科威特駐香港及澳門總領事 梅達年 獻辭
Message of H .E. Khaled Al-Mutairi, Consul General of the State of Kuwait in Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR
As Consul General of Kuwait in Hong Kong and Macau, I am delighted and honoured to share with you some of my thoughts on the occasion of the celebrations of our National Day this year. The State of Kuwait celebrated last February the 53rd anniversary of independence, the 23rd year since liberation, and the eights year of the of the succession to power of H.H. Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Emir of the State of Kuwait.
Kuwait is a Constitutional Emirate with a constitution in place since 1962. Kuwait was the first country in the Gulf to have an elected parliament, The Kuwait National Assembly, which is responsible for enacting national laws. The 50 members of the Assembly are elected every 4 years through free and fair elections. Full political rights were granted to women in 2005, and in 2009 four women were elected for the first time to the National Assembly. Kuwait ranked first in the Gulf with regard to freedom of the press according to a 2014 Reporters Without Borders report.
Over the past few years, Kuwait’s economy has experienced one of the fastest growth rates in the GCC. Kuwait has the second lowest unemployment rate in the MENA region and in 2008, the country ranked the highest in the Middle East on the UN’s Human Development Index. Kuwait has also exhibited strong economic and fiscal performance, and the government is going further to invest in vital reform and development projects to transform the role of the government from an operator to a regulator. A number of reforms were made to the country’s financial regulations to increase Kuwait’s competitiveness.
The most significant reform initiative is the Kuwait Vision 2035 that aims at transforming Kuwait into the region’s financial and trade hub by 2035. The vision comprises six development plans, the first of which, the 2010-2014 Development Plan, was approved by the national assembly in 2010. The vision aims at stimulating GDP growth and encouraging the role of the private sector in the economy.
Accordingly, half of the projects under the development plan will be implemented by the private sector, either through traditional tendering processes in Kuwait (Central Tendering Committee) or Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). In addition, the national vision will increase investment to raise oil and natural gas production, and diversify the economy away from oil through the promotion of key non-oil related sectors. The main emphasis will be on the services sector, which includes telecommunications, transportation, real estate, education and health. Services are the second contributor to GDP after oil and gas and employ 70% of Kuwaiti nationals.
The State of Kuwait was the first country among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China more than 40 years ago. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kuwait and China, bilateral relations in the fields of politics, economy, culture, and education have enjoyed and gained a steady development due to the real desire of both sides to further develop them.
To further develop and strengthen the relationship between Kuwait and China, the State of Kuwait was the first country among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states to open a Consulate General in Hong Kong in 1999. Relations between the State of Kuwait and Hong Kong SAR have been developing constantly since the opening of the Consulate General of Kuwait in Hong Kong. Many high level official delegations and a large number of Kuwaiti businessmen and tourists have visited Hong Kong over the last ten years.
Moreover, Kuwait and Hong Kong have signed bilateral agreements on Investment Promotion and Protection, Economic and Technical Co-operation, Avoidance of Double Taxation, and Air Services. Furthermore, the Consulate General of Kuwait in Hong Kong is coordinating and cooperating with relevant organizations to further enhance relations between the private sectors in Kuwait and Hong Kong.
Kuwait considers Hong Kong as a major destination for its strategic investments, and has invested significantly in the Hong Kong stock exchange through its sovereign wealth fund, the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA). The state of Kuwait also bought 15,000 square feet in the Convention Plaza Office Tower in 2009, as the permanent location of the Consulate General of the State of Kuwait.
I hope that the year of the horse will witness more improvements in the relations between Kuwait and Hong Kong. And I wish the readers a happy Chinese new year. Kung Hei Fat Choi.