LOC09:13
06:13 GMT
the permanent delegate of Kuwait at the UN, Ambassador Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi
(with photos)
UNITED NATIONS, April 10 (KUNA) -- The State of Kuwait and the Republic of
Nauru have established bilateral diplomatic relations with aim of promoting
the friendship and mutual cooperation between the two countries at various
levels.
A joint statement in this respect was signed by the permanent delegate of
Kuwait at the UN, Ambassador Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi, and the ambassador
plenipotentiary and permanent representative of the republic at the
international organization, Marlene Moses.
In a statement to KUNA after signing the accord for establishing the
relations, Al-Otaibi expressed satisfaction for this move, noting the two
countries abide by principles and objectives of the UN, reiterating the Gulf
State approach to establish relations with many states of the globe.
The two countries are identical in some aspects and there is possibility to
establish mutual cooperation between them at the UN official and non-official
agencies and groups, such as the G-77 and China.
Cooperation between the two sides can be established in realms of
development, security and climatic change, he said, noting that the small
republic has special interest for coordination in this field due to its
concern that climatic change might threaten its existence.
Atmospheric overheating has caused noticeable rise of sea levels worldwide,
with prospects several island countries may eventually cease to exist.
Expressing hope to cement ties with the Republic of Nauru in several
sectors in the coming years, the Kuwaiti diplomat indicated that the Gulf
country has no relations with some remote countries.
However, some international causes are affecting all countries, and not a
single country is capable of dealing with such problems, namely those
resulting from the climatic change, thus coordinated effort is warranted to
tackle them.
For her part, Moses told KUNA following the signing ceremony that she was
delighted to have signed the joint agreement establishing diplomatic relations
between her country and the State of Kuwait.
She said that both countries can cooperate at the bilateral and
international levels in many domains and achieve great results, and that on
top of her government's priorities is climate change and development.
She noted that Nauru has diplomatic relations with Egypt and the United
Arab Emirates, but would welcome opening an embassy in Kuwait now that
diplomatic relations have been established.
The Republic of Nauru is an island country in Micronesia in the South
Pacific. It is the world's smallest republic, covering just 21 square
kilometers (8.1 Sq miles). It has a population of some 10,000 people, making
it the second least populated country after Vatican City.
It had been colonized by the Germans, Australians and the Japanese. It
finally gained its independence in 1986 and became a UN member in 1999.
The country is a phosphate rock island with rich deposits near the surface,
which allow easy strip mining operations. It has some phosphate resources
which, as of 2011, are not economically viable for extraction.
Nauru boasted the highest per-capita income enjoyed by any sovereign state
in the world during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
When the phosphate reserves were exhausted, and the environment had been
seriously harmed by mining, the trust that had been established to manage the
Island's wealth diminished in value.
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