Bilateral Relations Between Kuwait and the Philippines

Bilateral relations between Kuwait and the Philippines are continuously improving and HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah's visit to the Philippines later this month is expected to focus on the fields of trade and investment. Diplomatic relations between the two countries began in 1979, and this has had a major impact on commercial exchange, which in 2006 reached USD 50 million, thus, making Kuwait the Philippines' sixth biggest trade partner in the Middle East. Kuwait also hosts over 130,000 Filipino expatriates, who work accross several sectors in the Gulf country.

The last Kuwaiti official to visit the Philippines was former Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, with the visit contributing to the signing of several agreements within the oil, gas, tourism, and health domains. In the field of humanitarian assistance, the Filipino Red Cross Society has on a number of occassions praised Kuwait's role in aiding the southeastern Asian country during numerous natural disasters, like the recent floods