Kuwait hopes for continued peace, prosperity in Korea

The following article is the message by Kuwaiti Ambassador to Korea Muteb Al-Mutoteh on the 52nd National Day of Kuwait. ― Ed.

The Kuwaiti Embassy celebrated the 52nd National Day of Kuwait on Feb. 25 and the 22nd Liberation Day on Feb. 26. On this delightful occasion, I would like to extend the regards and best wishes of the Kuwaiti people and government to the friendly South Korean people and government.

The bilateral relations between Kuwait and South Korea have grown and expanded in various fields for the last 34 years since the diplomatic relationship between Kuwait and South Korea was established in June 1979.

Kuwait has maintained a close relationship with South Korea especially on the economic front. In 2012, bilateral trade volume reached $17 billion, proving that South Korea is one of Kuwait’s major trading partners.

Korean companies have succeeded in winning numerous bids worth billions of dollars to construct our country’s oil infrastructure and expand oil port construction. Korean companies have made successful bids for a $2.85 billion oil gathering project in Al-Ahmadi governorate and also for another $850 million project to expand Al-Ahmadi port. A number of Korean companies, small and medium-sized as well as large ones, are actively participating in other key state-run projects in Kuwait.

As one of the largest customers of Kuwait oil and oil products, South Korea imports more than 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day, which makes Kuwait the second-largest source of crude oil for Korea. In exchange, Kuwaiti oil tanker companies have placed orders to Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to build oil and gas tankers for Kuwait. Furthermore, the Kuwaiti government and companies have ordered various construction projects through Korean companies such as SK and Hyundai Engineering & Construction. The economic cooperation is mutually beneficial to both countries, generates significant synergies and greatly contributes to the co-prosperity of the two friendly countries.

In October 2012, Kuwait was honored to hold the Asia Cooperation Dialogue Summit, which marked the beginning of a new era of cooperation among the ACD countries in contributing to the enhancement of the aspirations of the Asian nations, and South Korea sent a delegation to the summit.

Also in 2012, numerous visits between the two countries in various fields also contributed remarkably to the development of their bilateral relations. Early this year, Mohammad Abdullah Abo Al-Hassan, adviser at Al-Diwan Al-Amiri, as the special envoy of the Amir of the State of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, visited Seoul to deliver a letter to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. Also a delegation from Kuwait, headed by a representative of the Amir of the State of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Rola Dashti, state minister for planning and development and state minister for National Assembly affairs in Kuwait, visited Seoul to attend President Park Geun-hye’s inauguration ceremony on Feb. 25.

I would like to express my sincere hope that the people and the government of the Republic of Korea continue to enjoy peace, stability and prosperity.