Page 1 of 6
News Summary Report Tues/Sept. 18, 2018
Korea-Kuwait Relations
A Meeting between Korean Ambassador and Deputy Foreign Minister
Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid Sulaiman Al-Jarallah held a meeting yesterday with South Korean Ambassador to Kuwait Hong Yongki.
Both sides discussed mutual relations and fields of cooperation between the two countries.
They further discussed developments of conditions regionally and internationally.
The meeting was attended by Assistant Deputy of the Foreign Minister for Deputy Minister Affairs, Consultant Talal Al-Shatti – Al-Seyassa
Page 2 of 6
Domestic Affairs Cabinet Holds its Weekly Meeting
The Cabinet held its weekly meeting at Seif Palace Monday under the chairmanship of His Highness, Prime Minister, Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.
During the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Anas Al- Saleh welcomed the return of His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- Sabah to homeland after an official visit to Washington recently.
The Cabinet affirmed that the visit was a real translation of the deep historical relations between Kuwait and the US. The Cabinet expressed its appreciation for the successive reactions at all official and popular levels in the Gulf, Arab and international countries, which reflected the keenness of these countries and their principled positions in rejecting prejudice to the symbols of Kuwait and its leader.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, briefed the Cabinet on the results of his participation in the Arab League’ meeting held in Cairo, Egypt, during which he discussed means of supporting the UN Relief and Works Agency Palestinians (UNRWA).
The Cabinet reviewed the recommendation of the Economic Affairs Committee on a draft law approving the final account of the Capital Market Authority for the financial year 2017/2018.
The Cabinet decided to approve the draft law and submit to His Highness the Amir in preparation for transmission to the National Assembly.
On the other hand, the Cabinet discussed the recommendation of the General Services Committee regarding the periodic report submitted by the Public Authority for Housing Welfare regarding removal of some obstacles in the project of South Saad Al-Abdullah Housing City. The Cabinet also discussed political affairs regarding the current regional and global developments.
The Cabinet also expressed its deep condolences to US President, Donald Trump, for the victims of Hurricane Florence.
Regarding the news of Hurricane Mankot, which hit the Philippines and China, in which many people were killed and injured, the Cabinet expressed sympathy and sincere condolences to the two friendly countries for this humanitarian disaster – KUNA
Improving our Educational Process through Utilizing US Education Experience
Assistant Undersecretary of General Education Sector at Ministry of Education, Fatima Al- Kandari, affirmed the importance of conveying the American experience to suit our educational process in Kuwait.
This came during the launch ceremony of the training workshops on “Building an Effective Education System” on Monday.
Page 3 of 6
These experiences have already been transferred to Kuwait, such as the application of integration between subjects and dealing with the special needs group through a completely different mechanism to benefit from the educational field, Al-Kandari added.
Al-Kandari explained that these workshops are the fruit of a training course held last March in Syracuse, New York, which aimed to train supervisors and leaders from school principals, assistant directors, mentors.
For his part, Director General of Al-Ahmadi Educational Area, Waleed Al-Awami said that the public education sector organized to launch these courses at the level of six educational districts, which will continue until 25th of September, at the rate of 15 workshops for all areas of education in various stages targeting school principals.
He pointed out that many pre-preparatory meetings were held to agree on the quality of the article presented during the current workshops, which allows the target group to benefit from the expertise and information exchange – KUNA
Page 4 of 6
Economy Kuwaiti Oil Price up 11 Cents to USD 75.69 pb
The price of Kuwaiti oil went up by 11 cents to reach $ 75.69 per barrel (pb) on Monday, compared with $ 75.58 pb last Saturday, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) announced Tuesday.
Oil prices in the international markets went up yesterday, as the Brent blend rose 25 cents to
$ 78.34 pb, likewise the West Texas Intermediate crude was up 28 cents to $ 69.27 pb – KUNA CBK Issues Three-Month Bonds, Tawarruq worth KD 160 Million
The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) said on Monday it issued KD 160 million ($ 528 million) worth of bonds and Tawarruq.
