By: Mercy Peter
No fewer than 200,000 out of school children have been target for support by the Kuwaitis government.
The Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to Nigeria, Mr. Salim Khalifa Almuzayen, said the children will be suppirted under the Reaching Out-of-School Children (ROOSC) project, which aim at providing equitable access to quality primary education for children in Kaduna State, particularly those with disabilities, girls, and adolescents.
The envoy disclosed this disclosed this on the Occasion of the 64th National Day of the State of Kuwait and the 34th Liberation Day.
He said, “I would like to mention the ambitious and pioneer project funded by Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development with distinguished Partners and UNICEF in Kaduna State, named “Reaching Out of School Children” Project, which aims to assist over 200,000 students.”
He explained: “ In this context, I would like to mention the ambitious and pioneering project funded by Kuwait Fund for Arab Development with distinguished partners and UNICEF and Katuna State named Reaching Out of School Children project which aims to assist over 200,000 students.”
Speaking on the occassion, he said the democratic system that distinguished Kuwait since its inception based on a constitution that provides people participation in decision making, with a clear commitment from the political leadership, which is a source of pride and honour for Kuwaitis.
He added that the State of Kuwait adopts the principle of moderation in its foreign policy, with clear features and frameworks in its diplomatic relations, with its aspiration for the whole world to participate in its Vision 2035 for the future Kuwait as a regional financial, commercial and cultural centre.
“I would like to commend on the excellent and historical bilateral relations between the State of Kuwait and the friendly Federal Republic of Nigeria, which extend since the sixties of the last century, as the Al-Sabah school, was built in Kaduna State in that era.
“It reflects the depth of these historical relations and shows further prospectives to develop new horizons for cooperation in various areas between the two friendly countries,” he said.
Also speaking, the Senior Councillor of the Middle East and Gulf Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Adeolu Okenla, praised the strong diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Kuwait, which dates back to 1971.
Okenla also noted that the relationship has advanced to ambassadorial representation, with cooperation in political and economic spheres.
He said, “Nigeria commended Kuwait for its contributions to regional peace and development in the Middle East, particularly within the Gulf Cooperation Council.
“The council comprises member states including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Oman.
“Kuwait’s free education policy, which provides education from primary school to university level, was also praised for achieving a total adult literacy rate of 96.46%.”
He explained that Kuwait’s National Day and Liberation Day are significant milestones in the country’s history adding that the National Day marks Kuwait’s independence from British protectorate in 1961, while the Liberation Day commemorates the country’s freedom from Iraqi occupation in 1991.
“Kuwait has made significant progress since then, becoming a wealthy and safe country with a high standard of living.
“The celebration of Kuwait’s National Day and Liberation Day is a testament to the country’s resilience and determination,” he said.
Ends
Kazakhstan aim to boost trade relations with Nigeria- Foreign Minister
From: Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja
Kazakhstan Deputy Minister,Alibek Kuantyrov,
Tuesday said his country and Nigeria have the potential to improve on the current trade relations.
Currently, the trade volume between both countries is hovering around one million dollars.
This, Kazakhstan Deputy Foreign Minister said, would be addressed by developing the value-added trade between two countries.
He explained that the visit to Nigeria is aimed at exploring all avenues.
He said: “The trade is not that big. I think it’s less than one million dollars. And, of course, we have to raise this figure manifold, because we have a great potential for that.
“On the one hand, Kazakhstan is rich in one kind of resources, mineral resources and agricultural resources, and Nigeria is also rich. And more than that, we should develop the value-added trade between two countries.
“And that’s why we are here, and that’s why we are discussing this potential, not only in trade, but also in mutual investment and in cooperating in the ICT, IT and AI spheres.”
Kuantyrov explained that some agreements have already been signed.
He said, “We already, for example, today, signed a memorandum between Astana International Financial Centre and the Taj Bank. So, this in particular is directed at developing the Islamic banking and Islamic finance in Kazakhstan, where, you know, Nigeria has a great experience. So, we have quite a big Islamic population in our country.
“So, this is just a particular project that we are developing at the moment. And of course, there will be other projects.”
Speaking further on the the delegations activities in Nigeria, the Kazakhstan head of delegation, Alibek Kuantyrov, the delegation had been involved in government to government and business to business meetings.
The issue of visa was also part of discussion, the Deputy Foreign Minister said.
“Well, for the last two days, these have been very active days, and we had plenty of G2G and B2B meetings. Well, yesterday we started with a meeting with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where we discussed issues on political consultations, visa requirements, and also mutual support at international platforms, including the UN. After that, we had a meeting with the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment.
“And we are very much interested in developing cooperative projects in the sphere of solid minerals with Nigeria, and, of course, increasing our bilateral trade. For example, one of the interests is directly importing cocoa beans, of which the chocolate, the Kazakhstani chocolate, is made. And, of course, there are many, many other spheres where we can cooperate, including exporting Kazakhstani grain, high-quality grain, wheat, to be particular, to Nigeria.
“After that, we also had a meeting with two ministers, one of the Minister of Oil and also the Minister of Gas, where we also expressed mutual interest in developing oil and gas projects together and exchanging technologies and expertise in developing these spheres. Also, we had a meeting with the EXIM Bank that is helping trade operations, export and import operations. And we decided to have close cooperation with the Kazakhstani EXIM Bank as well.
“And today, we also had a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, where we discussed phytosanitary and other restrictions, that elimination of them will be helping us in boosting our bilateral trade, especially in the agricultural sector. I personally had a meeting with the Minister of Digital Economy, where we also agreed upon cooperating in the spheres of cost monitoring, in the sphere of IT development, ICT development, smart bridges, e-golf, etc., where Kazakhstan has a lot of experience and is one of the forerunners in the world in e-golf and ICT. And Nigeria has a great potential to do the same, and Nigeria has been developing very rapidly in the sphere of ICT and smart cities.”
He therefore concluded that the visit has been a great success.
“So, I consider this visit to be very successful, and we’re going to continue our joint work with the Nigerian side. And in the coming future, we’re also awaiting a business delegation led by His Royal Majesty, His Royal Highness, to Kazakhstan, to Astana International Forum, where we’re going to go on with mutual realisation of investment and trade projects.”
