Kuwait, Spain bilateral ties strong and healthy

This news has been read 8316 times!

‘Relations strengthened by traditional friendship between Royal Houses’

KUWAIT CITY, April 18: The bilateral relations between Spain and Kuwait are strong and healthy, strengthened by traditional friendship between the Royal Houses of the two countries which were further boosted by political consultations held in Madrid June 2022 at the viceminister of Foreign affairs level where many issues were discussed including high level contacts, the Joint Trade Committee and the ways to increase the volume of our bilateral exchange, the cooperation in the realms of defense, cultural or in the promotion of the Spanish language, science, or sports.

The Spanish Ambassador HE Miguel Maro Aguilar said this on the occasion of Ghabqa which he held in honor of the local media at his residence. On this occasion HE Aguilar took the opportunity to convey his warm message of congratulations to HH the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and to the Crown prince H.H Sheikh Meshal, on the occasion of the Ramadan celebrations, and extended best wishes to the people of Kuwait in these important festivities and for all Muslims throughout the world, including Spain. “The first bilateral Joint Economic and Trade Committee took place in Madrid on November 14 and 15, 2022, which was a hallmark in our bilateral relations. I would also like to mention here that around 600 Spaniards are living in Kuwait now. I am proud to say that they are a well-integrated community present in almost every sector — education, business, sports, engineering, etc,” said the Spanish envoy

Relationship
Speaking of the people to people relationship between Spain and Kuwait, he said they are a very valuable part and “I want to thank them for their contribution. Additionally, let me emphasize the value of the EU-Kuwait relations. Spain, as one of the largest EU countries, is fully committed to the strengthening of these relations and from next July, we will hold the six-month Presidency of the Council, when will try to give an impulse to the EU-GCC and EU-Kuwait relations.”

The economic and trade relations between Kuwait and Spain have intensified with a sustained increase in Spanish exports (from 149 million in 2009 to 394 million euros in 2022). The Spanish imports from Kuwait have also increased 145% worth 133 million in 2022, mainly oil products. There is a trade balance favorable to Spain, with a diversity of Spanish exports compared to imports concentrated in oil, plastics and chemical products and the high relative weight of clothing items. The main exports were mechanical machinery, non-knitwear (14%), knitwear (9%), fuels (7%) and ceramics (5%). The main imports were mechanical machinery (50%), organic chemical products (30%) and plastics (14%).

The clothing export, especially the INDITEX group among others, results in the extensive presence of scores of fashion brands under franchise in the major malls and shopping centers in the country. There is a growing number of Spanish companies (14), with awarded projects worth 4,300 million in various fields of activity, (infrastructure and engineering, oil and gas, health, security), and a greater fl ow of Kuwaiti investors in Spain in recent years. Institutionally, the Agreement to Avoid Double Taxation (2013) and several Memoranda of Understanding of economic content are helping to the strengthening of existing relations. On tourism, the Spanish envoy said, almost 90 million people (with the exception of the pandemic period), making Spain — a traditional destination during holidays for many Kuwaiti families — the second most visited country worldwide. Tens of thousands of Kuwaitis travel to Spain every year, among them a considerable number even own their own properties, especially in the south of the country.

Services
Spain offers high quality services with very competitive prices and beyond the famous slogan “Spain everything under the sun”, our country has many more things to offer, incredible variety of landscapes, a magnificent architecture, hundreds of thrilling golf courses or great shopping facilities all over the country. He went on to say, the Kuwait Airways now operates direct fl ights Madrid-Kuwait and vice-versa in almost 40 years after signing an agreement with the Spanish Air Europa for a shared code agreement. “Our consular section visas is hectic and on average, we issue between 25.000 and 30.000 visas per year, most of them during the summer season. We are also responsible for Bahrain visas at our Embassy. We don’t only issue visas for tourism, but for students, businessmen or for medical reasons also, which shows the diversity of our relations.

Every year hundreds of Kuwaitis sponsored by the Ministry of Health, or on their own expense, travel to Spain for health reasons” and called the Spanish health system is one of the best and more solid in the world. “We can mention in that regard the recent agreement with the Spanish Ribera Salud for the management and operation of the DHAMAN healthcare network within the framework of an integrated health maintenance organization system, with 3 hospitals, 15 primary care centers and about 7,000 employees.

The objective of this great PPP project is to relieve the public health through more efficient private management. Another area of potential, cooperation is the Railway project in the GCC and in Kuwait,” said the ambassador. A Spanish Business Council was created last year, which “I hope will definitely help to give our economic relations more vitality and visibility. Every year dozens of Kuwaitis go to Spain, most of them, for post-graduate studies. On the other hand, I would like to highlight the contribution of Al Babtain Foundation to promote, in collaboration with several Spanish Universities, the study and research of the Arabic language and its literature.

This news has been read 8316 times!