By Sherouq Sadeqi
WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (KUNA) -- The US Chamber of Commerce and the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry in partnership with the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority will host on September 6 the first of its kind US-Kuwait Economic Forum with the participation of Kuwait's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Anas Al-Saleh.
"We are very excited about this first major event with Kuwait as it is a chance to show case the trade and investment relationship between the two countries," the US Chamber of Commerce Vice President for Middle East Affairs Steve Lutes said.
In an interview with KUNA, Lutes said that the timing of the forum, which is held on the sidelines of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah's visit to Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump, is of "maximum significance." He stressed "it is critically important when we have the His Highness the Amir and the President coming together at the highest levels of both of our governments to talk about not only the economic component of the relationship but other aspects as well." "We are honored to be able to host a forum like this in conjunction with the visit of His Highness the Amir as we think by holding an event like this during the visit it really underscores the importance of the economic relationship between the two countries," he reiterated.
He added "it is one of the areas where there has been a lot of cooperation and we think we can build upon that and grow and it is a great opportunity to showcase the commercial investment relationship and what we would like to do to expand that." Lutes affirmed that "obviously there has been a historic relationship between the two countries, where good commercial ties already exists but for us it is a matter of not resting on what we have done but looking at what we can do." He indicated that in particular sectors "there has been a lot of strengthen in the relationship," such as in energy and defense "and we expect that to continue." "For us the question is what can we be doing in the new economy sectors," such as in health care, education, entrepreneurship "as well as in more traditional areas such as manufacturing and finance," he noted.
According to Lutes, the focus of the conversations during the forum is that "we know where we have been but what does the future look like and what we can do to enhance it and increase that relationship between the two countries." He said that the two panels would be held during the forum, which will discuss "the perspective and insights from the Kuwaiti government leaders," in addition to "doing business in Kuwait, with focusing on what are the opportunities for growth and what are the hindrances or issues that stand in the way to growth." As for the hindrances faced, Lutes stressed that the Chamber is looking at how countries "manage their customs processes and what we are telling countries is that if you are eager to improve your position in the global supply chain for large multi-national companies and if you want to increase exports and imports both ways then how you implement the Trade Facilitation Agreement (FTA) is critical." The FTA entered into force in February 2017 after WTO members concluded negotiations at the 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference on this landmark agreement and its ratification by two-thirds of the WTO members.
Lutes added "if you are going to attract investment in anything that is centered on both exports and imports you are going to implement those provisions in a way that positions yourself well because everybody can sign on to an agreement like that but the challenge is always on implementation and following through on what countries commit to do." "So what we want to focus on is not so much a challenge as it is an opportunity to take advantage of these best practices and seek investment to be part of the global supply chain and increasing a country's opportunities to be a hub for exports," he affirmed.
Meanwhile, Lutes revealed that the Chamber has been in talks to both governments to express belief that this forum "can be a template moving forward so that every year when the two governments meet for the strategic dialogue then the business communities in both countries also come together to convene a meeting with the government officials to talk about the economic relationship." "We are eager to take this forward into 2018 and beyond as there is a is a consensus from both sides that this would be a good template going forward, hoping this would be the start of many economic forums to come," he remarked. (end) si.gta