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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2011
local In My View
The Libya thing is taking too long
Sawsan Kazak
sawsank@kuwaittimes.net
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few weeks ago the saga in Libya was all people could talk about. Protestors in the street trying to topple long standing dictator Muammar Gaddafi was the hot topic. Treating it like a comedy at times and a tragedy at others, the world’s full focus was on Libya. Recent news reports and general public interest in the Libyan revolution is slowly fading with people simply stating how long Gaddafi has held out. I guess we expect war to be like it is in big American block buster movies with a humble beginning, an action filled middle and a happy ending (preferably). That’s what we witnessed in Egypt, right? It was small protests growing into a nationwide drama and finally the happy ending most people cheered for. The good guys won and it seemed for a moment in time that the world was fair and justice was served. But with Libya it’s just taking too long. Our collective attention span lasts about a week, maybe two, and after that we need to be stimulated with yet another situation. We get bored of long and drawnout dramas that don’t seem to have momentum. A perfect example of our boredom with conflict is our attitude towards the Iraq War. Very rarely does Iraq make the front page anymore, nor is even a topic of conversation; it has just been accepted as normal. This is not a new phenomenon. Palestine is yet another example of how conflict without end is accepted as the norm and boredom of the whole situation sets in. We can see how the world’s attention is drifting ever so slowly from Japan and the national disaster that rocked the country. If something is not affecting us directly it’s hard to stay focused. Long after the attention is gone we must keep in mind that problems tend to linger.
Counterfeit bills KUWAIT: Money collectors with the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) have been instructed to make sure that the bills they receive are not fake. They have been informed to use banknote counters with counterfeit detection capabilities to verify the moneys’ authenticity. The decision, announced by the MEW Undersecretary Assistant for Consumer Affairs Department Jassem AlLinqawi, instructs fee collection supervisors to make sure the ministry does not collect damaged or counterfeit bills from clients. They have been asked to give priority to those paying their bills with credit cards or by K-Net. The decision said that employees failing to commit to the new regulations will be subject to legal accountability.— Al-Qabas
Egypt PM’s visit symbolizes strategic weight of Gulf New phase in bilateral ties: Ambassador KUWAIT: Current visit by Egyptian Prime Minister Issam Sharaf reflects the strategic significance and weight of the Gulf region through Egypt’s perspective, said the Egyptian Ambassador. Taher Farhat said the visit by the premier would signal a new turn for further promotion of the bilateral ties for realizing higher aspirations in this respect, as desired by the two brotherly countries, out of keenness on fruitful cooperation with Kuwait and the other Gulf states. It also affirms the solid ties bounding Egypt and the brotherly Kuwait, he stressed. Recounting remarks made by Sharaf during his visit to Saudi Arabia, on Monday, the ambassador said the ties between Egypt and countries of the region are historic, noting that Cairo views “intervention in the internal affairs of other states as a red line” and stressing that the security of the GCC states “is part of Egypt’s security.” On status of the Egyptian economy following the recent events, the diplomat affirmed that it has remained solid noting that the authorities in Cairo ensure full protection of foreign investments. Among the positive aspects of the sound status of the economy is the huge reserves of the hard currencies, insuring bank assets and continuous work at the Suez Canal, the diplomat noted. He also indicated that Kuwaiti entrepreneurs have continued launching businesses in Egypt at the local and public levels, to the extent that Kuwait has become the second largest “exporter of external investments to Egypt.” He affirmed the strategic nature of the bilateral ties, based on respect of the laws, national interests and moralistic dealing. He also asserted that the recent events in Egypt would result in boosting the development and investments, namely the Kuwaiti enterprises. Sharaf’s visit to Kuwait followed a visit to Cairo by a Kuwaiti delegation of economic figures on April 7 for discussing investment cooperation. His Gulf tour is primarily aimed at discussing means of promoting ties between Cairo and the states of the region, namely Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. —KUNA
KUWAIT: Egyptian Prime Minister Issam Sharaf (left) walks with Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi as they arrive at the National Assembly yesterday.
