KUWAIT: Theanticipated visit of His Highness the Premier Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-HamadAl-Sabah to Egypt is bound to boost already distinguished bilateral ties, saida senior diplomat yesterday. Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah saidthe two-day visit, slated for today, would significantly contribute in thecontinuing evolvement of such vibrant relation, especially that it comes on theheels of the "historic" visit by Egyptian President AbdelfattahEl-Sisi to Kuwait last August.
He underlinedthat the timing of the visit was also of great significance due to "verycritical" circumstances witnessed by and with the Middle East region,which calls for consultations and coordination between the two countries on thehighest of levels. Jarallah also stressed the visit's economic aspect, due tothe major private sector delegation accompanying His Highness the Premier toseek business opportunities offered by its Egyptian peer. His Highness SheikhJaber Al-Mubarak is expected to meet with President El-Sisi and Prime MinisterMoustafa Madbouly. He is also scheduled to sign numerous accords andagreements.
Commercialcooperation
Relations betweenKuwait and Egypt have been progressing since their establishment decades ago,as His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak's state visit is expected to take theseties to even new heights particularly at the economic and trade levels. Kuwaitis Egypt's third largest Arab trading partner after Saudi Arabia and the UAE,with combined public and private sector's investment of $15 billion, while1,227 companies operating in sectors of industry, finance, real estate,tourism, services, agriculture and telecommunications. The figures wereconfirmed by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah KhaledAl-Hamad Al-Sabah following a meeting of Kuwait-Egypt higher committee meetingin Kuwait last December.
Egyptian exportsto Kuwait between 2010-18 amounted to 984.2 million Kuwaiti Dinars (KD) (some$3.2 billion), while Kuwait exported KD 165.3 million ($$543 million) worth ofproducts to the North African nation, said Kuwait statistics department. KuwaitFund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) is also contributing to developmentin Egypt, extending loans and grants to development projects in economic,social, agricultural, health and educational sectors.
Since itsestablishment in early 1960s, KFAED financed via loans around 50 projects withsome KD one billion ($3.4 billion), while offering KD 17.3 million ($56million) worth of grants and technical assistance. Annual economic and tradetransactions between the two country recorded around $KD 3.6 billion ($12billion), said Ahmad Al-Dhabe, an economist. He said that the Egyptiancommunity in Kuwait was spending around KD 1.8 billion ($6 billion) on housing,education, health and travel in Kuwait.
Dhabe said around25,000 Kuwaitis were living in Egypt as well, of them 20,000 students. He addedaround 165,000 Kuwaitis were visiting Egypt each year, spending around KD 100million ($340 million).The two countries, he said, were working on furtherimproving business and investment environments with the main aim of luringfurther investments.
Strong relations
Kuwait'sAmbassador to Egypt Mohammad Al-Thuwaikh said that the upcoming visit by thePrime Minister of Kuwait will further boost the strong relations with Egypt.The Ambassador expressed confidence that Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak's visit willhelp further reinvigorate Kuwaiti-Egyptian relations. Ambassador Thuwaikhaffirmed the frequency of high-level state visits by top officials from bothcountries reflected the strong brotherly relations between Kuwait and Egypt.
The two nationsshared a strong history especially during the 1967 and the 1973 wars againstIsrael when Kuwaiti and Egyptian troops stood side by side to defend Arab andMuslim integrity, said the Kuwaiti diplomat who also commended Egypt's strongstance against Iraqi greed in Kuwaiti land especially during the August 2, 1990invasion of Kuwait.
The Egyptian Armyalso played an integral role in liberating Kuwait in 1991 from the Iraqiinvasion, he said, affirming that both nations appreciated and valued theirstrategic partnership and mutual interest in developing relations. AmbassadorThuwaikh encouraged both Kuwaiti and Egyptian investors to seek businessopportunities offered by the respective countries, saying that the upcomingtwo-day visit by Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak will surely focus on this importantissue.
In reaction tothe upcoming visit, Egyptian strategists, economist, and academics welcomed theupcoming visit by Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, saying that it will thrive bilateralrelations. In various statements to KUNA, strategists said that the Arab worldwas in need for more countries to collaborate and cooperate on matterspertaining to the overall development of Arab citizens and their protectionfrom harm. The visit comes at a crucial time for the Arab world in whichcountries, such as Kuwait, Egypt and the rest of Arab region, were in need forbolstering ties on all possible levels. The strategists affirmed that Kuwait,in recent history, has been keen on the development of Egypt especially duringrecent conferences aimed at boosting Egyptian economy.
Focusing oneconomic cooperation, a number of economists and academics said that theupcoming visit by Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak was another step to boost cooperationwithin the economic, tourism, and commercial domains. They affirmed thatEgyptian investors and business personnel were willing to share their businessopportunities with their Kuwaiti brethren during Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak'svisit. Egypt had implemented several steps to attract and encourage businessopportunities with various countries especially Kuwait and this will be themain focus of His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak's visit to the country, theyindicated. - KUNA