M'SIA, KUWAIT STRESS ON HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT FOR FURTHER MUSLIM PROGRESS

By Abdul Muin Majid

KUWAIT CITY, March 23 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Kuwait may draw up
programmes to assist backward Muslim countries in human capital development,
said Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

He said having a pool of knowledgeable human capital was important if
Muslim nations were to scale greater heights.

"There is a need for Malaysia and Kuwait to think of ways to help less
developed Muslim countries move forward with training programmes tailored for
their youths," he said.

Abdullah was briefing Malaysian journalists here Sunday night on the outcome
of his separate talks with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed
Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development deputy
director-general Ghanem Al-Ghenaiman and Kuwait Investment Authority managing
director Bader Al-Saad.

The meetings were held in conjunction with Abdullah's official visit to
Kuwait.

Elaborating on his talks with Sheikh Nasser followed by the Malaysia-Kuwait
delegation meeting, Abdullah said they also discussed the situation in
war-wracked Gaza.

"It's a sad situation that calls for the Organisation of the Islamic
Conference (OIC) countries to assist the Palestinians in Gaza," he said, adding
that the sufferings of the people in the coastal enclave should be brought to
an end.

He said efforts to enhance trade and investment linkages between the two
countries also featured prominently in the Kuwait discussions.

The emphasis, he said, was on the need to speed up the proposed bilateral
trade agreement between Malaysia and Kuwait.

"Hopefully, all issues pertaining to the crafting of the agreement can be
ironed out at a meeting to be held in Kuala Lumpur so that it can be inked as
soon as possible," said Abdullah.

According to him, Kuwait backed Malaysia's call for a free trade agreement
(FTA) between the Southeast Asian nation of 27 million and the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) comprising Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and
Saudi Arabia.


In this connection, he said, the Kuwaiti prime minister felt that it was
important for talks with all relevant parties to start as soon as possible with
regard to the proposed FTA.

On tourism, Abdullah said both sides acknowledged the role that could be
played by Kuwaiti and Malaysian airlines in efforts to increase the number of
tourists visiting the two countries.

"They feel that Kuwait should be promoted as one of the places to visit in
umrah (minor haj) packages," said the prime minister.

On his meeting with Kuwait Investment Authority's Al-Saad, Abdullah said
they agreed on the need for Malaysia and Kuwait to set up joint-venture
partnerships whenever necessary to invest in third countries.

"At the same time, efforts should be made to increase bilateral
investments between Malaysia and Kuwait," he said.

Abdullah and his wife, Jeanne Abdullah, left Kuwait soon after
the press conference with members of the Malaysian media covering his visit to
this Gulf state.

-- BERNAMA