In a statement to KUNA, CBK said that the issue is valid for three months with a return rate of 2.5%. The CBK’s last issue of bonds and Tawarruq was on August 14 with a value of KD 160 million ($ 528 million) and a return rate of 2.5% - KUNA
11 int’l Corporations Qualified – KOC Opens Door for Development, Execution of a Number of Projects
The Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has opened the door for the development and execution of a number of future projects for registered international specialized contractors according to the specifi c categories of civil and construction works, which is considered a long-awaited step to qualifying new companies, reports Al-Anba daily quoting official oil sources.
According to the approved list of projects which are worth between 1 billion and 2 billion dollars, 11 international companies have been qualified including the South Korea’s Dilem, Fluor, Hyundai Heavy Industries, JGC of Japan, Petrofac, Saipem, Samsung, SKK, Technip, Tecnicas of Reunid as of Spain and Kellogg Brown & Root. The contractors who have been qualified within this category have practical experience of up to 15 years and have the ability, equipment, machinery, tools and experienced personnel to implement services and projects and drilling wells.
The sources pointed out that the rehabilitation process comes in light of the efforts of the oil sector to spend about 34 billion dinars over the next five years, including about 70 percent for the expansion of exploration and production activity inside and outside Kuwait. The sources also pointed out 15 international companies have been qualified among the big companies which are eligible for the work of between 600 million and one billion. In addition to the above 11 companies are Daewoo Engineering and Construction South Korea, Larsen & Tubro of India, Sinopec Chinese and SNC Canada.
The international companies eligible for the implementation of oil projects worth between $350 million and $600 million which has been qualified are National Petroleum Construction Company of the United Arab Emirates in addition to the above 15 companies. Sources stressed that the process of qualification is conducted according to certain conditions which reviewed through specialized committees to ensure the integrity of the evaluation and ensure neutrality
Page 5 of 6
that these companies have all the qualifications since some works require international certification. Some of them require certificates from the American Society of Engineers and
“we have to check them all.”
In the case of rejection of any company, it means that it has a problem somewhere but the door remains open for clarifications in the event of objection of the results of the evaluation. He pointed out the KOC receives about 20 new qualification requests every month and noted «the time of rehabilitation depends on the extent of meeting the requirements.” He pointed out that Kuwait is constantly seeking to increase the production of crude oil to 4.75 million barrels per day by 2040 and Kuwait Oil Company will achieve its goal in this regard as all projects that support the achievement of those levels are in the implementation phase and will be operated according to plans. This is besides targeting the development of non-associated natural gas production in Kuwait to reach 2.5 billion cubic feet per day in 2040. “We will achieve production of 1 billion cubic feet per day by 2023,” he said – Arab Times
Page 6 of 6
External Affairs
FM briefs Cabinet on Results of his participation in Arab League Meet
The Cabinet held its weekly meeting at Seif Palace Monday under the chairmanship of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. During the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh welcomed the return of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to homeland after an official visit to Washington recently.
The Cabinet affirmed that this visit was a real translation of the deep historical relations between Kuwait and the US. The Cabinet expressed its appreciation for the successive reactions at all official and popular levels in the Gulf, Arab and international countries, which reflected the keenness of these countries and their principled positions in rejecting prejudice to the symbols of Kuwait and its leader.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al- Sabah, briefed the Cabinet on the results of his participation in the Arab League’ meeting held in Cairo, Egypt, during which he discussed means of supporting the UN Relief and Works Agency Palestinian – Arab Times
Kuwait Urges UNSG Member States to Be United on N. Korea
Kuwait has urged member states of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to take a unified stance toward the issue of North Korea.
Ambassador, Mansour Al-Otaibi, the State of Kuwait Permanent Envoy to the UN, expressed concern during a session of the council at debates held, over the past two weeks, within framework of the Committee tasked with overseeing sanctions’ implementation.
He voiced concern that disarrays among the envoys, manifested during the commission debates on North Korea, might “threaten the council unity toward this issue”. Ambassador Al-Otaibi noted military confrontation was forecast months ago, however thus such a dire event had been averted due to sincere diplomatic initiatives and two summits, held within two months.
Indicating that high hopes are pinned on the Koreans’ summit, due later today, he noted that Kuwait, along with the international community, has backed diplomatic efforts that led to understanding with aim of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and establishing peace between the two Koreas.
He re-affirmed the necessity that the UNSC remain united and keen on full implementation of relevant resolutions with respect of North Korea- KUNA
