Page 9 - Al-Rashed Newsletter June 2020

KUWAIT & IRAQ
KUWAIT NEWS

Kuwait wants to bring down migrant population from 70% to 30%
Kuwait’s prime minister has said the country’s expatriate population should be
more than halved to 30% of the total, as the coronavirus pandemic and a slump
in oil prices send shudders through Gulf economies.Foreigners account for nearly
3.4 million of Kuwait’s 4.8 million people, and “we have a future challenge to
redress this imbalance," Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah told the top editors of
local newspapers on Wednesday, according to an official statement carried by
state-run KUNA.

Kuwait set to approve dexamethasone to treat COVID-19
Kuwait's Health Ministry intends to approve the use of dexamethasone in its
protocol treating the new coronavirus, as the country is battling to contain the
potentially fatal ailment, Kuwaiti media reported Thursday.The anti-inflammation
medication will be used in Kuwait after related recommendations from the World
Health Organisation (WHO).Some other countries have already approved the use
of the steroid drug in COVID-19 treatment protocols, Al Rai newspapers quoted
well-informed sources as saying."This medication has been available in Kuwait
for years and is used to treat various diseases such as asthma, respiratory
disorders and rheumatism," sources at the ministry told Al Qabas newspaper.

78.73% IRAQ NEWS

Siemens signs substation contract with Iraq's electricity ministry
Iraq’s electricity ministry signed a contract with Siemens for a 400 kilovolt substation
Recovery Rate in Kuwait near Ramadi, in the centre of the country, as part of a $15 billion (Dh55bn)
from COVID-19 programme to upgrade the country's electricity network.Once complete, Al
Hamudhia substation is set to provide electricity to Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's
(as on 23.06.2020) Anbar province and to surrounding areas as well as Fallujah, Saqlawyah,
Source: Worldometers.info
Khalediyah and north west Baghdad.The value of the contract was not disclosed.

As Iraq lockdown chokes off imports, local businesses thrive
In Iraq, a national lockdown to halt the coronavirus pandemic has found some
I DON’T LIKE THAT MAN.
unexpected fans: local businesses who no longer have to compete with Turkish,
I MUST GET TO KNOW Iranian or Chinese imports.Those countries, as well as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and
Kuwait, typically flood Iraqi markets with inexpensive products at prices local
HIM BETTER.
producers can't compete with. Local producers were left in the dust, struggling to
-ABRAHAM LINCOLN compete given their expensive raw materials and low outputs compared to the
enormous quantities being imported.

Source: Livemint, The Jakarta Post, thenational.ae, Gulfnews.com