An important opportunity for deeper political dialogue and economic collaboration with Italy, as well as to give new impetus to a useful exchange of ideas on the Middle East and the Gulf, especially in light of the recent crisis in Egypt and the continuing tragedy of the Syrian conflict. This is the framework Minister for Foreign Affairs Emma Bonino’s visit from 6 to 8 July to two prominent Gulf countries, Kuwait and Oman. A visit during on which the minister will be accompanied by a large delegation of Italian business persons, and will meet with high level institutional figures as well as various other political, economic and social personalities of two States that have enjoyed considerable commercial growth ove recent years.
A conversation in Kuwait City between Emma Bonino and Emir Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah
Kuwait will be the first stop on Emma Bonino’s journey, where she will meet on the morning of 7 July with the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah and later with Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Jaber Sabah Al Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah. Prior to her institutional meetings Minister Bonino will also meet with executives of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, in an encounter that will include representatives from Italian firms and various professional associations.
Mission to pivot on economic collaboration and talks with representatives of the Kuwaiti female population
During the afternoon, the minister will hold meetings with female political, economic and civil society representatives of Kuwait, who will include Minister for Planning Rola Dashti, President of the Center for Women Empowerment of the Kuwait Transparency Society Sahar Al Haml, President of LOYAC (non-profit organisation dedicated to young people) Fareah Al Saqqaf, business-woman Manar Al Hashash (on the list of the 100 most powerful women in the Arab world) and local politician Jenan Bushahri.
Minister Bonino’s busy agenda follows on that of on 6 November 2011 by then-Premier Mario Monti, which followed a State visit to Italy by the Emir in 2010, and will aim to strengthen bilateral relations in both economic and defence fields with a country that is certainly strategic located between Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran, and historically associated with oil drilling. A country that, in 2012, saw GDP growth of 7.9% and with which Italy has combined trade amounting to €934.8 million, for the most part consisting of Italian exports (more that €853 million).
The 4th Italy-Oman Joint Commission under way on 8 July
It will be precisely the economic dimension that will dominate the minister’s visit the following day, 8 July, to Mascate, the capital of Oman, where the 4th Joint Italy-Oman Commission is set to open, the last having been held in Rome in June 2009. The meeting, at which the minister is to speak, will be opened by Secretary General of the Omani Foreign Ministry Minister Sayyid Badr Al Busaidi, with whom Minister Bonino will meet in the margins of the Commission. Participating delegations will be extensive: Italy’s includes the CEOs of the groups most interested in the Omani market and representatives of Italian sector organisations, while the Omani’s will be represented by major local economic institutional and major industrial groups. Also in Mascate, Minister Bonino will meet with Minister of Cultural Heritage Sayyd Haitam Bin Tariq Al Said and President of the Shura Council (Lower House) Sheikh Khalid Bin Hilal Al Ma’awali. All meetings will pivot on the development of bilateral relations and on economic cooperation between Italy and Oman. Trade last year with the Gulf Sultanate (which showed 8.3% growth in 2012) was equal to €558.5 million, a figure that, thanks to increased collaboration between Italian and Omani firms, could soon go up.
