Sheikh Youssef

NEW DELHI, April 15, (KUNA): A high level Kuwaiti delegation is participating in the three-day Maritime India Summit 2016 being held in the Indian financial capital of India Mumbai. President of Arab Sea Ports Federation (ASPF) and Director General of Kuwait Ports Authority (KPA) Sheikh Youssef Abdullah Al-Sabah, who is in Mumbai heading a high level Kuwaiti delegation told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on Friday that the Kuwaiti delegation, comprising officials from government and private companies, is participating in the three-day event which will help strengthen ties between India and Kuwait in the field of maritime transport and trade.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called upon the participating countries in the event, organized by the Indian Shipping Ministry in cooperation with the South Korean government for the first time, to invest hugely to exploit the 7500-km-long coastline of India. He also underlined comparative Indian advantage made possible by the strategic location of the Indian coasts which are connected to the major maritime routes.

Modi further said: “I must mention that our vast coastline of 7,500 kilometers offers a huge investment opportunity. Apart from the length of the coastline, India’s maritime potential also lies in its strategic location on all major shipping highways. “In addition, we have an expansive and productive hinterland, through which flows a network of mighty rivers. Our maritime agenda will complement this ambitious infrastructure plan for the hinterland which is going on in parallel,” he added.

During his inaugural speech on Thursday, the Union Shipping and Ports Minister of India Nitin Gadkari had also said that India is planning to double the ports capacity within 10 years-time. “We have launched an ambitious program ‘Project Unnati’ to modernise our major ports. The major ports had registered record profits of $650 million in 2015-16.

The turnaround time in ports has reduced by 20 percent, enabling customers to save over $200 million,” the Indian minister said. Apart from, Sheikh Youssef Abdullah Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti delegation comprises a number of officials from the (Kuwait Ports Authority) including Director of Naval Operations Tariq Fahd Al Mihayni, Director of Information Systems at KPA and Salah Abdul Ridha Maal Allah and Director of Technical Department Haider Syed Baqir Al Sheks.

Ministry of Transport officials including Assistant Undersecretary Mansour Suleiman al-Badr and representatives from the Division of Commerce and Industry of Kuwait and the Agam Group Co., Ltd and Jassim Transport are also part of the delegation.