Kuwaiti lawmakers visit Switzerland to bolster ties
BERN, Switzerland: A number of Swiss parliament members expressed their eagerness to boost relations with Kuwait on all levels. The two countries’ parliaments share strong ties that could lead to further cooperation in investment, education, scientific research, and culture, they said during their meeting with the sixth Kuwaiti parliamentary friendship delegation yesterday.
Swiss MP Christa Markwalder said she is looking forward to her upcoming visit to Kuwait’s National Assembly, to learn more about the parliamentary experience in Kuwait.
She noted that she strongly supports boosting tourism between the two sides. This includes attracting larger numbers of Kuwaitis to visit Switzerland through providing a number of touristic facilitations, she added.
MP Thomas Aeschi said his country aims to develop economic and investment cooperation with Kuwait and the GCC states under the terms of the free trade agreement signed between the GCC and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). He also hoped Kuwait would play a role in enabling Switzerland to deal with the Gulf countries under this agreement.
Meanwhile, head of the Kuwaiti delegation MP Askar Al-Anezi said the meeting with Swiss MPs allowed the group to benefit from the Swiss experience in the field. Moreover, the meeting discussed providing facilitations for Kuwaiti researchers to join Swiss universities, he said.
The number of Kuwaiti tourists in Switzerland is increasing year by year, reaching 31,000 last summer. Anezi also hoped Switzerland would take part in Kuwaiti developmental projects, adding that Kuwait guarantees protection of foreign investments. The Kuwaiti delegation was on an official visit to Switzerland which concluded yesterday. The group includes MP Askar Al-Anezi, MP Al-Humaidi Al-Subaie, MP Muhammad Al-Huwaila and MP Hamoud AlKhudair. —