KUWAIT: Ties between Kuwait and Turkey are highly optimal and are based on pursuing mutual interest and benefit in line with the leaderships and people's aspirations, said Turkish Ambassador to Kuwait Tuba Nur Sonmez on Monday.

In an interview with KUNA, Sonmez touched on the upcoming visit by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to Turkey Tuesday, saying that it would be another milestone in the relations linking the two countries.

As the two countries are to celebrate their 60 anniversary of diplomatic relations, there is a keen interest on part of the leaderships of Kuwait and Turkey to further boost relations on all possible levels, affirmed the diplomat who noted that this was the first visit of its kind on the level of leaderships since 2020.She indicated that His Highness the Amir Sheikh Mishal choosing of Turkey as his first destination post his Arab countries' visit reflected great keenness in boosting bilateral relations and also exemplified the strong status of Turkey in the eyes of Kuwaitis.

His Highness the Amir's visit to Turkey comes at a tumultuous in the region, Sonmez said, adding that the visit would touch on the issues pertaining to the genocide that was occurring in the Gaza Strip and elsewhere in Palestine.She took the chance to commend the role of Kuwait in the region, pointing out that Kuwait was always keen on bolstering peace and security.

Back to the visit of His Highness the Amir, Ambassador Sonmez revealed that there was an increased opportunity for Kuwaitis to invest in Turkiye and affirmed that her country was keen on displaying that to local investors in Kuwait.She noted that the volume of commercial exchange reached USD 700 million in 2023 and expressed a desire to further boost the number in the future.

On direct Kuwaiti investments in Turkey, the Ambassador pointed out that it reached around USD two billion in 2023, adding that Turkish contracting projects in Kuwait amounted to USD 9.2 billion.

The diplomat also revealed that her country had embarked on a number of measures recently to help bring in more investors, taking a chance to invest Kuwaitis to take advantage of such policies. Sonmez said that Kuwait took steps to diversify its economy lessening dependency on oil revenues in line with its development vision of 2035, expressing that Turkey was interested in supporting Kuwait in this regard.

Touching on tourism in Turkey, the Turkish diplomat said that the sector was thriving due to the keenness interest of tourists, including Kuwaitis, in visit her country.Kuwaitis are amongst increasing number of tourists who experienced Turkey, revealed the Ambassador who commended Kuwaitis for their keen interest in exploring her country.