Individual, Collective Efforts To Promote Kuwait's Regional, Int'l Status

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) (News report)
KUWAIT, Jan 20 (KUNA) -- The State of Kuwait is poised to usher in a fresh stage of development amid recent numerous accomplishments made thanks to individual and collective efforts to promote the country's regional and international status.
Among these achievements are good diplomacy, mega development projects, reinforced infrastructure, quantum leaps in global indicators, scientific and cultural innovations and medical and sports successes.
Politically and diplomatically, Kuwait has further cemented and beefed up its foreign relations by means of hammering out agreements and memos of understanding (MoUs) with many sisterly and friendly countries, mainly Turkiye, China, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Egypt, Bahrain and India.
Kuwait has promoted its regional and international status through a package of achievements, mainly hosting the 45th GCC Summit, naming Mohammad Al-Ojairi of Kuwait as Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League, re-electing Abdullah Al-Maatouq as a special advisor to the UN Secretary-General for the eighth consecutive year, and choosing Kuwait as a vice-chair of the Arab Union for Tourist Media representing Asian countries.
It has also adopted a package of laws, legislation and bills pertinent to the residency of foreigners, traffic, naturalization, property rentals, courts and taxes on multinational entities.
Major development projects embrace the full operation of Al-Zour Refinery in May, the official opening of Abdullah Al-Salem University and the launching of Kuwait National Space Center under the patronage and in the presence of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
Kuwait has also won the best Gulf partnership award 2024 for its partnership with the Sultanate of Oman in the largest joint Gulf venture of Al-Duqm Refinery Project and has even started countrywide road maintenance works.
Economically, key credit rating agencies, notably Fitch, Standard and Poor's and Moody's, have underlined the Kuwaiti economy's strength and outlook, with seven Kuwaiti banks having been listed among the top 100 Arab banks for 2023.
The Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) announced the discovery of huge commercial quantities of light oil and associated gas in the Nokhatha offshore field, which is located east of Failaka Island in Kuwaiti economic waters.
The Mina Abdullah Refinery, affiliated with the Kuwait National Petroleum Company, achieved the first place globally in risk management engineering according to a field survey conducted by the American company (Marsh), which specializes in risk management and providing insurance coverage.
Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) received the Green Maritime Transport Award for environmental protection at regional and international levels from the Dubai-based Maritime Standard (TMS).
Forbes magazine recognized Sheikh Nawaf Saud Al-Nasser Al-Sabah, Vice Chairman and CEO of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) as the top CEO in Kuwait and the sixth best in the Middle East and North Africa.
In industry, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry inaugurated the Taihan Kuwait factory, the first Kuwaiti factory at the Mina Abdullah Industrial Area for manufacturing fiber optic cables.
Kuwait has also witnessed concrete progress in digital transformation by means of launching numerous online services and signing an agreement with Google Cloud to launch cutting-edge data centers for cloud computing services in the country, along with Sahel App and the official environmental portal for Kuwait ().
It secured the second spot in the 2024 Information and Communications Technology Development Index (IDI) by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for the second consecutive year.
In security and stability, Kuwait made a major achievement by ranking 35th among 163 states in the Global Peace Index (GPI) in 2023, improving by four ranks as compared to 2022, in the Gallup report. It also aborted a terrorist cell targeting Shiaa mosques in the country.
In health, it has achieved quantum leaps in the medical domain in general, with its As'ad Al-Hamad Dermatology Center and Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital having been internationally recognized as being distinguished medical facilities.
While establishing more health centers, Kuwait has been awarded by the World Health Organization (WHO) in recognition of its eminent role in the Expanded Program on Immunization, with Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital having conducted an unprecedented achievement in the Middle East in blood vessel and catheter surgeries.
In addition, the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) named Dr. Huda Al-Foudhari as its chairperson for Southwest Asia and Africa.
Dr. Fawaz Al-Zaid was chosen as member of the International Council for the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, while Badriyah Al-Halaili was chosen as the first Kuwaiti to become member of the scientific research arbitration panel of the International Conference on Renewable and Sustainable Energy.
Dr. Mousa Khurshid was awarded an honorary fellowship certificate from the American College of Surgeons, becoming the first Gulf and Middle Eastern physician to win this international recognition.
Furthermore, Kuwait has obtained several international patents in several scientific technology. Kuwait University, for instance, won the best robot in the VEX Robotics World Championship.
Fadya Al-Refai, a student of Kuwait University Law College, was honored at a UN competition as the best scholar, while three Kuwaiti students won artificial intelligence (AI) awards in Bahrain.
Mohammad Al-Kanderi, a Kuwaiti photographer, obtained the best travel photo for 2024 from the Arab Union for Tourism Media (AUTM), and the Kuwaiti Ministry of Information won 12 prizes during the 16th edition of the Gulf Radio and TV Festival.
In sport, Kuwait hosted the 26th edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup, and bagged 17 various medals during the 12th Sharjah Para Athletics Forum, three medals at an Arab taekwondo tournament and qualified for the 2025 World Handball Cup.
Kuwaiti swimmer Mohammad Zubaid won a gold medal during the Arab water game championship, Faisal Sorour got Kuwait's first gold medal at Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and Mohammad Al-Baz ranked first during the UAE Jet Ski Championship.
The Guinness World Records honored Kuwait's world-famous jet ski champion Mohammad Burbayea for setting a new Guinness record for the fourth time by winning 28 medals during world jet ski events.
In addition, Kuwait made a great sport achievement by having won posts at several committees of the Arab Modern Pentathlon Federation for 2024-2028. (end
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