By Faten Omar
KUWAIT: The Embassy of Morocco to Kuwait held a reception on Sunday on the occasion of the 24th anniversary of King Mohammed VI’s ascension to the throne at Palm Hotel. During his opening remarks, Moroccan Ambassador Ali Ibn Issa said the Kingdom of Morocco has continued its success with a clear strategic vision to develop industry and make it a major source of jobs and a catalyst for productive investment. "These efforts were accompanied by the provision of a modern network of industrial, logistical and energy infrastructure aimed at improving the business climate and raising competitiveness that made the country rank on the top of the industrialization index,” he said.
The ambassador praised the longstanding and strong relations between Morocco and Kuwait. "The beginning of economic cooperation started in the ‘90s of the last century through the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. These relations developed over the years at the political and economic level, and further developed recently through the exchange of delegations between the two countries in the fields of education, sports and culture,” he said. "We are working under the directives of the leaderships of the two countries to advance these relations to higher levels.
We are currently in the process of preparing for two economic and cultural events by the end of this year to advance bilateral relations. Last year, we witnessed the inauguration of a direct air route by Kuwait Airways between Morocco and Kuwait, which contributed to facilitating travel between the two countries and increasing the number of tourists and businessmen,” Issa said. He indicated there have been Kuwaiti investments in Morocco for a long time, and Kuwait is considered the third Arab country in terms of investments in his country, as it contributed to several infrastructure projects, especially roads, railways, drinking water and electricity in villages, noting Morocco is looking forward to pushing for more investments at a higher level.
The ambassador noted his country encourages boosting foreign investment, pointing out the Moroccan government provides facilities to businessmen with easy laws and legislations, revealing a joint committee meeting between the two countries will be held soon in Morocco.
On the sidelines of the ceremony, British Ambassador to Kuwait Belinda Lewis revealed the meeting of the Kuwaiti-British Joint Steering Group is scheduled to take place in October in the UK, describing the visit of her country’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs James Cleverly to Kuwait as very successful and distinguished, where he met several senior Kuwaiti officials, led by HH the Crown Prince, and concluded his visit to learn about Kuwaiti culture. Lewis added the visit three British officials to Kuwait in four weeks confirms the extent of her country’s interest and keenness to strengthen friendship and work to develop the horizon of cooperation with Kuwait.