Kuwait and Iraq have agreed to finalize agreements on pending issues. Agreements will be signed during a planned visit by Kuwait’s prime minister to Baghdad later this year, said sources.

Sources claimed that recent phone conversations between Kuwait’s Prime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah and his Iraqi counterpart Nouri Al-Maliki to exchange Ramadan greetings “ featured an agreement to prepare final agreements to be signed during Sheikh Jaber’s visit to Baghdad before the end of the year.”

The final agreements were made last April during a meeting held by a supreme joint committee formed by the two countries to address unresolved issues such as border demarcation. Sources indicate that “instructions were issued by the government of the two countries to speed up the process of executing the topics mentioned in the signed agreements.”

The final agreement puts an end to the border demarcation issue, as well as organizing a navigation at the Khor Abdullah, in addition to stopping the infiltration of Iraqi fishermen into Kuwait’s territorial waters. The two sides should also implement the investment obligations of the settlement reached over Iraqi Airways’ dues to its Kuwaiti counterpart.

The settlement calls for the Kuwait Airways Corporation to be compensated with $ 300,000 in cash, while the remaining $ 200 million will be invested in joint projects between the two countries.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Oil in Iraq announced yesterday that the supreme joint committee “helped resolve a huge part of issues remaining between Kuwait and Iraq pertinent with organizing work at joint oil fields including unifying production.”

This was stated by Laith Al- Shaher, Ministry’s General Director of Legal Department. They added that the joint committee was able to achieve “significant results to launch a new phase in economic relations.”

Kuwait owns 8 percent in GCC construction market

The total value of construction projects in Gulf Cooperation Council countries last year totaled to $ 46 billion, of which Kuwait’s share stood only at eight percent, a recent specialized study revealed. The study prepared by the Ventures Middle East indicates that the United Arab Emirates maintained the largest share of the construction market in the region with 48 percent, followed by Saudi Arabia with 33 percent then Kuwait, Qatar with six percent, Oman with three percent and Bahrain with two percent. The study predicts a “71 to 75 percent increase” in the value of construction in 2012, as well as an increase “from $ 2.7 billion in 2011 to $ 7.3 billion in 2012” in the hospitality field, with a predicted revenue of $ 22 billion this year earned from hotel rooms.

Kuwaiti company agrees to swap Dubai land

A Kuwaiti company operation in Dubai agreed to a request by the Dubai Maritime City project to replace a plot they bought in 2008 with a smaller one that is equivalent in value.

In a statement made yesterday, the Mayadeen National Company explained that they received a copy of a contract to receive a piece of land within the Dubai Maritime City project valued at 80,423,887 dirhams, which is the same amount the company has so far paid in installments for the larger plot of land that the emirate needs for its mega project.

Opposition bloc faces obstacles

The opposition bloc’s attempts to send a message to HH the Amir about their objection to the change in current electoral system has reportedly hit stalemate “as they received a response rejecting their endeavors.” According to sources, the letter which the opposition hoped to deliver through Prime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah was countered by an opinion which sees the bloc “creating more instability in Kuwait’s political scene by directly violating the Constitution.”

The sources believe that the government will not cooperate with the bloc’s demand “because their actions are a violation to the law that damages the public interests and puts the state at risk.”

Al-Juwaihel acquitted

The Appeals Court yesterday acquitted former parliament elections candidate Mohammad Al- Juwaihel of slander charges. He was sentenced to two years in prison by the Criminal Court last month.

The charges were pressed by former MP Daifullah Buramia, who accused Al-Juwaihel of attaching his picture to a poem that accuses an anonymous parliament member of theft. The court passed the verdict after observing that there was lack of evidence to prove that Al- Juwaihel specifically insulted Buramia.

Donations violations

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor detected violations carried out by charitable organizations “which collected cash donations during Ramadan in violation of ministry regulations,” said sources.

They explained that the donations were made through boxes placed inside mosques “in violation of laws which require that receipts be issued to authenticate the donation process.”