KFAS renews agreement with London School of Economics
The Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) signed an agreement at KFAS’ headquarters last week renewing their successful long-term agreement (2007-2017) for another five years with an aim to provide opportunities for training and research organizations in Kuwait to better serve local needs.
The signing ceremony was attended
KFAS and London School of Economics officials pose for photograph after signing the agreement. by Professor Hussain Alansari, President of Kuwait University, Dr Khaled Mahdi, Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development (SCPD), and KFAS Director General, Dr Adnan Shihab-Eldin, in addition to Professor Toby Dodge, Director of the Kuwait LSE Program.
On this occasion, Director of International Relations and Knowledge Management at KFAS, Dr Amani Albedah stated that “KFAS has created a new agreement modality that highlights the local benefit from international agreements and has worked hand-in-hand with LSE to ensure that there is mutual benefit from the 5-year renewal agreement, and that critical knowledge and skill are cultivated through this partnership.”
In signing this agreement, KFAS aims to develop the research capacity in Kuwait through improving the quality of research produced in addition to supporting researchers and policy makers with the resources they need.
“The agreement has evolved over the last two years under the directorship of Professor Toby Dodge to genuinely serve the research needs of Kuwait” said Manager of International Programs at KFAS, Engineer Yousef Almazeedi, “and has created valuable opportunities for debate and exchange of knowledge with local researchers, policy makers, and representatives of the private sector.”
Almazeedi added that “looking ahead, the renewal agreement takes on a more directed local view and creates more research opportunities for local researchers focused on calls for joint research, fellowships as well as opportunities for Kuwaitbased researchers from public and private universities to spend time at LSE, a dynamic program to engage the wider research community of LSE with Kuwaiti institutions that requires experts in specialized fields like Energy, Housing, Healthcare, Fiscal Policy, etc.”
As a manifestation of KFAS’ role in informing public policy, the renewal agreement will provide opportunities for KFAS to collaborate with the Kuwait Centre for Public Policy, both in terms of programs directed at capacity building and those directed at creating a body of knowledge suited for policy making.