Kuwait city: The State of Kuwait has emphasized the crucial role that international organizations, particularly the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), should play in assisting developing countries to overcome structural challenges and enhance their productivity potential.
According to Kuwait News Agency, Ambassador Nasser Al-Hayen, the State of Kuwait Permanent Representative at the United Nations and International Organizations in Geneva, highlighted this necessity while addressing UNCTAD’s 16th Conference. He advocated for increased technological cooperation, the transfer of technology, investment facilitation, and sustainable funding to empower developing nations. Ambassador Al-Hayen praised UNCTAD’s six-decade-long role in supporting sustainable development across economic, social, and environmental dimensions in these countries.
Ambassador Al-Hayen emphasized the importance of fostering multiplicity and activating global cooperation based on openness, justice, and transparency to achieve sustainable development and prosperity. He further noted that state-level development aid and accessible funding should effectively support the growth of developing states, alongside strengthening cooperation among Southern Hemisphere nations and between the South and the North.
Kuwait’s commitment to open trade grounded in development principles was also highlighted by Ambassador Al-Hayen. He reiterated Kuwait’s longstanding dedication to democracy, stability, socio-economic development, poverty reduction, and social justice since its independence. A testament to this is the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, established as the first regional development agency to support developing countries by funding vital sector projects, including agriculture, energy, water, transport, education, and health. Additionally, Kuwait’s 1998 establishment of a free trade zone was mentioned as an effort to promote foreign investment and enhance inter-trade within the Gulf region.
Ambassador Al-Hayen expressed optimism that the conference would adopt a strategic vision fostering constructive cooperation among nations to facilitate global trade and bridge the gap between developed and developing countries. He concluded his remarks by reaffirming Kuwait’s steadfast support for the Palestinian people’s legitimate rights, including their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state within the June 4, 1967, borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. He also supported the Palestinians’ efforts to achieve sustainable development.