Tue, Dec. 31, 2019
News Summary Report
KUWAIT-KOREA RELATIONS
Seoul National University to Operate New Jahra Hospital: Health Minister Kuwait, Dec. 30 (KUNA) – Health Minister Sheikh Dr. Basel Al-Sabah has revealed that the relevant state bodies had approved a bid of the Seoul National University to operate the new Jahra Hospital.
The announcement was made by the health minister during the Cabinet deliberations, during its weekly meeting on Monday, of the ministry’s plans for operating the newly-built Jahra Medical City, according to a Cabinet Statement.
The minister has informed the government that the joint committee for coordination and follow-up of procedures of the Jahra Medical City administration in coordination with the Amiri Diwan and the Ministry of Finance had studied bids submitted by a number of specialized international institutions for the management and operation of the New Jahra Hospital.
They concurred that the best and most comprehensive offer was the one submitted by the Seoul National University, he pointed out.
He stated that the hospital operation contract would be hammered out by the governments of Kuwait and South Korea.
The new Jahra Medical City is one of the largest healthcare development projects in the Middle East. The project forms a key part of the state’s ongoing plans to upgrade national healthcare and raise the capacity of hospitals by 60%.
The layout of the new internationally standardized medical complex comprises of eight separate buildings.
The most prominent is the main hospital building, which has a total built-up area of 440,000 sqm, and rises to 15 storeys. The project is valued at 365 million Kuwaiti Dinars (USD 1.18 billion) and includes a fully equipped 1,234 bed hospital, a fully equipped dental facility with 115 treatment rooms and a regional health administration building.
Furthermore, the hospital will feature a woman’s center, trauma center, 32 operating suites, including two hybrid operating rooms, a hybrid CT operating suite, and a hybrid MRI operating suite.
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The outpatient facilities have 22 departments with 135 clinics with state of the art equipment, which includes a 10 seat hyperbaric chamber, the first multi-seat facility of its kind in Kuwait.
Other service buildings include a public car park and staff car park, both accommodating 5,000 cars and two emergency shelters, each for 300 people.
KUNA
More Than 250.000 Passengers Via the AirPort in Christmas Vacation: Al- Fadaghi to Al-Anbaa
In coincidence with the travel season in the Christmas holiday, especially that it is 4-days- holiday, Al-Anbaa made a tour at Kuwait International Airport to monitor preparations of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and all concerned authorities working at the airport to receive the increasing numbers of passengers, and to serve passengers, including citizens and Kuwait’s guests.
During our tour, we met Engineer Saleh Al-Fadaghi, the General Manager of Kuwait International Airport Affairs and the Manager of the Engineering Department and the Chief of the team operating T4.
Al-Fadaghi said that prior to each travel season or holiday or feasts, meetings are held with all the various concerned authorities to set the suitable plans to handle the occasion or season. He remareked that the DGCA has a supporting team that is summoned prior to holidays or vacations to provide assistance and to respond to any inquiries or complaints by the passengers in all arrival and departure flights. Further, this team provides support to any authorities that needs it, and all its members are available in all parts of the airport.
Al-Fadaghi expects in his special meeting with Al-Anbaa that the increase in the travel movement will increase 3% to 7% annually. He added that with this continuous increase and after the completion of any season, an assessment is made and new alternative plans are made to avoid any remarks.
Moreover, he states that the expected numbers of the total passengers in the Christmas season will reach 255,580 passengers (more than quarter a million people), including arrivals (129, 700), an departures (125,800).
The total number of flights reach 1725 for the Christmas on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The following are the details of the dialogue:
What is the nature of the Engineering Department at the Airport?
The airport sector includes 4 departments, including the engineering department, security organization department, operations department, and IT department. As for the Engineering Department it is an absolute technical department that is concerned with operation and maintenance of all electromechanical devices at the airport and all mechanical and electrical systems.
Talk to Us about the New Airport Dedicated to Kuwait Airways – T4?
T4 is the supporting building at the DGCA. It is built with the purpose of alleviating crowdedness and density of numbers at the main airport building till completion of the new airport.
T4 accommodates nearly 4.5 million passengers and at present it reached 5 million passengers. It was established in a standard time within 22 months.
A new idea was proposed, which is the Korean operator, which is the first experiment for Kuwait as it operates the airport with high quality and trains Kuwaiti young people. Moreover, it achieves the highest revenues to the State of Kuwait.
After awarding the investment sites, we reached an annual revenue of KWD 20 million, and this means KWD 100 million during 5 years, a value that is higher than the expenses of its building.
Al-Anbaa
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EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Kuwait’s fund aided 107 states to the tune of $20bn since ’61
Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) has funded since its establishment in 1961 up to 986 projects worth USD 20 billion for 107 states.
KFAED’s Director General Abdulwahab Al-Bader said in a press release marking the fund 58th anniversary on Dec 31, that it has continued supporting development in developing countries and aiding those in need, as the first development establishment in the Arab world in the 50s of the past century.
At the time, Kuwait was the sole developing state that decided to help other nations of identical status through easy loans, various forms of assistance and grants. Up to 107 states benefited from KFAED’s assistance over the past years, he said indicating that the fund either offered aid, supervised and funded projects of priority for these states.
He indicated at persisting major challenges facing development in current times, thus there must be coordinated and greater efforts to relieve countries in need for help. KFAED’s aims at funding ventures that contribute to attaining sustainable development objectives, thus paving the way for contributing to tackle other issues such as poverty, food security, gender equality and climatic changes.
