Oman-Kuwait bilateral relations scaling greater heights

By Kabeer Yousuf, Conrad Prabhu — MUSCAT, Feb 19 - Fuelled by mutual understanding and optimism, the bilateral relations between the two friendly countries, Oman and Kuwait are set to take greater dimen-sions with the visit of Emir of Kuwait Shaikh Sabah al Ahmad al Sabah today. The time-tested and deep-rooted bilateral relations have been further cemented by promoting cooperation between the governments of the two countries in many areas, with the objective of consolidating the bonds of fraternal ties and making the best use of cooperation in various aspects which serve the march of joint action. Besides various cultural, diplomatic and administrative ties, the bilateral trade relations between the two are more than $700 million according to recent statistics which is an increase of more than 40 per cent compared to that some five years ago. Kuwait’s exports to Oman touched approximately $200 million in while Oman’s exports to Kuwait amounted to more than $500 million. The total volume of Kuwaiti investments in Oman in 2014 reached nearly $1 billion spread over various sectors, including services, construction, hotels, real estate, pharmaceutical industry, medical devices, and food industries. In 2015, when Shaikh Khaled Hamad al Sabah, Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister visited the Sultanate, a number of agreements and MoU’s were signed and executive programmes were designed to follow up 20 agreements, which is a clear indication of the two countries in contributing to the promotion and consolidation of the existing bilateral relations, pushing the mutual cooperation to greater heights. The Kuwaiti private sector plays a great role in the Sultanate of Oman, where the number of Kuwaiti investors reached around 9,000 in many fields, especially commercial and real estate sectors. Complementing the strong ties, Kuwait has emerged as an important investor in Oman’s rapidly expanding refining and petrochemicals industry. Last November, Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI), the international subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), signed a deal to partner with Oman Oil Company in the development of Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Complex at Duqm SEZ. The refinery, which entails a capital investment of around $6 billion in the first phase, is one of a handful of strategic anchor projects that promise to fuel strong investment inflows into the SEZ. An MoU signed by the parties last November effectively formalizes Kuwait Petroleum International’s role as a 50 per cent joint venture partner in the project.  It follows the departure of longstanding shareholder, the Abu Dhabi-based International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) from the partnership. The national carrier of Kuwait, Kuwait Airways connects the two with daily non-stop services with Airbus 320 aircrafts. With effect from today, Kuwait Airways will be adding two more flights on Monday and Wednesday thus the number of flights between Kuwait-Muscat-Kuwait will be increased to 9 flights a week.