KUWAIT: Ali Al-Ghanim and Dr Issam Sharaf. (Right) The Egyptian delegation. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat
Egyptian PM, delegation meets with KCCI By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) welcomed the Prime Minister of Egypt, Dr Issam Sharaf and his accompanying delegation yesterday. Three weeks ago a Kuwaiti delegation visited Egypt. “The Kuwaiti delegation was warmly welcomed and expressed their appreciation of the deep economic and political relations between the two countries,” said Ali Al-Ghanim, head of KCCI during the meeting yesterday. “We believe in the Egyptian economy and its ability to
pass through this phase successfully. It’s our duty to support Egypt in all it sectors.” Kuwait’s investments in Egypt make a strong base for future development and cooperation. “The history of these investments goes back to the 1950s,” Al-Ghanim continued. “ These investment always respected the law and we are sure that these investment will always have a great level of security. We need to protect this trust. We are not asking for special treatment for our investments but only equity when it comes to laws and legislation.” Investing in Egypt during this time brings unique investment opportunities
from a financial and economic perspective. “It’s a social and security duty,” he explained. “We should increase our commercial exchange to find more investment opportunities that provide job opportunities. This will deliver the results of development for those who need it. Establishing small and medium sized projects may be suitable for this.” However, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are facing many challenges. “We are over exposed politically, economically and culturally and we hope that following Egypt’s revolution Egypt will continue to cooperate with us economical-
ly,” Al-Ghanim concluded. Egypt’s economic policy won’t change. “There should be new rules for investment according to transparency and equity. Development leads to stability,” said the Egyptian Prime Minister. Sharaf sees Egypt’s cooperation with other Arab countries and the GCC as prosperous. “Some legal demands have caused a delay in productivity as they believe that these demands should be applied quickly. Egypt’s current situation is temporary and is not something to be feared. People should be patient and believe in a better future,” Sharaf added.
US envoy urges protection of intellectual rights BY Nisreen Zahreddine KUWAIT: Regulating and protecting intellectual property rights will help protect the technologies of tomorrow and provide jobs for young graduates, said US Ambassador to Kuwait Deborah Jones. The ambassador shared her sentiments yesterday at a seminar organized by both the US Embassy and the Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) entitled, ‘Designing the Future.’ The seminar was organized on the occasion of the 11th annual celebration of World Intellectual Property Day and was held on GUST’s campus. Panelists included the Dean of GUST’s College of Business Administration Lee Caldwell, the US Embassy’s Economic Officer Arati Shroff and invited guest panelists Naif Al-Muttawa, Anadel AlMatar and Shamlan Al-Bahar. Jones identified intellectual property as everything from inventions, creative art, life saving medical devices and or new climate saving technologies. Jones expressed her amazement at the entrepreneurial spirit of Kuwaitis. She reminded visitors of the words United States President Barack
Municipality holds surprise health visit KUWAIT: The foods and markets supervisory in Hawally municipality made a surprise inspection visit, in coordination with canteens’ committee in the governorate. The campaign covered a number of private school canteens in Hawally educational area. Food supervisor Dhaiden Al-Adwani said that they inspected the meals provided to the students, and checked its validity and the method of storing meals. They also took samples to double-check the quality and observed the manner in which it was distributed to students. The schools were found to abide by the set rules and regulations.
Obama said while being inaugurated when he pointed out that minds today are not less inventive and that goods today are not less needed than they were last week, last month or last year. “We need appropriate legislation in place to protect every invention, design or business idea from being stolen or copied at the expense of innovators or entrepreneurs,” she said. She added that it is
KUWAIT: US ambassador Deborah Jones addressing the meeting at GUST campus.
everybody’s responsibility to continue working on encouraging the protection of intellectual rights and to fight for global involvement and innovation in Kuwait. Jones said that infringing upon intellectual property rights is theft, whether it is selling pirated CDs on the street or downloading movies illegally on the internet. She pointed out that Microsoft sources say that over 60 percent of software piracy occurs within Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) states. World Intellectual Property Day is observed annually on April 26. The event was first established by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2000 to raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trademarks and designs impact daily life and to celebrate creativity and the contributions made by creators and innovators. WIPO is dedicated to developing a balanced and accessible international property system that includes industrial property rights that protects inventions as well as copyrights that protect literary and artistic work such as novels, poems, plays, films, music, paintings, photographs, sculptures and other original works.