ERDOGAN PROMOTES ECONOMIC TIES DURING VISIT TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 004649 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR NEA/ARPI E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2015 TAGS: PREL ECON TU KU SUBJECT: ERDOGAN PROMOTES ECONOMIC TIES DURING VISIT TO KUWAIT Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) (C) Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Under Secretary Khaled Al-Jarallah gave Ambassador an overview of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's October 25 visit to Kuwait. During an October 30 meeting at the MFA, Al-Jarallah reported that Erdogan "came with a good spirit," focusing primarily on economic and commercial issues. The PM, who traveled to several GCC countries with a delegation of Turkish businesspeople, promoted bilateral economic, trade and investment ties with Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Kuwaiti private sector leaders, the U/S reported. As a next step, Al-Jarallah predicted, the Kuwaitis and Turks soon would welcome reciprocal commercial delegations. Current Kuwaiti investors include the Al-Shaya family who owns the Starbucks franchise for the Middle East including locations in the Republic of Turkey. ********************************************* Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website ********************************************* LEBARON