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ShareLONDON: Lord Mayor of London Nicholas Lyons welcomed on Tuesday the visit by His Highness the Crown Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to the UK, saying that it continued the tradition of strengthening ties between the UK and Kuwait. In a statement to KUNA, Lord Mayor Lyons said that the visit—which comes to mark the 70th anniversary of the Kuwait Investment Office in London—would further boost ties within the commerce and financial domains.
The Kuwait Investment Office had invested in various sectors in the capital, London, indicated Lyons, adding that the long-term commitment on the Kuwaiti side towards doing business in the UK had reflected the vast investment opportunities within Britain. He also expressed his desire to pursue greater economic ties with Kuwait during his upcoming visit to the Gulf country, expected next October.
His Highness the Crown Prince's visit to the UK to patronize the 70th anniversary of establishing the Kuwait Investment Office in London is another important milestone in British-Kuwaiti relations, said a top official at the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) on Tuesday. In an interview with KUNA, Chairman of the ABCC Baroness Elizabeth Symons of Vernham Dean expressed a most heartwarming welcome to His Highness the Crown Prince, affirming that the presence of the Kuwait Investment Office in London for seven decades was a testament to the strength of Kuwaiti-British relations.
Kuwaitis, from the top level of the state to citizens, continue to visit Britain for diplomacy, business, leisure, or education, and this played an important part in solidifying ties further. The British government’s decision to exempt Kuwaiti citizens from traveling visas and substitute that with an easily obtained electronic visa waiver would boost relations on a popular and official level, asserted Baroness Symons. She revealed that Kuwaitis were one of the biggest investors in the UK with a huge volume of investments, adding that the Kuwait Investment Office played an important role in London’s financial district.
Kuwait had invested in several vital sectors in the UK, including real estate and infrastructure development, said Baroness Symons, affirming that both nations were eager to pursue further mutual ventures, including emerging dynamic industries and innovative technologies. In regards to the volume of commercial exchange, Baroness Symons indicated that data from British authorities had shown that it reached 5.7 billion pounds sterling ($7.2 billion) in the periods between the second quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023.
This is an increase of 118.3 percent—an equivalent of 3.1 pounds sterling ($3.29 billion)—from the same period in the second quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, she indicated. Baroness Symons also mentioned the strong lead in the free-trade commerce dialogue between the UK and the GCC since official talks began in June 2022. Britain is eager to expand cooperation with Kuwait and the GCC in the upcoming years by offering more investment opportunities in the British market, said Baroness Symons.
On relations between the ABCC and the Kuwait Investment Office in London, the official affirmed that the ABCC would be partaking in the office’s 70th-anniversary celebration. She also lauded the achievements of the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) in lessening dependence on oil revenues by creating huge investment portfolios in the UK and elsewhere, which in return would ensure diverse income for future generations.
The ABCC is a not-for-profit membership organization established in 1975 under the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture for the Arab Countries. The Chamber has a unique function in the promotion of bilateral trade and investment between Britain and Arab countries.- KUNA
