Deutsche Presse-Agentur  --  Arab News

ISLAMABAD, 21 February 2004 — Kuwait offered Pakistan yesterday to share subcontracts and major projects it has got as part of the reconstruction of Iraq.

Kuwaiti Commerce Minister Abdullah Abdul Rahman Al-Taweel told reporters at a press briefing in Islamabad that being an ally of the United States his country had been given a lot of reconstruction projects.

“We are moving in Iraq and invite all Pakistani businessmen to join hands and use Kuwait as a hub for getting into Iraq,” he said.

Al-Taweel said his country would never forget the support Pakistan gave during the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in 1990.

The Kuwaiti minister was in Pakistan to attend a two-day meeting of the Pakistan-Kuwait Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) to seek ways to promote two-way trade which currently stands at about $800 million.

Owing to huge import of petroleum products by Pakistan, the balance of trade is heavily in favor of Kuwait.

Al-Taweel said his country wanted to move from trade to investment ties with Pakistan mainly in the private sector but stressed on the need of more transparency in rules and regulations.

Inconsistency in economic policies, particularly during the 1990s, had been the major cause of low foreign direct investment (FDI) in Pakistan which currently stands at below $1 billion. Al-Taweel said Kuwait would explore possibilities of investing in telecommunication, real estate and oil and gas sectors in Pakistan.

Pakistani Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters that during the JMC meeting, Kuwait agreed to finance infrastructure projects in Pakistan through the Kuwait Development Fund.