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Majesty's arrival.
Later, His Majesty was
greeted by the Omani royal entourage; Cabinet Ministers
and senior government officials. His Majesty Sultan
Qaboos was introduced to the Brunei delegation.
Inside the palace, His
Majesty attended an official meeting with His Majesty
Sultan Qaboos and both rulers discussed ways to improve
relations and strengthen bilateral ties in a number of
areas.
As a tradition in Oman,
His Majesty was served Omani Qahwa or coffee as a
gesture to officially welcome the ruler.
His Majesty also
attended a banquet at the palace with His Majesty Sultan
Qaboos later in the evening.
After the official
meeting between His Majesty and Sultan Qaboos, two
meetings at the ministerial level also took place.
During the meeting
Brunei's Minister of Energy Pehin Hj Mohammad bin Hj
Daud and Brunei's Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Trade Pehin Lim Jock Seng met with Omani Minister of Oil
and Gas Dr Mohammed Named Seif Al Rumly and also Omani
Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Sayyid Badu bin Hamad bin Hamood Al-Busaidi.
At the meeting both
parties reviewed possible areas of cooperation in oil
and gas sector as well as the current trends related to
the oil and gas prices.
Today, His Majesty is
scheduled to visit the Sultan's Special Force and meet
Deputy Prime Minister His Highness Sayyid Fand bin
Mahmoud Al-Said. His Majesty will hear a briefing on the
development of Oman's economy by the Minister of
Commerce and Industry Maqbool bin Ali bin Sultan.
A signing of a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further improve the
framework for bilateral investment and trade relations
and the establishment of Joint Investment Fund between
both Sultanates are also expected to take place today.
In Kuwait, before
leaving the Bayan Palace yesterday afternoon, a 'doa
selamat' was read by Pehin Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Ustaz
Haji Awang Abdul Aziz bin Juned, the State Mufti.
Prior to departure for
the Kuwait International Airport, His Majesty briefly
met His Highness the Emir at the Bayan Palace.
His Majesty accompanied
by His Highness the Emir then proceeded to the airport
for the official farewell ceremony.
Present at the airport
to bid farewell to His Majesty were His Highness Sheikh
Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Crown Prince of
Kuwait; Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah,
Deputy Chief of National Guard; other members of the
Kuwaiti royal family and state dignitaries, as well as
members of the Kuwaiti government.
Also present at the
airport was Pengiran Dato Haji Jaberudin bin Pengiran
Haji Mohd Salleh, Non-Resident Ambassador of Brunei
Darussalam to Kuwait.
On arrival at the
airport, His Majesty and His Highness the Emir were led
to a special dais to receive the salute of the guard of
honour. After the national anthems of both countries
were played, His Majesty together with His Highness
inspected the guard of honour.
Following this, His
Majesty and His Highness bid each other farewell. The
state visit of His Majesty has demonstrated the warm and
friendly ties, as well as enhanced relations between
Brunei Darussalam and Kuwait. During the visit, the
leaders identified potential areas, which both sides can
work together and witnessed the signing of several
documents of bilateral cooperation.
Meanwhile, trade
statistics showed that Brunei's export to the Sultanate
of Oman in 2007 stood at $602,913 and import at $69,519,
down compared to figures in the past four years. In
2006, export stood at $683,041 and import $189,355.
His Majesty made a
state visit to Oman in 1984 and visited again a year
later to attend the country's national day celebrations.
A high level exchange of visits have been made since
1984 including the visit by His Royal Highness Prince
Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
in 1984, 1985 and 1992 and by HRH Princess Hjh Masna,
Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and Trade, in 1995, 1997 and 2000 for bilateral
consultative meetings.
A joint working group
called bilateral consultative meeting was established in
1993 to enhance ties. So far, 10 meetings have taken
place alternately in the respective capitals of both
countries, the last in Muscat in February 2008. HH
Sayyid Fand bin Mahmood al Said, Deputy Prime Minister
visited Brunei in March 1997.
About a dozen
agreements and MoUs have been signed between the two
countries since 1988, with the latest between the two
Ministries of Health in February 2009 and an agreement
on the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of
fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income in
February 2008.
The two countries
cooperate in education, health, oil and gas and defence.
In education, for instance, a group of secondary school
students from Brunei visited Oman in February this year
while 13 Omani students have graduated from UBD under
Brunei's scholarship.
In oil and gas, there
are 21 Bruneians from BSP Sdn Bhd currently working for
Petroleum Development of Oman and Oman LNG, while 12
Omanis are working at BSP and BLNG. On the whole, there
are currently 94 Bruneians residing in Oman including
family members, working in the private sector, staff at
the embassy and their families.
As for defence
cooperation, the Commander of the Royal Brunei Aimed
Forces visited Oman in February 2008, while the Omani
Royal Armed Forces participated in the Brunei
International Tattoo in July 2006 hosted by the Ministry
of Defence and RBAF in conjunction with His Majesty's
60th birthday. --
Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin
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His
Majesty Arrives In Kuwait
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His Majesty Begins State Visit To Kuwait
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Sultan
Visits Military Facilities
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His
Majesty Arrives In Oman |
