Kuwait refuses to grant visas to new Iranian businessmen

The head of the Iran-Kuwait Joint Chamber of Commerce has reported a sharp decline in Iran's trade with Kuwait compared to the past, and says that one of the reasons for this is Kuwait's refusal to grant visas to Iranian businessmen.

In an interview with ILNA news agency on December 20, Hani Faisali said, referring to the "impossibility of new Iranian businessmen entering the Kuwaiti market," "Unfortunately, the Kuwaitis have not been granting visas to our new businessmen for some time, and it is not possible for new Iranian businessmen to work in this country."

He cited the coronavirus outbreak as another major factor in the decline in trade between the two countries, adding that currently "those who work with Kuwait have already been there."

Referring to "correspondence with the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce," he added: "They haven't given us a proper answer yet."

Kuwait refuses to grant visas to Iranian businessmen even though, according to Mr. Faisali, "a shipping line has been launched by a member company of the Iran-Kuwait Chamber of Commerce" that "goes from Khorramshahr to Kuwait, and refrigerated containers and many perishable cargoes go to Kuwait through this route."

Trade between Iran and Kuwait has declined despite officials from both countries, especially the Iranian side, repeatedly expressing their desire to increase trade relations. For example, in April of this year, Mohammad Irani, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Kuwait, said in a meeting with Mohammad Jassim Al-Saqr, head of the country's Chamber of Commerce and Industries, that the Iranian embassy in Kuwait is "trying to remove obstacles facing investors."

Recently, Seyyed Ruhollah Latifi, spokesman for the Islamic Republic's Customs, announced that the volume of Iranian exports to Kuwait in the first eight months of this year was 1,912,000 tons of goods worth $91 million, which, according to him, represents a 6 percent decrease compared to the same period last year.

This is despite the fact that Iran's exports to Kuwait in previous years have been several times the current figure. According to official statistics, the volume of Iran's exports to Kuwait in the first eight months of 2018 alone was announced to be more than $184 million.

Source: DW