Ashraf Siddiqui
Doha
Pakistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi inaugurated the newly-constructed buildings of the Pakistan Embassy in Doha.
Consular services from the new premises are expected to start by the end of March. Until the official announcement, the routine businesses of the embassy will continue on the present premises.
Welcoming the minister and community members on the occasion, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Qatar HE Syed Ahsan Raza Shah said the new embassy has an area of over 8,100 sq-metres, almost double the size of the existing embassy in West Bay.
The ambassador thanked Qureshi, who was in Doha representing Pakistan at the historic US-Taliban peace agreement signing ceremony, for sparing his time to inaugurate the state-of-the-art structure of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Doha.
The envoy said the present premises faced challenges in properly facilitating services to community members due to the significant increase in their numbers since 1985. He hoped the embassy will now be able to serve the community and non-Pakistani visitors in a much better way. He also lauded the relationship between embassy and the large Pakistani community in Qatar which is based on mutual respect, love and cooperation.
The ambassador thanked the Amir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani for their support.
He also thanked various departments of the Government of Qatar for their support during the construction of the new embassy buildings.
Construction of the new building in New Diplomatic Area, Al Shabab Street, Onaiza District, started on November 20, 2017 and was completed on January 21, 2020. It is designed by Pakistan’s top architectural firm NESPAK and constructed by Al Attiya Contracting.
The consular section will have 300 seats with separate waiting areas for women and men. There will be 14 service counters with facilities for issuing readable passports, Pakistan NICOP and all other necessary consular services. It also has a big auditorium for community and official events.