British Ambassador to the State of Kuwait, Her Excellency Belinda Lewis

KUWAIT CITY, July 24: British Ambassador to the State of Kuwait, Her Excellency Belinda Lewis, welcomed journalists to her Residence as she approaches the end of her posting.

Reflecting on the past four years, Lewis lauded Kuwait’s “special and long-standing” partnership with the UK - noting that 2025 marks 250 years of bilateral trading ties. She also thanked the Kuwaiti people for their warm hospitality, recalling Ramadan diwaniyas and the Al-Qaffal ceremony marking the end of the pearl diving season as especially memorable cultural experiences.

British Ambassador to the State of Kuwait, Her Excellency Belinda Lewis with Kuwait Journalist

Lewis highlighted February 2024’s rollout of the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme to Kuwaiti nationals as significant in strengthening people-to-people links between the two countries. Kuwaiti nationals made 162,000 trips to Britain in 2024 - a 6% increase from 2023, with Kuwait Airways now offering 19 direct flights a week to London and Manchester. She also expressed delight that an ever-growing number of Kuwaitis are choosing to study at UK universities, with over 10,000 currently undertaking courses there.

Noting the UK and Kuwait’s rich shared history, Lewis reflected on the success of joint celebrations to mark 125 years of official UK-Kuwait diplomatic relations - rounded off by His Highness the Amir’s trip to Scotland to meet His Majesty King Charles III and discuss Kuwait’s partnership with the King’s Foundation; and His Highness’ August 2023 Guest of Government visit to London marking 70 years since the establishment of the Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, during which he oversaw the signing of a landmark investment partnership.

Lewis noted that His Highness had travelled to the UK five times across her tenure, while Kuwait welcomed four UK Cabinet Ministers, including most recently the UK’s Foreign Secretary, the Rt Hon David Lammy MP - plus numerous Ministers of State, senior officials and the Duke of Edinburgh.

She said Britain was now “close” to concluding a landmark Free Trade Agreement with the GCC, while praising the UK and Kuwait’s burgeoning international humanitarian partnership that has seen the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development announce lifesaving joint funding for communities in Gaza, Yemen, Sudan and Somalia. Asked about the situation in Gaza, Lewis strongly condemned the killing of civilians attempting to access humanitarian aid and called for an immediate end to the conflict, referring to the UK and 27 other countries’ 21 July joint statement. She also detailed the Embassy’s initiatives to fund specialist training for Kuwaiti medics deploying to Gaza, and its collaboration with the Palestinian Embassy and the British Consulate in Jerusalem to help small Palestinian businesses export their goods to Kuwait - with Lulu Hypermarket making a large order of foodstuffs earlier this year.

Lewis expressed confidence that her successor, Qudsi Rasheed (who will arrive in September), would thoroughly enjoy his time in Kuwait, and that UK-Kuwait collaboration - be it on trade & investment, defence & security, education & culture, or climate & environment - would continue to go from strength to strength under his guidance.