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Left to right: H.E. Ambassador Talal Alfassam – H.E. Peter Hanke – Eng. Mouddar Khouja
On 24 May 2023, the Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to Austria His Excellency Mr. Talal Alfassam was welcomed for a courtesy visit and meetings at the Vienna City Council. The meeting was initiated and coordinated by AACC Secretary General Mr. Mouddar Khouja with the support of His Excellency Mr. Omar Al-Rawi, Member of State Parliament and City Council Vienna, and member of AACC’s Board of Directors.
The Ambassador and Secretary General were first received by H.E. Mr. Peter Hanke, Executive City Councillor of Finance, Business, Labour, International Affairs, and Vienna Public Utilities of the City of Vienna. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Martin Ritzmaier, Advisor at the Administrative Group for Finance, Business Labour, International Affairs and Public Utilities of the City of Vienna; and by Mr. Philipp Kamper, policy advisor to the Executive City Councillor and the City of Vienna.
The Executive City Councillor Mr. Hanke warmly welcomed the guests and gave a brief about Vienna’s strategy and key focus areas, including renewable energy, smart city development and modernization. He informed that the “Vienna Economic Development” was established as a separate unit in cooperation with the Vienna Chamber of Economy and Industry, to further promote Vienna as an ideal investment location and inform about specific investment projects and FDI opportunities.
It was also mentioned that Vienna was ranking as one of the world’s top venues for international congresses, conventions and events, thus offering excellent conditions to organize incoming activities and conferences in cooperation with the Vienna Convention Bureau.
On his turn, H.E. Ambassador Alfassam emphasized Kuwait’s interest in building-up a close mutual cooperation with the City and Government of Vienna, with special focus on knowledge transfer and exploring new technologies. He also mentioned an upcoming delegation visit of the Kuwaiti Minister of Foreign Affairs in June, and an expected visit of an economic delegation and forum in cooperation with the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce & Industry later this year, as an opportunity to sign agreements and foster close cooperation between Kuwait and Austria.
AACC Secretary General Khouja underlined the chamber’s support and willingness to promote mutual partnership, cooperation and investments between Kuwait and Vienna. In this context, he referred to the excellent historical relations and the support of the State of Kuwait for infrastructure projects in the past. He also shed light on the close relation and history of AACC with the Vienna City Hall, the location where the chamber was founded in 1989, and where some sessions of the chamber’s the biggest business event platform, the periodic Arab-Austrian Economic Forum, were held in recent years.
After the meeting, H.E. Ambassador Alfassam and Secretary General Mr. Khouja were welcomed as guests of honour to attend a session of the Vienna City Council from the VIP box of the meeting hall, coordinated by His Excellency DI Omar Al-Rawi.
Following was a tour through the Vienna City Hall, where the delegates also met H.E. Mr. Christoph Wiederkehr, Deputy Mayor and Deputy Governor, Executive City Councillor for Education, Youth, Integration and Transparency; H.E. Mr. Ernst Woller, First President of the Vienna Provincial Parliament; H.E. Mr. Thomas Reindl, Chair of the Committee of the Vienna City Council, and Mr. Jörg Neumayer, MA, District Manager at the City of Vienna.
Left to right: H.E. Ambassador Talal Alfassam – H.E. DI Omar Al-Rawi
Left picture (left to right): H.E. DI Omar Al-Rawi - H.E. Mag. Christoph Wiederkehr – H.E. Ambassador Talal Alfassam - SG Mouddar Khouja
Right picture: SG Mouddar Khouja – Mr. Ernst Woller - H.E. Ambassador Talal Alfassam
Left to right: Mr. Jörg Neumayer - H.E. DI Omar Al-Rawi – H.E. Mr. Thomas Reindl -
H.E. Ambassador Talal Alfassam – SG Mouddar Khouja
Categories: Reports
