Aquino welcomes Kuwaiti Amir to Malacañang

ROYAL VISITOR GRATEFUL President Aquino guides Kuwaiti Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah before trooping the line during the arrival honors at the Malacañang grounds on Friday. The Kuwaiti ruler is in the country on a five-day state visit. He thanks the Filipinos for their help to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. EDWIN BACASMAS

Kuwaiti Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, on Friday night expressed his country’s appreciation for the Philippines’ participation in the multilateral effort to liberate the oil-rich state when it was occupied by Iraq several years back.

Meeting with President Aquino in Malacañang on the first day of his state visit, the Amir said he was happy to be in the Philippines and extended his own invitation to the Filipino leader to visit Kuwait.

“We would like to commend highly the excellent relations that exist between Kuwait and the Philippines,” Sheikh Sabah said in his opening statement during the bilateral meeting.

“(The Philippines) participated (with) other countries in liberating Kuwait… Therefore, I would like to extend my appreciation and thanks for this act,” he added.

President Aquino welcomed Sheikh Sabah in Malacañang, where the visiting dignitary was greeted with a 21-gun salute.

A state dinner was also tendered for the Amir in the Palace.

The five-day state visit of the Kuwaiti Amir is expected to intensify economic relations and boost investments in the Philippines, Malacañang said on Friday.

Sheikh Sabah is scheduled to unveil the marker for the Sabah Al Ahmad Global Gateway Logistics City, at the Clark Export Processing Zone on Tuesday.

The Palace said Kuwaiti investments in the Philippines include the $2 billion Kuwait and Gulf Link Co. investment in Clark Field, Pampanga; the recently-acquired shipping company Negros Navigation. Kuwaiti businessmen have also expressed interest in investing in the Metro Rail Transit system, and Intishar’s 500-hectare banana plantation in Davao, Primavera said.

The government said Kuwait currently hosts more than 140,000 Filipino workers.

Among the agreements scheduled to be signed by the two countries are a memorandum of understanding on agricultural and fisheries cooperation, an agreement on the waiver of visa requirements for holders of diplomatic, special and official passports, a cultural agreement, a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the recruitment and employment of Filipino household service workers, and an another in the field of labor cooperation.