LOC21:26
18:26 GMT
KUWAIT, Sept 9 (KUNA) -- Somalia's Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Said Abdullah Mohammad praised on Tuesday Kuwait's pioneering role in supporting the Arab joint action.
During his visit to the Arab Planning Institute (API) here, Minister Mohammad stressed historic role of Kuwait and its leadership in supporting development projects in different Arab countries, especially those in Africa, either by offering direct aid or specialized economic services.
"Somalia in particular has benefited from the support provided by Kuwait in different fields," he told KUNA.
"Kuwait is the seat of several Arab institutions which work in development activities, including the API, which has been supporting Arab joint action," he added.
During their visit to the API, the Somali delegation met with many Kuwaiti officials here, he said, voicing desire to boost cooperation with the API.
For his part, API's Director General Dr. Bader Malallah commended Somalia's efforts to push Arab joint action ahead by launching several initiatives to support that action.
He underlined the importance of economic reforms made by Somalia's government, which allowed private sector to invest in many economic fields such as communications, agriculture and seeds.
Malallah confirmed that the API is ready to support such reforms by offering services to different governmental bodies, including training.
He added that Arab countries face more complicated economic challenges in the wake of the international financial crisis and are battling to meet the demands of their peoples. (end)
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