Swiss-Kuwaiti relations and recent developments in the Arab world were discussed at talks between the Swiss president and Kuwait’s prime minister on Wednesday.
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Micheline Calmy-Rey, who is also Switzerland’s foreign minister received Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammed al-Ahmad al-Sabah at a government residence just outside Bern.
The talks were aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and promoting economic cooperation between the two sides, said the foreign ministry.
Calmy-Rey explained to her Kuwaiti guest the latest steps taken by the Swiss National Bank – setting a minimum exchange rate between the franc and the euro – designed to weaken the Swiss currency.
She also assured al-Sabah that the free trade agreement signed in June 2009 between the European Free Trade Area, Efta, and the Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC, would come into force.
The two sides discussed the so-called Arab spring, in particular the situation in Syria, Libya, Tunisia and Egypt.
Al-Sabah was accompanied by a delegation of high-ranking ministers, who held discussions with representatives of Swiss business circles.
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