CAIRO: The visiting Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya on Thursday affirmed that the Kuwaiti-Egyptian relations have been developing in the shadow of the two countries leadership’s keenness on elevating the bonds at various levels. These relations will be enhanced further, simultaneously with the holding of the next session of the joint supreme commission, the 14th edition of which would be hosted by Kuwait, the minister said in a statement in the aftermath of a meeting that grouped him with Egyptian President Abdelfattah El-Sisi.

As to his session with the president shortly earlier upon inauguration of the 13th session of the joint commission, the Kuwaiti minister said President El-Sisi had given instructions to Egyptian officials to put all resources at the disposal of facilitating the mission of the Kuwaiti delegation participating in the session. He affirmed that the meeting with the Egyptian president was fruitful and warm, hailing Al-Sisi’s keenness on maintaining distinctive relations in various fields between the two countries. He also alluded to another meeting with the Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli that dealt with preparations for the commission meetings. He added that the meeting concluded with signing a number of agreements.

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister stressed the importance of holding regular meetings with Egypt, saying that the 13th Egyptian-Kuwaiti high joint committee in Cairo was important to expand cooperation in different fields. He said that the meeting was held according to guidelines set by the leadership of both countries. The challenges facing the region and the world required close coordination, especially amongst Arab countries, he affirmed, noting that unifying the Arab world’s vision and boosting coordination were key to overcome any obstacles.

Kuwait Foreign Minister touched on the situation in the Gaza Strip and Palestine, saying that it was a major challenge that needed to be addressed and finding solutions would save lives and prevent further destruction. Minister Al-Yahya indicated that the current meeting would witness the signing of several accords that would reflect both countries’ desire to boost cooperation. Any obstacles in the face of the success of cooperation must be addressed, he affirmed, stressing that Kuwait was in full support on the public and private sector level to bolster ties.

He revealed that the investment and commerce sector cooperation saw a rapid increase in recent years, noting that Kuwaiti investments in Egypt reached around $4.5 billion, making it to the fifth country in investment volume in Egypt. The number of Kuwaiti companies working in Egypt had reached 1,650, said Al-Yahya, indicating that the volume of commercial exchange had reached three billion dollars last year. He affirmed that Kuwait was looking forward to the upcoming 14th high committee meeting in Kuwait, which would be held soon.

On his part, Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdulatty affirmed that the leadership of both countries shared a unified vision concerning matters of cooperation as well as issues pertaining to developments in the region and the world. Meanwhile, the official affirmed that Egypt respected Kuwait’s sovereignty on its land and sea borders, especially when it came to UNSC resolution 833/1993 concerning the demarcation of the Iraq-Kuwait boundary, adding that his country also supported the Kuwaiti-Saudi exclusive right over the Durra field in the Gulf waters.

He also reflected Egypt’s willingness to contribute to Kuwait’s Vision 2035, adding that on another level, his country saw the GCC region’s security as a top priority issue. Egypt is keen on the organization of the Egypt-Kuwait investment forum in the last quarter of this year, he said. Kuwait and Egypt signed 10 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and executive programs to enhance cooperation in the fields of planning, environment, youth and sports, media, tourism, diplomatic training and housing.

Minister Al-Yahya and Egyptian Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation Dr Rania Al-Mashat signed the executive program for the scientific and technical cooperation agreement in the field of planning between the Kuwaiti government represented by the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development and Egypt represented by the National Planning Institute.

Minister Al-Yahya also signed with Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports Dr Ashraf Sobhi the executive program in the fields of youth, children and sports and signed with Egyptian Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad a MoU in the field of environmental protection. The Kuwaiti Foreign Minister and his Egyptian counterpart signed executive programs for cooperation in the fields of housing, construction, enhancing competition, tourism, media.

Media cooperation

Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti official on Thursday affirmed the significance of the existing media cooperation between Kuwait and Egypt, particularly in the audio-visual and backup tech realms. The affirmation was made by Adel Al-Meshaan, the assistant undersecretary at the Ministry of Information and the acting external media undersecretary, in a statement to KUNA as he chaired the ministry’s delegation at the inauguration of the 13th session of the joint supreme commission.

The Kuwait-Egypt cooperation at the media level dates to many decades ago, distinguished with record achievements that depicted the solidity of the brotherly relations in diverse fields. He said he affirmed the keenness of Kuwaiti and Egyptian information officials on beefing up the cooperation in this sector in line with the desire of the two countries’ supreme leaderships. He alluded to the framework agreement that had been signed by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Information with the Egyptian media authority on cooperation in television, radio, and media tech engineering. The cooperation in this framework came in response to decisions issued by the Arab ministers of information for boosting swap expertise and cooperation in the sector. — KUNA