A Kuwaiti delegation led by Dr. Masouma Saleh Al-Mubarak, Minister of Health in the Kuwaiti Cabinet, paid a courtesy call on Minister Mike Henry on March 3, 2011.
Minister Henry used the opportunity to outline some of the areas of co-operation between Kuwait and Jamaica. In this respect, he spoke about the Vernamfield Development Project which is expected to establish a multi-modal approach to transport infrastructure in Jamaica. The Minister also spoke of the Air Services Agreement between the two countries, noting that this would greatly improve the movement of goods and services between Jamaica and not only Kuwait but the whole Middle East region. Additionally, Minister Henry thanked the delegation for assistance received from Kuwait with respect to road infrastructure; in particular help on the construction of the Old Harbour Bypass.
For her part, Dr. Al-Mubarak thanked the Minister for accepting the delegation and expressed pleasure at being in Jamaica. She said she was acquainted with the ‘culture’ of the transport and work portfolio, having been a former Minister of Transport and Works in her country. She promised to follow-up on the Air Services Agreement between the two nations as she said that this would enable the peoples of both nations to ‘get to know each other better as well as better facilitate the movement of goods.”
Relations between Jamaica and Kuwait developed when a parliamentary group from Kuwait visited Jamaica as part of a regional tour aimed at enhancing existing bilateral relations, engaging in matters of mutual interest and co-ordinating efforts undertaken in international parliamentary fora. During that visit, the Kuwaiti Members expressed the desire to enter inter-parliamentary relations, in view of the long-standing diplomatic relations which Jamaica and Kuwait enjoyed, their having established diplomatic relations on November 19, 1974.
On October 25, 2010, Jamaica’s newly appointed Ambassador to Kuwait, His Eccellency Audley Rodriques, assumed duties at the Jamaican Embassy established in Kuwait City.