By Ben Garcia
KUWAIT: Ambassador of Germany to Kuwait Stefan Mobs organized a luncheon meeting with the local press on Thursday and expressed gratitude for their cooperation and coverage during his three-year stay in Kuwait. He applauded the role of the professional media, especially for ‘explaining’ many issues amidst misinformation circulated in the age of social media.
"I have a personal attachment to your profession because I wanted to become a journalist years back. I know how it works to be more balanced in everything. I am happy that this country (Kuwait) enjoys a free press. This is very important in a free country. We have a very unique situation now compared to years ago: We have unprecedented misinformation and we have facts that are not being circulated. As journalists, you all have a very important role to play to bring out the truth. You can help analyze and sort out facts and present them to the public,” Mobs said.
According to the ambassador, when he came to Kuwait, he was new to the Gulf but not the region, since he was briefly assigned to Damascus. "After I came in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic began. Because of the pandemic, there wasn’t much work since few people were travelling, and parts of the two years we were locked down. But we kept our embassy open to facilitate medical travels of Kuwaitis,” Mobs said. "We maintained our presence to keep in touch with the government here. Last year, we had official visits of our foreign ministers,” he said.
Mobs said he enjoys a very good personal friendship with the Kuwaiti ambassador to Germany and always coordinates with him when it comes to medical travels by Kuwaitis to Germany. "Although Kuwait recently closed their physical office in Frankfurt, I know things will be okay soon,” he said. According to him, Kuwait has a lot of business in Germany and his country has a strong presence in the Kuwaiti market also.
Mobs also mentioned upcoming super-projects that are about to be delivered in Kuwait soon, like the new wastewater treatment plant in Um Al-Haiman in southern Kuwait. "When completed, the water will be very clean. You could even drink it, as there will be no residue,” he said. The ambassador was asked about energy troubles around the world as the war between Russia and Ukraine rages. "Congratulations to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for signing the Durra field deal. This is a wonderful development. We are interested in developing renewable energy with Kuwait, such as hydrogen, solar, thermal and wind energy,” he said.