By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: Canadian Ambassador to Kuwait Aliya Mawani revealed that Kuwait is the third largest trading partner of Canada in the Gulf. She said Canada has been working with Kuwait in the health and oil and gas sectors, in addition to the agrifood sector to get more Canadian quality products to the country. Mawani discussed during a media lunch her participation in the fifth meeting of the Political Advisory Group of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI), which brings together Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in a regional partnership with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

“We talked about how we can cooperate with NATO and ICI. We got a lot of positive messages about the NATO-ICI Regional Centre in Kuwait. They appreciated the training and the programming and want more continuous training,” she said, adding the countries also discussed how to increase political dialogue during the meeting in Bahrain and how ICI countries can support Ukraine against Russia.

Regarding the visit of Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Al-Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to Canada, Mawani said the visit was successful, as it was his first official visit to her country, adding that Sheikh Salem toured the Canadian parliament and signed a memorandum of understanding to have a  strategic dialogue on the establishment of a bilateral political consultation mechanism, which will help the two countries develop and consolidate bilateral relations in all fields and at various levels.

“There were very good discussions about sharing priorities and what is happing in the region, for example in Syria and Sudan. They talked about regional dynamics with Iran and the main concerns for Kuwait and others in the region,” she added. On the military level, Mawani said: “Canada’s main military base of the region is here in Kuwait. This base will be staying and have a strong presence in the future. Kuwait has been an excellent host, and the level of collaboration we have is very good. We brought almost 4,000 Afghans and Canadians through Kuwait. We got very good cooperation from the government of Kuwait.”

The ambassador revealed Canadian soldiers in the Kuwaiti base are also participating in the activities with the NATO Office, noting that the General who is in charge of the military base used to be a Commander with NATO, and he is experienced in leading a mission with soldiers from all different countries.

Mawani praised the role of Kuwaiti women. “We are seeing a lot of Kuwaiti women in healthcare, leadership positions, private sector, academia and the government. Kuwaiti women are very capable, smart and talented, and it would be very positive to benefit from their skills and perspectives. Having more voices and diverse experiences is positive and makes us stronger,” she said.

“We understand from a lot of people that many laws are there, but not implemented. Some laws are good, but have to be fully implemented. There are laws like law 153 that deals with honor killing, which many Kuwaiti organizations have tried to abolish. It is not good for women or society. Women and men need to work together and support each other,” she pointed out.

Regarding the fake immigration offices, the ambassador said the Canadian Embassy does not have any authority over these offices since they are licensed by Kuwait, but encouraged people to use the legal process online or the embassy to fill out the needed forms and follow the instructions “When you submit the application online or in person, you are required to provide a biometric fingerprint. It takes time to fill the form, but it is not hard to fill personal information, and make sure to renew your passport,” she explained.

On the visa, Mawani indicated people should apply as soon as they know when they will travel, at least a month before earlier, affirming that student visas are prioritized, advising parents to apply with their children who will study in Canada. She concluded that there are around 450 Kuwaiti students in Canada, most of them are medical students, while there are at least 7,500 Canadian residents in Kuwait.