‘Exchange expertise for financial development’

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ABU DHABI, Jan 18, (KUNA): Kuwait’s Finance Undersecretary Khalifa Hamada on Thursday underscored necessity of expertise swap among Arab countries to facilitate overhauling the financial sector.

Hamada made the statement during the third annual meeting by Arab financial undersecretaries, organized by the Arab Monetary Fund. Conferees called for upgrading partnerships between the private and public sectors, revising Arab states’ subsidy policies and applying international criteria for automatic taxing information swap.

They have also prepared for the third Arab financial forum, due in Dubai on February 10th and the ninth session of the Arab finance ministers, scheduled in Jordan in April. Chairman of the Arab fund, Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Humaidi called in his statement at the event for overhauling partnerships between the private and public sectors for securing funding in the infrastructure; which is a necessity to achieve sustainable development and create jobs.

Arab states have executed structural reforms, he said, noting energy subsidies dropped from USD 117 billion in 2015 to some USD 98 billion in 2017. Undersecretary Hamada called for levying higher taxes, currently in the range of 6.8 percent of the Arab gross domestic product – compared to more than 15 percent globally. Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Kuwait H.E. Lawrence Silverman encourages the enhancement of scientific partnership between Kuwait and the United States of America in the interest of development and promotion of innovation, reports Al-Qabas daily.

He said Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) has several scientific and research partnerships with universities and institutions in the USA including the ten-year partnership with the American Academy of Scientific Advancement as well as other partnerships in various fields such as medical, scientific and technical research.

Ambassador Silverman affirmed that there are five Kuwaiti generations that have been educated in American universities, “which makes us believe in the superiority of our universities in terms of cultural openness and enhancement of the capabilities of students”. He stressed that the innovation challenge program has nominated a number of creative trainees from Kuwaiti companies in the private sector to stimulate and develop the culture of innovation through training in the University of California as well as effective communication with the most innovative companies and institutions in the world

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