Fund for SMEs and General Electric sign memorandum on digital apps

Water Council meets ahead of Kuwait-hosted confab

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 24, (KUNA): Kuwait’s National Fund for Small and Medium Enterprise Development (SMEs) signed a memorandum of understanding with General Electric company to develop industrial digital applications for SMEs.

The signing was made by the fund’s chairman Abdullah AlJoaan and Electric General’s digital manager for the Middle East and Africa, with the presence of Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Khaled Al-Rodhan and the US Ambassador to Kuwait Lawrence Silverman.

In a statement to reporters on Wednesday, minister AlRodhan said the memorandum is part of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s strategy to support and develop projects of youth.

On his part, Al-Joaan said that digital applications help develop projects by boosting production and improve performance.

He added that General Electric is a pioneer in using digital applications to develop industry.

Chief Executive Officer and President of Power Services Business for the Middle East and Africa at General Electric Company Joseph Anis noted that the memorandum supports the fund’s strategic plan to provide Kuwaitis with bigger job opportunities and create a variety of income sources.

According to the memorandum, the company will train Kuwaiti business owners on developing their projects through the use of “Predix” edge-tocloud app platform. Predix allows users to deploy processing and analytics power to control assets at the edge or analyze machine data in the cloud securely.

Meanwhile, the Arab Water Council’s executive committee opened its 12th session Wednesday, with representatives from nations including Kuwait, which is set to host a major water conference in May, in attendance.

In a speech during the session, Iraq’s Minister of Water Resources Hassan Al-Janabi said that water security is not only a major issue in the Arab region, but also a perennial concern in many parts of the world.

Al-Janabi, who heads the committee’s current session, added that Arab nations need to ratchet up cooperation ahead of the World Water Forum due

in Brazil in March, pointing out that water and food security are often inextricably linked.

Addressing the session, the Arab League’s assistant undersecretary for economic affairs Kamal Hassan said that water scarcity is a “dilemma of epic proportions” that plagues a number of Arab countries.

He revealed that the session’s agenda includes a wide range of water issues in a meeting that brings together representatives from Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Iraq, Qatar, Sudan and the Comoros.

Meanwhile, Dr Jamal Jaballah, the director of environmental management, housing and water resources at the Arab League, said that officials will examine the progress of a comprehensive Arab plan to ensure water security.

Attendees will also discuss what more Arab nations can do to make better use of water resources, Jaballah said, citing the likelihood of an imminent meeting involving water ministers from across the Arab region.

The undersecretary of the Kuwaiti ministry of electricity and water Mohammad Boushehri is heading his country’s delegation to the session.