Agencies
Kuwait, Jan 20: Kuwait will contribute $500 million to a proposed $2 billion fund to support Arab companies through the global financial crisis, the Gulf Arab oil exporter's ruler said on Monday.
"I am glad to announce the contribution of Kuwait with $500 million of its capital," Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah told leaders at the opening of an Arab economic summit in Kuwait. "We are looking forward to (your) support for this initiative."
The new fund would support small and medium-sized Arab companies, Sheikh Sabah said.
Arab leaders met in Kuwait on Monday to find ways to counter the impact on the Arab world of the collapse in oil prices, the global economic slowdown and the credit crunch but a three-week Israeli offensive in Gaza overshadowed the event and highlighted Arab differences over the Palestinian situation.