Kuwait and Pakistan on Thursday signed a bilateral agreement to ratchet up industrial cooperation, a deal hailed by Commerce Minister Omar Al-Omar as a step aiming to push forward economic diversification plans.

The deal, co-signed by the Kuwaiti commerce minister and Pakistani Privatization, Investment and Communication Minister Abdul Aleem Khan, is part of Kuwaiti efforts to reduce reliance on oil revenues by exploring other business investments, he said.

Discussing the intricacies of the aforementioned plans, the Kuwaiti minister outlined the primary objectives including strengthening the rapport between the public and private sectors, in addition to providing support for fledgling small and medium-sized enterprises, said the minister, underlining a the growing significance of the private sector's role towards economic growth.

Amid joint ministerial committee (JMC) talks linking Kuwait and Islamabad, the minister praised the palpable progress seen in trade relations between the two countries, which surged to USD 590 million last year, saying the visit by a high-level Pakistani trade delegation is an effort to keep these ties on an upward trajectory, subsequently bringing to fruition "common ambitions," he added.

Echoing his Kuwaiti counterpart's sentiments, the Pakistani minister heaped praise on the role of the JMC in bolstering bilateral relations, saying it offers a "promising opportunity to enhance trade and extend to each other educational, scientific and cultural cooperation." On the diverse investment opportunities Islamabad has to offer, the Pakistani minister identified agriculture, energy, and tourism as sectors with "profitable potential for foreign investment," saying the Pakistani shared "teasers" with their Kuwaiti counterparts on potential projects in the making.

The two-day talks yielded an industrial cooperation agreement, in addition to a separate memorandum of understanding in the agriculture sector, while the latest developments and progress in bilateral relations were also discussed.

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