Mon, May 11, 2020
News Summary Report
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Passengers to Pass
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has announced an agreement with the Ministry of Interior to allow passengers, departing and arriving, to pass to and from Kuwait International Airport during the total ban period, provided that the travel ticket is presented by the traveler, reports Al-Rai daily. DGCA indicated that only one person will be allowed to accompany the traveler, whether incoming or departing, provided a copy (paper or electronic) of the travel ticket is presented.
KUNA
‘Evacuation of Egyptians to continue in lockdown’
The Egyptian Ambassador to Kuwait, Tariq Al-Qouni, affirmed the evacuation of Egyptians from the shelters will be non-stop even during the total lockdown which will be done in cooperation with the Kuwaiti authorities. Al-Qouni told the daily the Egyptians who registered on www.egyconskwt.com will be airlifted after the Eid Al-Fitr, after completion of the evacuation of all Egyptians from the shelters.
He pointed out the registration process on the website is continuing to count the numbers of humanitarian cases wishing to return including patients, high school students and children and other cases, and after knowing the number, a coordination will be made between the competent authorities in both countries to organize flights.
On the other hand, the Egyptian ambassador and the diplomatic mission mourned the death of the late Egyptian doctor Tariq Hussein Mukhaimer, the first doctor in the front rows to combat the Corona virus in Kuwait and who died of the virus in line of duty. Al-Qouni in a telephone conversation offered sincere condolences to the family of the deceased. Al-Qouni also thanked the Minister of Health, Sheikh Dr. Bassel Al-Sabah, for offering condolences for the family of the deceased.
Al-Seyassah
ECONOMY
Kuwait’s market kicks off week on gloomy note, volume turns anemic Kuwait stocks headed south on Sunday after incurring losses in the previous week. The All Shares Index dipped 49.56 points in lackluster trade to 4,812.56 points led by the blue chips even as the volume turnover turned markedly anemic.
The Premier Market slid 57.12 points to 5,173.05 pts taking the month’s losses to 183 pts while Main Market dropped 34.5 points. The BK 50 Main index was skidded 54.83 points to 3,980.19 points. The volume turnover meanwhile sank below the 100 million mark to hit a multi-month low. Over 49 million shares changed hands- a 61 percent plunge from the previous session.
The sectors closed mostly in red turf. Consumer Services outshone the rest with 0.84 pct gain whereas Consumer Goods slid 3 percent, the worst performer of the day. Banking sector continued to dominate in both volume and value with 27.6 million shares traded for KD 7.3 million. Among the prominent losers, Kuwait Finance House dropped 7 fils to 576 fils after trading 4.7 million shares and has shed 20 fils from start of the month while National Bank of Kuwait extended Thursday’s losses with 4 fils slip to 730 fils.
Mabanee Co skidded 19 fils to 592 fils taking the year’s losses to 313 fils. Zain fell 3 fils to 513 fils after pushing 1.4 million shares at the counter while Ooredoo gave up 5 fils before settling at 625 fils. STC shed 15 fils and Agility was down 10 fils at 643 fils. Humansoft Holding tumbled 97 fils to KD 2.638. taking the month’s losses to 202 fils. The market opened firm and edged higher in early trade. The main index scaled the day’s highest level of 4,845 points and flipped direction as sentiment soured. It drifted sideways thereafter and wrapped up the session with moderate losses.
Arab Times
Delay in transferring retained profits by KPC proves existence of defect:
Hamad
Political activist and former National Assembly candidate Ahmed Al-Hamad said the delay of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) in transferring the retained profi ts and fabrication of pretexts in this matter proves and confi rms beyond doubt that there is a defect, reports Al-Anba daily.
Al-Hamad added the Petroleum Corporation is using all tools to circumvent the right decision of the minister of finance at this difficult time amid complete desire to keep the retained earnings that are generating interests from banks or stocks.
He explained that the use of retained profits in this manner is a clear and explicit departure from law, as the law establishing this institution does not authorize using the profits to buy shares or obtaining interest.
He declared the corporation is also seeking to persuade public opinion that it’ll use the profi ts in investment projects similar to previous projects it undertook and lost billions of dollars, at a time when all oil companies around the world greatly reduced their investment projects in light of the low oil prices and effects of the Corona virus.
