22.12.2022 - HE Mr Abdullah Mohamed Almowed, Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to the Republic of Azerbaijan met Mr Mikayil Jabbarov, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
During the meeting aspects of bilateral cooperation and ways to enhance them in various economic, investment and trade fields between the State of Kuwait and the Republic of Azerbaijan were discussed. After exchanging expressions of welcome and courtesy, His Excellency the Minister extended his best congratulations on Mr Almowed’s appointment as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Azerbaijan, and wished him success during the tenure in Azerbaijan.
He talked about the depth of the historical relations that bind two friendly countries and their peoples, and the similarities in customs, traditions, culture and common religion, praising the level of political relations and cooperation within international organizations, foremost among them the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, where the two countries take a unified position on many regional and international issues, which shows the extent the success of coordination and cooperation between them, adding that joint cooperation in a number of fields between the two sides has witnessed remarkable development in recent years, reiterating his country's desire to improve the strong relations based on the foundations of respect and mutual support.
He extended his sincere congratulations on the formation of the new government in the State of Kuwait last October, expressing his hope that the friendly cooperation between the two governments would continue to include all urgent areas, stressing the need to strengthen economic and investment cooperation and increase the volume of trade exchange to meet the aspirations of both sides, given that they have great capabilities to achieve this target.
He mentioned the signing of the "Investment Protection" agreement between the two countries in 2009, which constitutes a basic legal mechanism for activating the exchange of investments and stimulating relations between the Azerbaijani-Kuwaiti economic and investment circles.
Mr Ambassador mentioned the high level of political relations between the two countries at all levels, recalling the agreement reached between the two sides to support their candidates within international organizations and support their positions on various issues of common concern. He renewed the desire of the Kuwaiti side to expand cooperation in the various economic, commercial and investment fields, and indicated the importance of developing that cooperation and achieving realistic growth in numbers by intensifying the holding of meetings of the joint governmental committee in which a large number of official bodies from both sides and specialized in the aforementioned fields meet, explaining that it has been held the first and second sessions in previous years, which resulted in the conclusion of a number of agreements and memorandums of cooperation that contain various fields, and it is planned that the third session will be held soon.
He touched on the parliamentary cooperation between the two countries, noting that there are friendship groups in the parliaments of the two countries that are entrusted with the task of strengthening relations between the two legislative bodies, praising the level of coordination between them, and he also indicated that delegations from both sides made official visits in various periods that contributed to advancing bilateral relations forward.
Ambassador explained that one of the most important areas of cooperation between the two sides is the field of tourism, which has recorded unprecedented progress since 2017, that is, with the start of direct flights between the two countries after the Azerbaijani government announced the facilitation of visa procedures for visitors to the Republic of Azerbaijan for tourism who are citizens of the Cooperation Council countries, including the State of Kuwait, indicating that daily flights are currently being operated (Kuwait Airways three flights per week) and Al Jazeera Airways (daily flights), expressing his regret that the Azerbaijan Airlines stopped its flights for unspecified reasons about a month ago, hoping that flights will resume soon, what is due to the increase in the number of citizens wishing to visit Azerbaijan, while Minister confirmed that he will follow up the matter soon.
Speaking about the economy of both countries, Mr Jabbarov stressed that it depends mainly on energy revenues (oil and gas), however, there is a new government approach to reduce dependence on oil revenues and focus on developing the non-oil sector to diversify sources of income. He expressed his hope that companies from the State of Kuwait would also participate in realizing joint projects in this sector.
