As the Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tet) approaches this month, many Vietnamese workers in Qatar are heading home to celebrate, while those staying behind are recreating familiar traditions and dishes to ease their homesickness and feel closer to their families.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Qatar Nguyen Huy Hiep mentioned that approximately 450 Vietnamese nationals live and work in Qatar during a meeting between Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the Vietnamese community in Doha in late October 2024.

The Vietnamese community in Qatar is primarily made up of temporary workers, including engineers in the oil and gas sector, construction and trade workers, interpreters, hotel and restaurant staff, beauticians, and individuals studying Arabic.

Vietnamese life in Qatar

“Since the 2022 World Cup, general employment opportunities in Qatar have decreased, but my job is still stable,” said Linh Phan, an employee in Al Markhiya who has lived in Qatar with her husband and children for the past eight years. 

“In the context of the Middle East, with its security issues, wars, and conflicts, a stable life and peace are what we need most.”

Le Thi Thanh Nga, who has been in Qatar since 2015 and is the first Vietnamese person to earn a professional tour guide certificate in the country, admitted that 2024 was not "very happy because there [was] less work available.”

“There are now more tour guides than tourists here, and many drivers go to the ports and airports to offer self-guided tours at lower prices, making competition fierce,” Nga said. 

“Meanwhile, Qatar is targeting high-quality tourists and is focused on preserving its culture and laws, instead of developing mass tourism.”

However, Nga remains ready to welcome and assist Vietnamese tourists visiting Qatar. 

“There was a Vietnamese woman who had an accident and broke her leg while going down the escalator at Hamad airport,” Nga recounted. 

“I supported her during her hospital stay until she was discharged. 

“Another elderly Vietnamese man had low blood pressure at the airport and needed to be hospitalized. 

“I also helped him by translating over the phone until he recovered and was able to safely return to Vietnam.”

At the first Vietnamese restaurant to open in Qatar, Hoi An Pho, which started serving customers in November 2022 on Al Jazeera Food Street, businessman Le Anh Cuong, who has lived and worked in Qatar for 15 years, said that the restaurant is thriving and attracting international guests.

Recently, Hoi An Pho had the honor of hosting Prime Minister Chinh and his delegation for dinner during his official visit to Qatar.

To attract more customers, Cuong hired a top chef from Vietnam to ensure the restaurant offers the most authentic Vietnamese flavors, distinguishing it from other Vietnamese restaurants in Doha which tend to be owned by Thai and Myanmarese nationals.

Phan Nguyen Quang Vinh, a 35-year-old who has worked as a chef in mainland China, Taiwan, and Thailand, and was responsible for designing the menu at Hoi An Pho in October 2024, stated that he plans to highlight a different Vietnamese dish each month. 

“For example, last month, the highlight was [a combo of] shrimp and meat salad, ‘chạo tôm’ [grilled shrimp on sugarcane], Asian sea bass, and longan lychee sweet soup,” he said.

“This month, we featured beef stew and shrimp and fresh chicken spring rolls with mustard greens." 

Longing for Tet in motherland

Nguyen Thi Huong, who has lived in Qatar for nearly 20 years, often cooks Vietnamese dishes like ‘chả giò’ (spring rolls) and ‘bánh cuốn’ (Vietnamese steamed rice rolls).

During Tet, she also makes ‘bánh chưng’ (square sticky rice cakes filled with mung beans and pork).

“Rice, mung beans, and meat filling can all be found in Qatar,” Huong said. 

“However, the ‘dong’ [arrowroot] leaves and banana leaves are harder to find, and their quality isn’t as high as it is in Vietnam, making it difficult to wrap the cakes." 

Still, Huong and her Vietnamese friends enjoy making ‘bánh chưng’ and ‘bánh tét’ (cylindrical glutinous rice rolls) here to preserve the Tet atmosphere, she said while shopping for the ingredients at Landmark supermarket in Doha’s Al Gharrafa District.

Ho Viet Cat Phuong, a Hue native who grew up in Ho Chi Minh City and came to Doha in June 2023 to work as a restaurant manager, said that she plans to return to Vietnam for half a month in January to visit her family.

“During New Year or Tet, airfare from Qatar to Vietnam is quite expensive, but I make the effort to visit my parents,” Phuong said. 

“At the same time, I buy Vietnamese food ingredients, like cake-making items and yogurt, to bring back to Qatar.”

Among the several hundred Vietnamese construction workers in Qatar, many have requested leave ranging from 10 days to over a month to return home for Tet.

“I’m counting the days until January 20, when I will fly back to Vietnam to celebrate Tet with my wife and children in Cam Xuyen District, Ha Tinh Province, [north-central Vietnam],”Nguyen Quoc Binh, a construction supervisor at Frijns Steel Constructions Middle East, said in high spirits.

“This Tet, dozens of Vietnamese workers here are being given the opportunity by our company to fly home and celebrate the holiday, so everyone is very excited. 

“As for me, I look forward to four joyful weeks with my wife and children in the traditional Tet atmosphere before returning to Qatar to continue working hard to make a living.”

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