Without Comments: The Jordan Times welcomes Kuwait visit

(Almost twenty years after the Iraqi invasion and perceived pro-Saddam stand taken by King Hussein, the ruler of Kuwait Sheikh Sabha al Ahmed al Jaber al-Sabah visited Jordan in mid-May. The editorial in The Jordan Times captured the mood in the Hashemite Kingdom. Given the historic significance of the visit the MEI is happy to reproduce the full editorial. Editor, MEI) 

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The visit of the emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, to Amman for talks with His Majesty King Abdullah, the first in 20 years, comes at a time when the two countries enjoy warm relations and an atmosphere of cooperation.

King Abdullah visited Kuwait last year to open a new chapter in the relations between the two countries. In late March, Prime Minister Samir Rifai also visited Kuwait, conveying a Royal letter to the emir on means to bolster bilateral ties.

Proof of the strong relations the two countries enjoy is the amount of Kuwaiti investments in Jordan, which reached about $8 billion, and the volume of trade, which reached $160 million last year, are projected to reach even higher levels.

The stock market and real estate sectors particularly stand to benefit from this investment.

Kuwait is number one among Arab and non-Arab investors in the Kingdom, and that shows the extent of trust and confidence in Jordan’s politico-economic climate.

While all this is comforting, the bigger picture about the fraternal ties between the two countries definitely covers more than economic relations. The strength of the brotherly ties between Kuwait and Jordan cannot be measured in these terms alone.

The emir of Kuwait is playing a timely and pivotal role in political developments in the region, and seeks to make Kuwait's voice better heard across the Middle East. Hence the Emir’s visit to other countries in the area.

The visit of Sheikh Sabah, especially at this critical juncture in regional affairs, is bound to usher in even closer relations between his country and Jordan, and is a heartening development for the umma.

Source: Welcome Visit, Editorial, The Jordan Times, (Amman), 18 May 2010, 

As part of its editorial policy, the MEI@ND standardizes spelling and date formats to make the text uniformly accessible and stylistically consistent.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views/positions of the MEI@ND.

Editor, MEI@ND: P R Kumaraswamy