Interview with Ambassador Nguyen Hoang, ambassador of Vietnam to Qatar
What is your understanding and experience of living in Qatar?
From the moment I first landed here in Doha until now, I have a very good impression about Qatar and its people. It’s not only the top-level Qatari officials who I find to be personable, but I find Qataris, in general, to be very warm and helpful. I believe that the friendliness and warmth of Qatar’s people – both Qataris and the expats working here – is a major factor responsible for the prosperity of this country. I feel that when you are living in another country, you tend to absorb the culture and values of that place, and I feel the expats have imbibed the warmth also from the culture of Qataris. After spending two years here, meeting Qataris and expats makes me understand more and more about this country, its history and its rise. After visiting places like the Sheikh Faisal Museum or just a walk on the Corniche or even spending time in desert safaris, I understand how over the course of 20 years, Qatar has become such a fast developing country. Today, nobody can dare think of Qatar as a small country.
Do you see Qatar as a melting pot for talented expats?
Qatar has an ambitious plan as charted out in Qatar National Vision 2030 and it has terrific potential to achieve it. Qatar is a good model for developing countries in today’s world. The decisions taken by HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani have been very forward-thinking and promising. As for expats, the huge expat population of Qatar be it from India, Nepal, Philippines, or from European and American continents, you can see the contribution of each of these communities in various arenas of Qatar’s development. It’s a terrific success not only of Qatar but also of all nationalities in Qatar.
