GUYANESE head-of-state President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday concluded his two-day trip to Kuwait in the Middle East that saw him and his delegation meet with several high-level dignitaries within the Kuwaiti Government and sign a Memorandum of Understanding and two cooperation agreements.

The President and his delegation arrived to a red carpet welcome early Sunday morning in Kuwait City, the capital of the Middle Eastern enclave. At the airport to receive the Guyanese Head of State was a large Kuwaiti delegation led by the ruler of the country, Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

According to the Kuwaiti News Agency (KUNA), President Jagdeo met with Hisham Al-Wugayana, the Deputy Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), the Managing Director of the Public Investment Authority (PIA), Bader Mohammad Al-Saad, the First Vice President of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hilal Meshari Al-Mutairi and members of the chamber, the Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, and the Speaker of the National Assembly Jassem Al-Kharafi. All of the meetings were held at the guest residence at Bayan Palace.

On the sidelines of the meetings, Guyana and Kuwait signed two cooperation agreements and one Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Minister of Oil and Information Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah signed an agreement to bolster cultural ties between the two countries with Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and International Cooperation, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, while Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shimali and Minister Rodrigues-Birkett signed an agreement on encouraging bilateral investments.

The MoU, on political consultations, was signed by Minister Rodrigues-Birkett and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah.

After the meetings, Amir Al-Sabah held a dinner banquet in honour of the President and the delegation accompanying him at Banyan Palace, after which the two leaders held official talks which focused on means to develop bilateral relations in all possible aspects. Also discussed were issues of mutual concern to the two leaders, as well as developments in the region and the world.

The President departed Kuwait yesterday for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the next stop on his Middle Eastern trip to encourage investments in Guyana.

He is accompanied by the Minister Rodrigues-Birkett, Minister of Housing and Water, Irfaan Ali, PPP General-Secretary Mr. Donald Ramotar and President of the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), Fazeel Ferouz, among others.