Sir Philip Barton

KUWAIT: The Permanent Secretary for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Sir Philip Barton, visited Kuwait for a series of virtual meetings. Sir Philip, the UK's most senior diplomat, met with Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials, hosted a roundtable on climate change and launched a year-long campaign focusing on UK expertise in innovation, research and technology. After engaging with British Embassy staff, Sir Philip met with Assistant Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khobeizi, where they discussed Kuwait's leading role in resolving the GCC dispute, bilateral co-operation and regional issues.

At a roundtable meeting, Sir Philip discussed the upcoming COP26 UN climate change talks which will be held in Glasgow in the United Kingdom in November. Sir Philip highlighted the UK's commitment to tackling climate change both through domestic policy and in international forums. Sir Philip heard from officials at the Environment Public Authority, and the Supreme Council of Planning and Development's Dr Khaled Mahdi. Also at the meeting were the Hideko Hadzialic, Resident Representative for the UNDP and Ghassan Al-Khoja, regional representative for the World Bank.

The visit concluded with the launch of the British Embassy's Innotech 2021 campaign, which showcases UK's excellence in scientific research, collaboration and innovation. The launch included details of the logo, social media hashtags (#InnotechUKQ8) and schedule for events, details of which will be shared during the coming year. Also, Sir Philip met with Dr Samira Al-Omar, Director General of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research and Dr Khaled Al-Begain, President of the Kuwait College for Science and Technology.

On conclusion of his visit, Sir Philip said "I was delighted to visit Kuwait virtually just after Kuwaitis marked the 60th anniversary of independence and the 30th anniversary of liberation. It was inspiring to hear the vital work being done by my colleagues at the British Embassy to advance the UK-Kuwaiti partnership. My discussions today showed we share a determination to tackle regional and global challenges such as climate change and security, as well as providing an exciting glimpse of future scientific collaboration through the Innotech 2021 campaign."