KUWAIT: The President of the Iraqi National Wisdom Coalition Ammar Al-Hakim is visiting Kuwait to meet His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other officials to discuss the challenges in the region and bilateral relations between Kuwait and Iraq. He has been making this visit annually for the past 16 years. On this occasion, Kuwait Journalists Association (KJA) held a press conference at Crowne Plaza Hotel on Sunday for local and Arab media.
“I am glad to be in Kuwait again this year during the holy month of Ramadan, which has become a habit. Kuwait was the first Arab country to stand by Iraq in its quest for liberation and change. We will always appreciate the role of Kuwait in supporting the Iraqi people in all fields, including political, social and humanitarian ones,” Hakim said during the meeting.
He stressed both countries share the desire to strengthen relations. “There will be an important development in bilateral relations. I hope the Kuwaiti public and private investors will tap into the highly promising investment opportunities in Iraq. The improvement of the security situation in Iraq is encouraging a growing number of investors to resume doing business in the country,” Hakim said.
According to him, Iraq is recovering from years of instability after winning the battle against the so-called Islamic State. “We have moved from instability in all fields – political, social, economic and others – to the phase of stability,” stressed Hakim. He noted that Iraqi military and security personnel offered great sacrifices in the struggle to liberate Iraq from IS terrorists, reaffirming that Iraq is emerging stronger from the war against IS.
Iraq is not perfect but there are many positives, and we hope to improve it, he said. “As Iraq is a country of many tribes, it’s common that people have weapons, as they think they can protect themselves against terrorists. All Kuwaiti officials that I met during this visit agreed that the security situation in Iraq is improving. The security of Iraq is important for all neighboring countries and the region,” he explained.
On the escalating tension between the US and Iran, Hakim said Iraq enjoys strategic relations with both countries, which could help deescalate tensions. “Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi recently visited Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France and Germany, where he signed dozens of deals with leaders of these countries on cooperation in the political, economic and development areas,” Hakim pointed out.
The Iraqi government has awarded a German company a $14 billion contract to build a power generating station with a capacity of 11,000 megawatts in the coming five years. A US oil company was also awarded a contract worth $53 billion to exploit oil resources in Iraq, he noted, adding that investors from the US, Russia and the Arab and European countries are vying for the promising investment opportunities in his country.
By Nawara Fattahova
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