Remittance Tax Back in Play As Mps Submit Bill
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basketball football THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAIT Page 16 Established in 1977 / www.arabtimesonline.com Page 15 TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021 / JUMADA AL AWWAL 28, 1442 AH emergency number 112 NO. 17585 16 PAGES 150 FILS Qatar-Saudi direct flights resume amid detente Daily service from Qatar Airways DUBAI, Jan 11, (AP): A Qatar Airways airspace to Qatar on Monday, following a jetliner landed in Saudi Arabia on Mon- similar weekend announcement from the day, completing the first direct flight from United Arab Emirates. Still, travelers are Doha to Riyadh since the kingdom’s boy- not yet able to book direct flights to Qa- cott of the tiny, energy-rich state in 2017. tar on state-owned Emirati and Bahraini The resumption of direct flights came airlines. Egypt, which also participated after regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia in the yearslong boycott, has not publicly reopened its borders and airspace with Qa- elaborated on its restoration of ties with tar last week, paving the way for a broader Qatar. rapprochement. At an annual Gulf summit Saudi Arabia, seeking to unify Arab meeting in Al Ula, Saudi Arabia, repre- ranks and position itself as peacemaker sentatives of the four boycotting coun- ahead of the incoming administration of tries signed a pledge to resolve the bitter President-elect Joe Biden, led the push to dispute that has fragmented the typically end the spat with the backing of the Unit- clubby Gulf Cooperation Council and ed States and regional mediator Kuwait. troubled America’s foreign policy in the On Saturday, the first Qatari vehicles region, including its efforts to isolate Iran. passed through the country’s only land Qatar Airways announced it would crossing with Saudi Arabia, which the state restart daily service to the capital of Ri- relied on for the import of dairy products, yadh, four weekly flights to the Red Sea construction materials and other goods be- city of Jeddah and daily flights to the fore the border slammed shut in 2017. Anti- eastern city of Damman using wide-body virus restrictions and mandated quarantines aircraft like the Airbus A350-1000 that will slow the traffic during the coming landed Monday. Saudi Airlines also flew months, and it remains uncertain whether to Doha later in the day. deep-rooted mistrust will hinder the swift “We also look forward to resuming resumption of weekend getaways, a com- a strong relationship with our trade and mon pastime before the boycott. cargo partners in the Kingdom of Saudi Saudi state-run Ekhbariya TV broad- Arabia, as well as the major airports in the cast what appeared to be carefully orches- Qatari Khaled, 12, is hugged by his aunt as he arrives on the first Qatar Airways plane in three years to land at King Khalid Airport in Riyadh, Saudi country,” the Qatar state airline said. trated footage of Qatari drivers receiving Arabia on Jan 11. Saudi Arabia, along with the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, ended a three-year-old dispute with Qatar following a Gulf Cooperation Bahrain’s civil aviation affairs author- warm welcomes at the Abu Samra-Salwa Council (GCC) summit in AlUla last week. (AP) ity joined in saying it would reopen its desert crossing over the weekend. Opinion Remittance tax back in Oh GCC leaders, protect reconciliation from haters play as MPs submit bill By Ahmed Al-Jarallah to go back, due to which this matter Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times should be handled with extra care. It is natural for some distinctions to THERE is no doubt that the 41st Gulf occur in positions, or serious attempts ‘2.5 percent regardless of currency’ Cooperation Council Summit in the to sabotage this great achievement. city of Al-Ula in the Kingdom of Here the major responsibility rests Saudi Arabia turned the page of the with the leaders of the Gulf Coopera- By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Muwaizri and Khalid Al-Otaibi have submitted a bill crisis that lasted for three and a half tion Council. They must be very care- Arab Times Staff on taxing remittances. years. ful when dealing with these events, Al-Shaheen disclosed the bill aims to enhance the public budget, However, those with interests in and must work collectively to prevent KUWAIT CITY, Jan 11: MPs Osama Al-Shaheen, contribute to ongoing efforts to generate more job opportunities, and the disagreement among the Gulf any sabotage attempts by haters. Hamad Al-Matar, Abdulaziz Al-Saqaabi, Shuaib Al- limit the transfer of money to other countries; taking into consider- countries would explore their options This reconciliation can be guarded to maintain their network of inter- through direct contacts or bilateral ation the facts revealed by the Finan- ests, either