Today in Kuwait, Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie headed a working breakfast on business and investments with businesspeople and officials from both countries and later held meetings with various Kuwaiti officials with a view to increasing reciprocal trade and fostering Kuwaiti investment flows to Argentina.
The breakfast, which was followed by business rounds between the Argentine business delegation and its Kuwaiti counterpart (tourism, infrastructure, among other sectors), was held at Kuwait's Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Ali Mohammed Thunayan Al Ghanim, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with whom Faurie held a working meeting, also took part in the opening.
The Argentine Foreign Minister also met with the Minister of Finance, Naif Falah Al Hajraf, and the Managing Director of the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), Farouk Al Bastaki. KIA is a governmental body responsible for the management of Kuwaiti investments in other countries. It is estimated that Kuwait has a Foreign Direct Investment stock of USD 30.5 billion.
Faurie also held a bilateral meeting with his Kuwaiti counterpart, Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Hamad Al Sabah, with whom he discussed the most important issues on the bilateral agenda and current affairs of their respective regions. Both Foreign Ministers agreed on the possibilities of complementarity between the two economies and highlighted the need to increase Argentine exports to Kuwait (beef, frozen poultry, cereal, fruit, dairy products, fish, wheat and livestock) and Kuwaiti investments in Argentina.
Faurie expressed Argentina´s recognition for the important role played by the State of Kuwait in hosting and organizing the "International Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq" last February. Both Foreign Ministers agreed to strengthen dialogue between the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf and Argentina.
Officials from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), which is chaired by the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister, took part in the meeting. KFAED is a state agency established in 1961 to cooperate with Arab and developing countries. During the meeting, Governor Juan Schiaretti -member of the Argentine delegation- signed a funding agreement with Kuwait for the construction of aqueducts in the Province of Córdoba for more than USD 50 million.
To showcase the importance given by both countries to the bilateral relationship, the Argentine delegation -headed by Faurie- was received at Bayan Palace (main palace of the Emir) by the Crown Prince, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and the Prime Minister, Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah.
