Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Oil, and Minister of State for Economic Affairs and Investment, Dr. Saad Al-Barrak, announced that the government seeks to update the Kuwait 2035 Vision to become 2024-2040.
Al-Barrak said in a statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on the sidelines of the signing of the Kuwaiti-Chinese agreements, Friday, that His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad was keen to respond to the Chinese President’s invitation to visit China, an invitation he received during the Chinese-Gulf summit in Saudi Arabia last December.
He stressed that, since that date, “We began preparing for the visit, under the guidance of His Highness the Crown Prince, as an investment in this important meeting between the two leaders to work on developing Kuwait based on the ‘first basics’ of the 2035 plan, which we are now seeking to develop into a plan 2024-2040.”
He explained that this comes as “an extension of the same spirit to develop it in a way that is consistent with what happened during the past three years in terms of events in the world and developments, whether health, economic or political, so that they are reflected in the plan in a better and clearer way.”
Minister Al-Barrak added, “Therefore, today we witnessed the signing of 7 agreements in the fields of cooperation with China related to major projects, the first of which is the completion of the Mubarak Al-Abdullah Port project,” indicating that the completion rate is about 50 percent of the first phase, and “we want to complete the first phase and launch the activity and operation of the port in a manner the speed”.
He pointed out that “China is very prominent in the field of construction and other fields, as well as in management and operation of the port, so a memorandum of understanding was signed and we will then begin projects and negotiate details and implementation.”
He stated that the Minister of Justice and Minister of State for Housing Affairs, Faleh Al-Rakba, in turn, signed a memorandum of understanding on the housing cities project — the construction of an integrated residential city, and the Minister of Electricity, Water, and Renewable Energy, Dr. Jassim Al-Ostad, also signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a solar electricity generation station.
He said, “There are also other agreements signed by Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah related to cooperation in the fields of infrastructure and several other fields.”
Referring to Kuwait’s vision, Al-Barrak confirmed that the government is seeking to update the vision due to the economic and political changes over the past few years, including the Corona pandemic and the economic effects of the crisis in Ukraine.
He described the current official visit of His Highness the Crown Prince as very important because of the “wonderful” history that links the two countries since 1965, when Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad visited the country, may God have mercy on him, when he was Minister of Finance at that time, noting that diplomatic relations go back to 1971, when Kuwait was the first country in the Arab Gulf to establish official relations with China.
Al-Barrak appreciated China’s positions in support of Kuwait, especially during the Iraqi invasion, as well as its support for Kuwait’s just issues, noting its friendship with it and the agreements that represent a new basis for developing relations further.