KUWAIT: Kuwait's government is absolutely serious about the need to pass a new communications bill, said a senior government member yesterday. Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, Kuwait's Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of State for Development Affairs, said that the government wishes to see the new bill passed and a new communications authority established as soon as possible.

Speaking at a ceremony held by Zajil International Telecom Company to mark the firm's twentieth year of operations, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad, who also doubles as the Minister of State for Housing Affairs, said that the communications bill would be enacted in cooperation with the National Assembly (parliament) in order to renew and restructure the country's communications and information technology sector.

Kuwait's leadership has been striving to create an effective e-government structure incorporating all the country's ministries and other state bodies and to overhaul the existing online government portals so that they can provide further permanent support for sustainable development, thus providing a positive atmosphere for a cohesive Kuwaiti society which can benefit from these sectors.

Talking about Zajil, he hailed the firm's technological activities, as well as its work with other companies, lauding its venture into the public-private partnership (PPP) field as a great success, and mentioning other such successful PPP ventures by Gulf firms in both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad further revealed that Kuwait plans to take major steps in the communications and technology fields in the near future.

Zajil International Telecom Company is one of the region�s leading data telecommunications and IT solutions providers, with its core services including networked IT services, local & international datacom. services, and high-speed broadband and internet services, as well as value-added services and specially tailored solutions for critical environments. - KUNA