LONDON, March 6, : Minister of State in the British Department for Business and Trade Lord Dominic Johnson commended Tuesday the steps taken by the State of Kuwait under the leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- Sabah for encouraging and facilitating investments to diversify its income sources.

“The government of Kuwait has been far-sighted and I congratulate (His Highness) the Amir of Kuwait for his vision of how to move Kuwait from being one largely dependent on petrochemicals to one that has diverse routes,” Lord Johnson told KUNA on the sidelines of participation in the Kuwait Investment Conference which kicked off in London Tuesday. Johnson stated that the memorandum of understanding between the UK and Kuwait which was signed during His Highness Sheikh Mishal’s visit to London last year focused on what’s next in the economic relations between the countries. He noted that the MoU has given a momentum to mutual investments and is expected to take them to broader new horizons soon. Lord Johnson described the Kuwaiti- UK investments relations as unmatched in strength and longevity. “I think this relationship genuinely is the longest financial relation in the world, I am not exaggerating here because this is a 70 plus-years relationship with a single financial entity and I can not believe actually there is many similarities in the world with this kind of longevity,” he argued, referring to the crucial role played by the Kuwait Investment Office in London in this regard. Lord Johnson noted the Kuwaiti investments in the UK have remarkably expanded in the recent years to include important new fields such as clean energy, artificial intelligence, financial services, technology and insurance.

He stated that Kuwaiti investments are of extreme importance to the Britain which needs continuous investment flows to achieve its ambitions. He pointed out that Kuwait also benefits from the British experience and technology that can be transferred to develop the Kuwaiti economy and create job opportunities for future generations. Earlier, Lord Johnson participated in the conference session themed “125 Years of the Kuwaiti-British Partnership” where he highlighted the depth and long history of relations between the two friendly countries and their positive development over the past decades.

The session, in which the Kuwaiti Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs, Ambassador Sadiq Marafi, the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Britain, Bader Al-Awadhi, and the British Ambassador to Kuwait, Belinda Lewis, participated, also touched upon the future of the two countries’ relations and ways to strengthen and develop them. The role of the Kuwait Investment Office in London and its importance in consolidating the economic partnership, in addition to the role of the private sector in boosting this partnership, was tackled during the conference, especially in the last two sessions entitled “Finance and Investment: Strengthening Bilateral Relations” and “Technological Advancement and Digital Innovation”.

The Kuwait investment conference is held as part of celebrations of 125 years of Kuwait-UK bilateral relations and the 70th anniversary of the opening of the Kuwait Investment Office in London. It witnessed large participation by ministers and officials from the two countries, led by the Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Economic Affairs and Investment, Dr. Anwar Al-Mudhaf, and the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs, Ambassador Sadiq Marafi. On the British side, Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa, Lord Tariq Ahmed, and Minister of State in the Department of Business and Trade, Lord Dominic Johnson, participated, in addition to experts, businessmen, and representatives of the private sector from both countries.

By Marwan Baltrash (KUNA)