The fund, since 1987, has been financing itself, making some profits and financial returns from activities and loans. Part of these proceeds are used to support some State departments, he said, noting that in 2002 an agreement was worked out to buy bonds of the Kuwait Credit Bank at a value of KD 500 million (USD 1.6 billion), with a two percent annual return.
KUNA
KFAED stresses importance of backing countries in enhancing development The Engineering Consultant at the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), Dr. Mohammad Sadeqi, stressed the importance of supporting developing and friendly countries in enhancing their development capabilities.
This came in a speech by Dr. Sadeqi Monday, during the conference “Energy ...
investment prospects and opportunities for growth”, organized by Al-Ahram Press Foundation under the auspices of the Egyptian Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly.
Sadeqi pointed out that the electric power sector in all its forms is a focal point in the development process and plays a central role in achieving economic, social and environmental goals and represents an urgent and basic need that societies need to provide at a cost to improve the living situation.
Although energy is considered the basic element for infrastructure development, statistics indicate that more than 1.6 billion people, or about 20 percent of the world’s population, do not have access to electrical services, he added.
Arab Times
Page 6 of 9 CONOMY
E
‘Budget deficit increases until end of fiscal year 2019/’20 to KD2.5 billion’
The fiscal deficit recorded in the public budget increased from the beginning of the fiscal year 2019/2020 until the end of last November to 2.5 billion dinars, before deducting the share of the future generations’ fund, which is estimated at 10 percent of the total state revenue, reports Al-Rai daily.
The sources pointed out that the volume of revenues recorded by the public budget during the past eight months amounted to about 11.5 billion dinars, while the value of expenses for this period amounted to 14 billion, which means that the total deficit achieved with the share of the future generations reserve is calculated to be about 3.650 billion dinars.
It is clear, according to sources, that the fiscal deficit in the public budget has escalated during the past three months, when measured, in the corresponding period of last year, where it is clear that the deficit jumped from this period more than one billion dinars.
The sources pointed out that the deficit achieved for the first eight months of the fiscal year 2019- 2020 multiplied 4 times, when compared to the deficit recorded in the first five months of the current fiscal year, during which the public budget recorded a deficit of 488.2 million dinars.
In the same context, the sources reported that the average price of a barrel of Kuwaiti oil recorded during the first eight months amounted to $64, explaining that despite the rise in Kuwait’s average price of selling its oil when measured in the corresponding period, this constituted an improvement in terms of the value of the barrel, but that growth was not matched by an improvement in revenue.
Arab Times
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS
Grilling is a right guaranteed by Kuwait Constitution: Al-Aseeri
Minister of Social Affairs Dr. Ghadeer Aseeri said Monday that grilling is a right guaranteed by the constitution to all National Assembly MPs. Minister Aseeri confirmed her commitment to the articles of the Kuwaiti Constitution and by- laws of the National Assembly.
In a statement to KUNA after the weekly Cabinet meeting, Aseeri said, “I am committed to the articles of the constitution and the internal regulations of the National Assembly and to the oath I performed before His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, parliament and Kuwaiti people.”
Aseeri stressed she will complete work and reform process in the Ministry of Social Affairs and its government agencies.
MP Dr. Adel Al-Damkhi on Sunday addressed Acting National Assembly Speaker Issa Al-Kandari with a motion to grill Minister of Social Affairs Dr.
Aseeri of single-topic motion, charging Dr. Aseeri with disrupting cooperation among authorities and dishonoring her oath. The motion would be included in agenda of the parliamentary session on Jan 7.
KUNA
DGCA preps for periodic, radical and emergency maintenance of buildings The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is (DGCA) preparing for periodic, radical, emergency maintenance and construction works in its buildings in the coming period. The directorate also announced the opening of 13 new aircraft parking spaces at Kuwait International Airport.
In a press statement, acting Deputy Director General for Airport Affairs Eng.
Saleh Al-Fadaghi affirmed the opening of these new aircraft parking areas is in line with the civil aviation’s plan to develop infrastructure at the airport in order to deal with the continuous increase in air traffic.
Al-Fadaghi added these parking areas are on par with international safety standards, and they are equipped with the latest systems and devices. Meanwhile, the Supreme Committee for Search and Rescue, headed by Board Chairman of
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rescue during its meeting with representatives of the ministries of Defense, Interior, Health and Communication; in addition to the National Guard, Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD), Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), Kuwait Ports Corporation and Kuwait Airways Corporation.
Rapporteur of the National Committee for Search and Rescue Eng. Emad Al- Sanousi said the national search and rescue plan is the first of its kind in the country, and that it will raise the classification of Kuwait in international organizations.
Al-Sanousi noted that the national plan maps the general strategy of the search and rescue system internationally as stipulated in international treaties and agreements in which the State of Kuwait is one of the signatories.
Sources:
KUNA: http://www.kuna.net.kw/Default.aspx?language=en
Al Rai: http://www.alraimedia.com/
Kuwait Times: http://www.news.kuwaittimes.net/website/
Arab Times: http://www.arabtimesonline.com/news/
MEED: http://www.meed.com/
Al Anbaa: http://www.alanba.com.kw/newspaper
Al-Seyassa : http://al-seyassah.com/
Al-Anbaa: https://www.alanba.com.kw/newspaper/
Al-Jareeda: http://www.aljarida.com/