in Qatar or in the other meetings, or through the activation of cial Crimes Enforcement Network four countries. Their main objective the diplomatic safety net, in addition (FinCEN), Paradise and Panama would now be to preserve the larg- to increasing cooperation in the fi elds US to label Houthi rebels terrorist documents showing that millions of est possible portion of the investment of politics, security and economy, ex- WASHINGTON, Jan 11, (AP): Kuwaiti dinars were smuggled out of they made in the GCC crisis. changing goods and facilitating the Secretary of State Mike Pom- Kuwait and kept in tax haven coun- Countries, parties and groups, even movement of individuals, as the situ- peo has announced that he will tries abroad. businessmen and merchants, profi t ation prior to 2017. Iran-outreach designate Yemen’s Iran-backed Once the bill is implemented, it will from the crisis. Therefore, they will There is no doubt that Doha, under Houthi rebels as a “foreign ter- generate at least KD 100 million national not easily accept the new status quo, the leadership of Sheikh Tamim bin rorist organization” as time runs revenues per year. The bill stipulates pen- which includes opening of land and Hamad, is not what it used to be fi ve Burns for CIA down on the Trump administra- alties for those who will violate its provi- air borders, and the return of the fl ow years ago. This man is fully aware of tion. The designation will take sions. At present, the exchange compa- WASHINGTON, Jan 11, (AP): Wil- effect on Jan19, one day before nies are collecting fees for remittances, of goods among the fi ve countries. the importance of the strategic depth liam Burns, a well-known figure in This new reality would not sit of his country. He is one of the young president-elect Joe Biden takes but the State gets nothing. The State will diplomatic circles around the world, office. benefit from remittances through this bill, comfortably with countries like Tur- leaders who works for the future of his is President-elect Joe Biden’s choice key and Iran, which are still working The announcement Sunday Al-Shaheen explained. country on the basis of solidarity and to lead the CIA, a selection likely to comes as Pompeo and his top This bill amends law number 32/1968 hard to prevent the development of union of the vision between the capi- be embraced by the rank and file at aides rush to complete actions which regulates the currency, Central reconciliation into natural fraternal tals of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the nation’s premier spy agency. they believe will cement their Bank of Kuwait (CBK) and banking pro- relations like it was before the crisis. and does not sing out of tune. A former ambassador to Russia legacy and the president’s. In ad- cedures. It adds two articles to the afore- Even the Muslim Brotherhood Irrespective of the discordant and Jordan, Burns, 64, had a 33-year dition to the Houthi designation, mentioned law as follows: Group, which strives to exploit the voices emanating from here and there Prime Minister’s Diwan photo career at the State Department under Pompeo in coming days is also Article 71 bis mandates the Central dispute to pass more of its ideas and through the press and the social me- HH the Prime Minister Sheikh both Republican and Democratic expected to likely re-designate Bank of Kuwait to take the necessary projects and market them in the larg- dia platforms, which have destroyed Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad presidents. He rose through the ranks Cuba as a “state sponsor of ter- steps to obligate local banks, branches of est possible area, will work with all more than what have built during Al-Sabah chairing Monday’s of the diplomatic corps to become rorism,” according to several ad- foreign banks and money exchange com- its strength to accumulate its balance, the past three and a half years, this Cabinet meeting. deputy secretary of state before retir- mininstration officials. panies to collect tax on remittances – 2.5 and will fi ght with all its weapons in should not turn into sparks that reig- ing in 2014 to run the Carnegie En- Both moves will impose or re- percent of the amount remitted regardless dowment of International Peace. this regard. Because of this, the cur- nite the fi re of disagreement. impose sanctions on the targets of the currency. This tax will be added rent stage is closer to the period of In his 2019 book “The Back Chan- and may complicate the incom- to the State treasury. Money transfers This reconciliation is fought nel: A Memoir of American Diplo- recuperation that the patient is going against, thus, dealing with what Newswatch ing Biden administration’s di- related to agreements on investment pro- macy and the Case for Its Renewal,” tection and money transferred by the gov- through, during which care becomes threatens it must be based on the plomacy.