FOLLOWING the visit of President Bharrat Jagdeo to Kuwait early this year, the relationship between Guyana and Kuwait has strengthened to the extent that there is now, for the first time, a Kuwaiti Ambassador to Guyana.
His Excellency, Waleed Ahmad Al-Kandari presented his Letters of Credence to President Bharrat Jagdeo at the Office of the President. In their presence were Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, and Director-General in the Ministry Elisabeth Harper.
Speaking to the media after his engagement, Ambassador Ahmed Al-Kandari said he will be working fervently to further strengthen the relations between Guyana and Kuwait.
“We have to work to find the ways and means of progressing the relations in different fields, political, economic and commercial ties,” the new Ambassador said.
During President Jagdeo’s visit to Kuwait in early January, he met several high-level dignitaries within the Kuwaiti Government, including 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.
A Memorandum of Understanding and two cooperation agreements were signed. 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 Rodrigues-Birkett, who was part of the Guyana delegation.
Kuwait’s Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shimali and Foreign Minister Minister Rodrigues- Birkett signed an agreement on encouraging bilateral investments.
And the most recent visit here by the Kuwaiti PM at the head of a high-powered delegation is a further consolidation of the close ties that have now developed between our two countries.
So, Ambassador Al-Kandari’s words and promises were surely not meant to be diplomatic niceties, but rather genuine commitments, which have now been translated into reality.
Several bilateral agreements have been clinched, including one on air services and another for economic and technical cooperation, signed by Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh and Kuwait’s Minister of Finance, Mr. Mustafa Jasem Al Shamali. This seeks to encourage private sector cooperation through the establishment of joint ventures.
The air services agreement is meant to allow the two countries to develop bilateral air services and promote international cooperation in the field, Transport and Hydraulics Minister Robeson Benn said. He told the Guyana Chronicle that the accord he signed with Kuwait’s General Director of Civil Aviation, Mr. Bader Boutaiban, will allow Guyana to position itself to take advantage of opportunities that could be created for people from Kuwait to travel to Guyana and vice-versa.
This agreement is a significant one for several reasons. For one, travel between Guyana and the Gulf States has been minimal, and this agreement certainly will stimulate movement of people from both countries and this could help boost Guyana’s fledgling tourism sector and open more windows of opportunity for investment.
Secondly, the agreement could help the movement of people and goods between South America and the Middle East because Guyana, with its ideal geographic location and language, is regarded as the gateway to South America. This could, in turn, provide opportunities for the local commercial and hospitality sectors.
This is a significant step on the diplomatic front for Guyana and should pave the way for further diplomatic and investment successes in that part of the world where there is tremendous potential for Guyana to garner investments.
The recent Kuwaiti diplomatic success is also a vindication of President Jagdeo’s visit to the Middle East, given the rantings of the `negativists’ who wondered why the President was there, and what benefits the visit would have brought to Guyana.
But these few mischief-makers have to be excused, for as the adage says, `some cannot see beyond their nose’.