Kuwaiti plane airlifts Houthis from Sanaa to Stockholm: Deputy FM
Kuwaiti-Japanese trade volume massive: Jarallah
KUWAIT: A delegation from the Houthi rebels was scheduled to board a Kuwaiti plane from Sanaa to Stockholm yesterday to participate in UN-sponsored Yemen talks in Sweden, Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah said on Monday. Kuwait’s Ambassador to Yemen was set to accompany the Houthi delegation, Jarallah told reporters at a reception held by Japan’s embassy to celebrate the birthday of the Emperor of Japan.
Jarallah hoped the talks would succeed and would pave way for a solution of the crisis in Yemen. Earlier on Monday, the visiting Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom touted the significant role played by Kuwait in resolving all regional causes, saying the world looks forward to Kuwait’s relevant efforts. “Kuwait already plays a historic role in the region advocating for peaceful solutions, for dialogue, and contacts and I think that has become an even more important role as the world looks today and of course surrounded by big and powerful neighbors but still being able to keep up that objective of creating dialogue,” she said to reporters after meeting His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
Trade volume Meanwhile, Jarallah said that the trade volume between Kuwait and Japan is massive, affirming keenness to enhance it and open new prospects of bilateral cooperation in investment, energy, and environment fields. Japan provides Kuwait with top-quality consultative services in environment and supervises environmental projects in the country voluntarily, he said, recalling Tokyo’s unforgettable $13 million donation to support the liberation of Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion in 1990.
The Kuwaiti minister also mentioned his country’s $5 million support to Tokyo to deal with the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. There are constant high-level visits between officials of both countries, as well as a permanent communication between Kuwait and Japan leaderships, he said.
In the meantime, Japanese Ambassador to Kuwait Takashi Ashiki said that his country is ranked Kuwait’s third biggest trade partner and Kuwait is Japan’s third crude supplier. “Trade exchanges between both countries continue to hit new records year after year,” he said. “We hope Japanese companies would continue to play significant role in Kuwait’s infrastructure development.”
“I have witnessed the amazingly increasing interest of Kuwait youths in Japanese Pop Culture,” the Ambassador went on. “Japan attaches great importance to other areas of cooperation with Kuwait in addition to business relations; I hereby invite Kuwaiti citizens and expats to visit Japan and get to know more about our culture, especially on the occasions of the ‘2020 Olympics’ in Tokyo and 2025 Expo in Osaka. We look forward to welcoming you in Japan.”
Japan is Kuwait’s third biggest trade
partner