Kuwait Amir's visit to Egypt mirrors harmonious stances toward regional, int'l affairs

News report by Islam Abdulfattah CAIRO, April 30 (KUNA) -- The visit by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to Egypt due on Tuesday would embody strength and solidity of the close relations between Kuwait and Egypt and their harmonious stances regarding various regional and international issues.
His Highness the Amir's state visit coincides with manifestations of unprecedented official and popular interest for it is the first of its kind since His Highness took the helm of power last December, succeeding the late Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Mishal is scheduled to meet President Abdulfattah Al-Sisi to discuss means of elevating level of the bilateral relations higher, issues of common concern, namely the blatant Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip, regional jitters namely those in the Red Sea region and containing the military escalation in the Middle East.
Kuwait and Egypt have been bonded with distinctive and deep-rooted relations at the official and grass-root levels since 1961, when Egypt was among the first states that recognized the independence of Kuwait.
Ever since, these relations have been evolving continuously, with ambassadors' exchanges, close political coordination at the highest levels, amid recurring re-affirmations by Cairo of its support for Kuwait's security and stability.
Egypt, in 1990, declared support for Kuwait in the face of the Iraqi invasion, while Kuwait had sided with Egypt against the 1956 three-state aggression, the 1967 and 1973 wars with Israel.
It dispatched Al-Yarmouk brigade, accounting to a third of the armed forces at the time Egypt when Egypt was engaged in a war with Israel in 1973 and slapped an embargo on oil exports to nations that supported Israel.
Kuwait continued to stand on Egypt's side vis a vis various issues and challenges, namely its rights in the Nile waters after Ethiopia built Al-Nahda dam.
Currently, in the era of President Al-Sisi and His Highness the Amir Sheikh Mishal, Cairo and Kuwait have been taking harmonious stances on diverse issues namely the crises in Libya, Yemen and Sudan as well as the Arabs' central issue, the Palestinian cause.
They campaigned at the international quarters to push for implementing UN resolutions concerning the Palestinian cause and the two states' settlement according to the Arab initiative that called for establishing the Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
At the international level, the two countries have coordinated to support nominations for international and regional posts.
In 1998, Kuwait and Egypt established the joint commission to enhance coordination and cooperation, in addition to the bonds with a large number of cooperation protocols. Cairo and Kuwait had worked out and signed a chain of treaties and accords for cooperation in the economic, trade and investment sectors, notably the accord for encouraging and protecting mutual investments and the cooperation agreement between the two countries' chambers of commerce.
In 2014, they established the Kuwait-Egypt Cooperation Council, grouping businessmen from the two countries, as a step aimed at speeding up the economic, business and trade cooperation. They had signed 105 cooperation accords and memoranda of understanding in the political, economic and security fields. The volume of the trade exchanges between Kuwait and Egypt reached USD three billion per annum, while the Kuwaiti businesses in Egypt reached the value of USD 15 billion while those of Egypt in the Gulf country USD 1.1 billion.
According to the latest statistics, the number of Egyptians working in Kuwait reached some 640,000, the largest Arab community in the country. Their remittances to Egypt have amounted to USD four billion per annum. The number of Kuwaiti students in Egypt has reached 23,000 in addition to 160,000 Kuwaitis who visit Egypt as tourists annually.
Kuwait is Egypt's third commercial partner after the UAE and Saudi Arabia and the fifth top investor in Egypt.
Number of the joint enterprises has reached 1,305 worth USD 4.27 billion. Investments by the Kuwaiti private sector in Egypt has exceeded USD 10 billion in value while the number of Egyptian companies operating in Kuwait reached 1,337, according to official Egyptian statistics released in 2021.
Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development had lent Egypt USD 3.75 million and Kuwait aid sent to Egypt was estimated at USD 13.27 million, in addition to grants, valued at USD 16 million.
At the cultural level, the two countries swap visits by Kuwaiti and Egyptian officials and troupes and Cairo participates in Kuwait's annual Al-Gurain cultural festival. (end) as.rk