(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) By Sherouq Sadeqi and Ahmed Al-Furaij
WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (KUNA) -- Kuwaiti and American officials stressed Friday the importance of the agreements signed that aim at boosting education and commerce between the two countries.
In an interview with KUNA, Director General of Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) Sheikh Dr. Meshaal Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah said that the signing of the Cooperation Arrangement on the Promotion of Foreign Direct Investment with SelectUSA reflects the importance of the relationship the two countries enjoy.
He affirmed "it's not just a strategic [relationship], it's a historical relationship that both our countries enjoy." He added that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed today "will help us expand the increase of investment between our two countries. It will help to attract more American companies to work in Kuwait and more Kuwaiti companies to work in the US in order to increase our bilateral trade." For his part, Fred Volcansek, Executive Director for SelectUSA from the US Department of Commerce told KUNA that the importance of the MOU is that it "gives us an opportunity to work together as investment promotion agencies for our respective countries." He added that the foreign direct investment is a major part of our economic development programs and we wanted to be equal with that which we are doing in Kuwait." As for the MOU signed between the US Department of State and Kuwait's Ministry of Higher Education for Cooperation in the Field of Higher Cooperation, Kuwait's Higher Education Undersecretary Dr. Hamed Alazemi told KUNA that the main purpose of the MOU "is to have a clear map of what we are doing for the next 20 years." He affirmed "we have succeeded in expanding the research cooperation and the students' academic achievements in general. Hopefully this will be a starting point and have positive effect on our education system." He noted we used to have a major hurdle to have something substantiated with the US to have a common ground in building a strategic plan for education in Kuwait." In a statement to KUNA, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Press and Public Diplomacy at the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the Department of State Larry Schwartz said that the US and Kuwait "are friends who have shared many experiences together and we have a close relationship already." He added "mostly we spend a lot of time talking about the problems of today, the Under Secretary (Dr. Alazemi) and I believe strongly that for Kuwaitis and Americans we need to invest in a long term future in our children. This is much more important than the things we worry about today." "We want to ensure that Kuwaiti and American young people are partners long into the future," he remarked.
As part of the MOU, Schwartz affirmed "we agreed to continue working on education and making sure that Kuwaitis study with Americans and Americans come to Kuwait and come to understand Kuwait better. This will serve both of our countries well and bind us well into the future." Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Kuwait Lawrence Silverman said "this is actually a great day in US-Kuwaiti relations. We are having this strategic dialogue. We had a great visit by His Highness (the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah) and meeting with the president yesterday, which really showed the depth of the bilateral relationship and the importance we attach to it here in the United States to Kuwait's efforts also diplomatically around the region and in the humanitarian way." He affirmed that "we have used the Strategic dialogue process to push us to do more," where he shed light on the MOUs' signed today, saying "one is directed at trade and investment, particularly encouraging investments in both countries. It is extensive already, both Kuwaiti investment in the United State and American investment in Kuwait." He stressed "something we feel strongly about is the protection of intellectual property, not just for American or others but also for Kuwaitis. If you create something, you should have the right to market that and be protected in that intellectual property." On the MOU regarding education, the Ambassador affirmed "we in the US feel very happy to have over 15,500 Kuwaiti students registered here in our institutions of higher learning but we want even more and we want to increase the actual relationships between institutions, between universities and research centers in the United States and in Kuwait. This will allow us to do just that. " "Also as the US government and the Embassy in Kuwait are very focused in trying to prepare Kuwait students for being successful here when they come to study. That means to strengthen the English language training and provide more info on how to become a successful student in the US," he remarked.
He added "the last point I wanted to make is that I hope the Kuwaiti people understand that what we are doing here is not government to government, it's not just talking - We are producing tangible benefits for the American people and Kuwaiti people." (pickup previous) si.asf
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