He expressed surprise at what he called “feverish activity and race to invent excuses that do not fool anyone”. Al-Hamad concluded by affirming correctness of courageous decision by the Minister of Finance to transfer retained earnings to the general reserve in light of the difficult economic conditions Kuwait is going through, as is the case in all countries around the world. He stressed the action is reasonable instead of increasing pressure on employed citizens with the decision to deduct 1 percent of their salaries to face the consequences of Corona virus, as if the virus came to save the government, and the citizen’s pocket is considered the weakest link.
Arab Times
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS
Prepare for future: Speaker
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is concerned about coronavirus developments and the urgent need to adhere to regulations laid down by the health and security authorities, but he did not ignore the need to prepare for the future by adopting different approaches like rationalization, increasing self-reliance and finding alternative sources of income, says National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim.
Al-Ghanim made the statement in response to the speech of HH the Amir on the occasion of the last 10 days of the holy month of Ramadan. He pointed out that although HH the Amir focused on the status quo; he was also keen on conveying a message about the future.
Arab Times
DGCA to continue repatriation of expatriates
Director General of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation – State of Kuwait (DGCA) Eng. Yousef Al-Fouzan says DGCA, based on directives of the Cabinet and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will continue with the evacuation flights for some expatriate communities wishing to leave the country.
In a press release, Eng. Al-Fouzan explained that DGCA registered the departure of 13,250 expatriates from Kuwait as of the end of last week in coordination with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and foreign embassies in Kuwait. These number of departures is in accordance with the Cabinet’s decision issued on March 13, 2020 to suspend commercial flights to and from Kuwait International Airport, as part of the precautionary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 and based on keenness for expatriates from all communities to leave safely and return to their families in safety.
In this regard, Deputy Director General for Airport Affairs Eng. Saleh Al-Fudaghi revealed that eight flights left Kuwait International Airport last Thursday, thereby ending for the time being evacuation flights for expatriate communities wishing to leave the country in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In a press release, he said two flights to Egypt were allocated each day.
Al-Fudaghi affirmed that DGCA is fully prepared to adopt any requests from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to evacuate expatriate communities wishing to leave
the country. Regarding the accreditation of specific airlines for expatriate communities, he explained that DGCA deals with requests from any local or foreign airlines in accordance with prior coordination between Ministry of Foreign Affairs and foreign embassies of expatriate communities wishing to leave. There is no distinction in this regard between the national and foreign carriers. Concerning the requests submitted by Embassy of India for evacuating Indian citizens by air, Al-Fudaghi said, “We have not yet received any such request from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to operate flights to evacuate the Indian community.”
Al-Jareeda
Union chiefs reject any changes to labor law of private sector
A number of labor union leaders and private sector entities have stated outright rejection of any amendment to the labor law of private sector, which they say would be a step toward displacing the national personnel from private sector, with the aim of protecting traders.
In this context, head of the Union of Petroleum Workers and the Petrochemical Industry Mohammed AlHajiri affirmed that labor union leaders and the oil sector unions have rejected any amendment to the labor law of private sector except for more rights and gains.
In a statement to the daily, AlHajiri indicated that labor law of private sector was intended to protect citizens working there, but amendments some stakeholders are currently marketing aim to protect the traders, so that it gives authority to negotiate salary cuts.
In his role, head of the labor union at the Kuwaiti telecom companies, Talal Al- Jarian, affirmed that the tendency to reduce the wages of workers in private sector is unacceptable, describing the mentality behind the idea of amending labor laws as shocking and disregard for the welfare of the national personnel in that sector.
He said such decisions do not provide job security for the national employment and will be a reason for the displacement of Kuwaitis from private sector, stressing that “this should never be allowed to happen”.
Head of the banks union, Ahmed El-Khabbaz, wonders if these amendments were included but not discussed in public, and whether they serve the interests of private sector employees or the traders. He urged the wages of employees must not be touched under any title, warning on the consequences of such decisions,
indicating that negative changes to laws governing private sector will be exploited by traders and employers against the workers.
Al-Seyassah 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/