KUWAIT CITY, Sept 12: The Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Acting Minister of Interior Sheikh Talal Khaled Al-Ahmad Al- Sabah briefed the Cabinet members about his decision to cede a military site in Jahra governorate to the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW). The decision materializes the instructions of the political leadership to ensure the welfare of citizens, he said at the weekly Cabinet meeting held at Al-Seif Palace on Monday.

The Cabinet members appreciated the move as kind initiative that reflects the minister’s keenness on contribution to the government effort to provide housing welfare to the citizens, said Deputy Prime Minister. The meeting, chaired by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, was also apprised of the format of the delegations to accompany His Highness the Prime Minister during his visits to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia tomorrow, September 13, and to New York on September 15-24. In New York, His Highness the Prime Minister will represent His Highness the Amir Sheikh at the UN General Assembly High-Level Week 2022 as part of the 77th UN General Assembly session; his delegation includes senior officials from his Diwan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Cabinet reviewed the recommendations of the ministerial committee on mega development projects, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister Defense and Acting Minister of Interior.

The recommendations include approving the initiative of Kuwait Finance House (KFH) to contribute to the rehabilitation of Al-Mubarakiya Market, ravaged by a huge fire in late March. The Cabinet approved the KFH contribution as indicative of the Bank shouldering of its social responsibility and the role of the private sector in backing up the efforts of Kuwait Municipality in this regard. The Cabinet also discussed the recommendations of the committee on economic affairs, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Oil and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Dr. Mohammad Abdullatif Al-Fares, regarding the economic and legal feasibility of launching a company affiliated to Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR). The planned company will be in charge of marketing the scientific products and inventions of the Institute, notably those related to food and water security. It will also help diversify the sources of income through enhanced public-private partnership. The cabinet approved launching the company as a closed corporation wholly owned by the Institute.

In response to another recommendation from the economic affairs committee, the cabinet meeting tasked the Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development to continue measuring the post-Covid economic recovery in Kuwait in collaboration with the World Bank Group with a view to mitigating the economic shocks in the future. Meanwhile, on developing the northern economic zone, dubbed the Silk City, the cabinet asked Minister of State for Municipal Affairs, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Affairs Rana Al-Fares to complete the legal, executive and procedural measures of the project. Dr. Rana Al-Fares also briefed the meeting on the recommendations of public services committee regarding the regular monthly reports of the Environment Public Authority (EPA) related to progress made by Kuwait in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (KUNA)