It is probably the second largest expatriate community in Qatar. Hopefully, as we are taking part in the development of Qatar, Qatar will also have some sort of involvement in Bangladesh in the future as investors or partners. It is all good.”
Ambassador Ashud said: “I am very happy that for the first time the Bangladeshi community has come up with a very constructive organisation. Definitely, they will be coming up with more such programmes for the development of the community. I think with the launch of this community organisation, the Bangladesh embassy and the community will contribute more towards sustainable development between Bangladesh and Qatar. An executive committee, comprising of 149 members including Presidium members led by Engineer Anwar Hossain Akon and secretariats led by Amin Rasul Saiful, was formed to run BCQ.
Earlier, in his welcome speech, Anwar Hossain Akon said: “On behalf of BC-Q, I welcome you all to the inaugural ceremony. As you know, the Bangladesh community with all other expatriate communities in Qatar has been maintaining good co-ordination with the government of Qatar, especially, with the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Labour. This approach was initiated in 2007 by the public relations department of the Ministry of Interior. They called all the expatriate communities in Qatar to be associated with the ministry.
“We are thankful to all the officials who gave different presentations to the gathering here. In the process of forming BQ-C, we got great support from the department of public relations at every step.”
He further said: “The main objective of BC-Q is to co-ordinate and co-operate with the various government authorities in Qatar and to support Qatari Government’s initiatives in various capacities. Let us express our determination to build Bangladesh and to build Qatar. We want to see the success of FIFA World Cup 2022, Qatar Vision 2030, Bangladesh Vision 2021 and 2041.
Bangla
