KUWAIT CITY, Jan 20: Kuwaiti innovator Lama Al-Oraiman has been appointed as the first Kuwaiti and Arab woman to serve as ambassador at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) -- the largest international conference specialized in the space sector with the participation of all space agencies and companies specialized in space sciences and applications, reports Al-Qabas daily In a statement to the daily, Al- Oraiman confirmed the appointment and stressed the need to establish a Kuwaiti space agency, as well as competent authorities and centers for space research like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which recently announced that it will send its first astronaut to the moon. She hopes this mission will motivate Kuwait to create an agency specialized in the world of space. She called on Kuwaiti youths to strive to gain knowledge, no matter how farfetched and difficult it may seem, and not to wait for opportunities to be presented to them on a silver platter, but to search for these opportunities themselves. She said she is currently focusing on spreading awareness about Space Science among various segments of the Kuwaiti society.

On the other hand, Al-Oraiman expressed her happiness and pride for being honored by Forbes Middle East Magazine as one of the most creative and innovative young people -- under the age of 30 -- in the Science and Technology category. She received the award during the Forbes Summit held a few days ago in the Egyptian city of El Gouna by Executive Director of Forbes Kholoud Al-Omyan and Chief Executive Officer of the Operations Sector at IFS Hoda Mansour. She hopes this award will include a larger number of Kuwaitis in the future, including Kuwaiti women.