By Nawab Khan
BRUSSELS, Nov 23 (KUNA) -- The director general and chief economist at the Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg, Carlo Thelen, has called for more financial and economic cooperation between companies in the Gulf, in particular Kuwait, and his country.
"There is huge potential of developing economic and financial ties between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Luxembourg. The economic situation in Europe is not so well and Luxembourg has been affected by a kind of slower growth. Therefore we have to look for partners with higher growth rate," he told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) in an interview in Brussels.
"The GCC countries have higher growth rates. There is a huge potential for a small country like Luxembourg. We have business links with these countries and many missions to the Gulf countries, Kuwait in particular," he said.
Thelen noted that the tiny Luxembourg with a population of around 520,00 is ranked among the ten-top financial sectors in the world and number two in investments funds.
"We are also developing Islamic financing and banking. The most important thing is that Luxembourg is a reliable and stable partner. We have also triple three rating," he stated.
Concerning Islamic banking he said Luxembourg has a huge advantage compared to London because Luxembourg is a member of the eurozone and the UK is not.
"Luxembourg has a very European environment and this is recognized in GCC countries," said the economist from Luxembourg who was in Brussels to attend an economic forum on the Arab world held last week.
He said that the ministers of economy and finance of Luxembourg had paid visits to Kuwait in the past, and added that we should repeat these contacts more often with our companies.
"I see a huge potential to come together on a more regular basis with companies from GCC countries. The chamber tries to connect its member companies with the companies in GCC countries," he said.
Thelen opined that every country must build on its strength, and Luxembourg for example has its strength in the financial sector compared to other financial countries as it has political stability and business friendly environment.
"I am sure Kuwait can identify such advantages in the region in order to build up a very strong and reliable financial centre in the future," he added. (end) nk.mt