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Kuwait, US agree roadmap for deepening mutually beneficial partnerships

WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (KUNA) -- Kuwait and the United States have agreed, at the conclusion of the first Kuwait-US Strategic Dialogue, on a roadmap for deepening bilateral relations and partnerships in various domains.
"The two sides recognize that today's meeting was a comprehensive exchange that established a roadmap for deepening the Kuwait-US partnership in the coming years," reads the final statement of the meeting held in Washington DC Friday.
The meeting, co-chaired by the Kuwait's First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and the US Secretary of State John Kerry, discussed specific initiatives to enhance defense, security, economic, commercial, political, educational, scientific, and consular cooperation, and established working groups to make progress in all these and other areas before the next Strategic Dialogue in Kuwait in 2017.
On military cooperation, both countries announced that they intend to build on a defense partnership that helps secure mutual national and regional interests.
"The two sides tasked their teams with designing a mutual strategy to implement specific measures to enhance this partnership, and committed to continue their coordination through the US-Kuwait Joint Military Committee," it disclosed.
On security, the United States and Kuwait vowed to bolster their security partnership at the different levels.
On economy, they have encouraged proposals to foster greater US business activity in Kuwait, and to increase investments by Kuwait in the United States and established a working group to make progress toward these goals.
On education, the conferees argued that they see opportunities for further broadening and deepening people-to-people links through educational and scientific research cooperation.
"The two sides established a joint working group and charged it with exploring ways to increase the number of exchange students, and devising specific means of expanding scientific research and technical cooperation," noted the statement.
The US government also extended an invitation to the Kuwaiti Minister of Higher Education to visit the United States and meet with private sector organizations and institutions of higher education and research.
Moreover, the two sides reaffirmed the importance of prompt consular notification for citizens detained in either country. They reiterated their commitment to keeping each other apprised of consular-related matters, and committed to establishing a working group focused on consular issues.
They also underscored the need for closer cooperation on customs and immigration matters. The United States and Kuwait look forward to the signing of a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement before the end of 2016, which would allow greater information sharing, training, and enforcement.
"The working groups established at this meeting intend to consult regularly in order to make tangible progress for the peoples of both countries," the statement emphasized. (Pickup previous) sd.ibi