Rehman Chishti is the MP for Gillingham and Rainham, and the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Kuwait
HE Sheikh Mesh’al Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Crown Price of Kuwait, will visit the UK next week, and will meet with Rishi Sunak. The Kuwait Sovereign Wealth Fund has an overall global value of approximately $800 Billion.
The people in Kuwait very much value the special relationship between our two countries, as it was the UK, under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, that lead the international community in supporting Kuwait’s sovereignty against the illegal invasion by Iraq in August 1990. Earlier this year, my APPG welcomed the Foreign Minister of Kuwait to Parliament, where he made clear that the Kuwait – UK relationship was a top priority for his country.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of establishing the Kuwait Investment Office in London. The sovereign fund was founded in 1953 in London, 8 years predating the independence of Kuwait (1961), as a far-sighted vision to create the world’s first sovereign wealth fund, operating investments in the UK and globally. Since then, investments have steadily grown and expanded, supporting wider economic growth and multi-sectoral job opportunities.
Today, this anniversary symbolizes not only the long-standing historical relationships between Kuwait and the UK but also the continuance of shared economic interests and the prospected strategic visions of Global Britain and Kuwait 2035. Post-Brexit UK will remain amongst the top of the global financial centres, evidenced by growing business and investment flows.
Bolstering the UK-Kuwaiti partnership will be the main theme of the forthcoming visit of His Highness The Crown Prince of the State of Kuwait Sheikh Mesh’al Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to the UK later this month. To signify these bilateral relationships, both sides are due to announce a Strategic Industrial and Investment Partnership. Among other aspects of deliverables, both sides will highlight collaborations on cyber security and defense.
The visit of His Highness will also underline the development of the multi-faceted relationships; mainly in education, scientific research, climate change, green growth, healthcare, energy and food security, and people-to-people links. This year, bilateral trade volume nearly doubled to reach £6 billion. On people-to-people, the UK hosts more than 10,000 fully funded Kuwaiti students, whereas nearly 8,000 British nationals work and reside in Kuwait.
Trade links are being complemented by an ongoing negotiation on prospected GCC-UK FTA, which will aim to remove trade barriers and open market access to reach a nearly 16 per cent increase of the current annual £61.3 billion with the UK’s 7th largest export partner.
The strong economic relationship between the two countries has reaped benefits for both countries, diversifying Kuwait’s economy, creating jobs for the UK population, and opportunities for UK businesses to grow domestically and internationally.
Having a partner like Kuwait in the region is strong for various reasons, including strengthening post-Brexit presence in the region which is of both extreme security importance and a region currently witnessing a major economic uptick.
Rehman Chishti is the MP for Gillingham and Rainham, and the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Kuwait
HE Sheikh Mesh’al Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Crown Price of Kuwait, will visit the UK next week, and will meet with Rishi Sunak. The Kuwait Sovereign Wealth Fund has an overall global value of approximately $800 Billion.
The people in Kuwait very much value the special relationship between our two countries, as it was the UK, under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, that lead the international community in supporting Kuwait’s sovereignty against the illegal invasion by Iraq in August 1990. Earlier this year, my APPG welcomed the Foreign Minister of Kuwait to Parliament, where he made clear that the Kuwait – UK relationship was a top priority for his country.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of establishing the Kuwait Investment Office in London. The sovereign fund was founded in 1953 in London, 8 years predating the independence of Kuwait (1961), as a far-sighted vision to create the world’s first sovereign wealth fund, operating investments in the UK and globally. Since then, investments have steadily grown and expanded, supporting wider economic growth and multi-sectoral job opportunities.
Today, this anniversary symbolizes not only the long-standing historical relationships between Kuwait and the UK but also the continuance of shared economic interests and the prospected strategic visions of Global Britain and Kuwait 2035. Post-Brexit UK will remain amongst the top of the global financial centres, evidenced by growing business and investment flows.
Bolstering the UK-Kuwaiti partnership will be the main theme of the forthcoming visit of His Highness The Crown Prince of the State of Kuwait Sheikh Mesh’al Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to the UK later this month. To signify these bilateral relationships, both sides are due to announce a Strategic Industrial and Investment Partnership. Among other aspects of deliverables, both sides will highlight collaborations on cyber security and defense.
The visit of His Highness will also underline the development of the multi-faceted relationships; mainly in education, scientific research, climate change, green growth, healthcare, energy and food security, and people-to-people links. This year, bilateral trade volume nearly doubled to reach £6 billion. On people-to-people, the UK hosts more than 10,000 fully funded Kuwaiti students, whereas nearly 8,000 British nationals work and reside in Kuwait.
Trade links are being complemented by an ongoing negotiation on prospected GCC-UK FTA, which will aim to remove trade barriers and open market access to reach a nearly 16 per cent increase of the current annual £61.3 billion with the UK’s 7th largest export partner.
The strong economic relationship between the two countries has reaped benefits for both countries, diversifying Kuwait’s economy, creating jobs for the UK population, and opportunities for UK businesses to grow domestically and internationally.
Having a partner like Kuwait in the region is strong for various reasons, including strengthening post-Brexit presence in the region which is of both extreme security importance and a region currently witnessing a major economic uptick.