China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) is organizing a joint promotion tour of Beautiful China for tourism authorities and businesses from the member regions of the Ice and Snow Tourism Promotion Alliance and Shanghai to the UAE, Malaysia and Singapore from May 15-23. The delegates will discuss cooperation with their counterparts from the local tourism industries. The Chinese tourism promotion delegation is being led by Zhang Lizhong of Department of Tourism Promotion and International Cooperation, CNTA.
The tour aims at strengthening China’s tourism exchange and cooperation with the Middle East and Southeast Asia and promoting China’s ice and snow tourism resources and products to the Belt and Road countries.
China’s tourism industry is experiencing rapid and sustained growth, marking a transition from scenic-spot-based tourism to holistic destination development tourism.
China is not just the world’s largest source of outbound tourists and largest domestic tourism market, but also a popular destination for tourists from around the world. Last year, the inbound arrivals to China reached 138 million, including 28.15 million foreign arrivals, up by 8.3 percent over 2015.
This number is expected to reach 143 million this year. The Belt and Road regions such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia have occupied a key position in China’s tourism market, both inbound and outbound.
With the momentum generated by the Belt and Road initiative, China’s tourism industry is opening at a faster pace, and the quality of tourism services and products is constantly improving.
China has rich ice and snow tourism resources, which are mainly concentrated in the northern region, and with different focuses, from sight-seeing, sports and leisure to festive celebration and cultural performance. The number of participants and employees in the industry is rapidly expanding. In 2022, China will host the 24th Winter Olympics in Beijing and Zhangjiakou City of Hebei Province, which brings new opportunities for the development of ice and snow tourism in China.
At the end of 2015, the China Ice and Snow Tourism Promotion Alliance was established under the initiative of the Tourism Administration of Heilongjiang Province. The member regions of this alliance are using this mechanism to share resources, exchange information, explore market opportunities and encourage mutual tourist visits, and working together to grow China’s ice and snow tourism industry and promote China’s ice and now tourism culture to the world.
China is also working with the UAE, Malaysia, Singapore and the other Belt and Road countries to improve the convenience of policy arrangements in visa, customs clearance, logistics and shopping refund.
China’s ice and snow tourism promoted in UAE, Malaysia and Singapore
China’s ice and snow tourism promoted in UAE, Malaysia and Singapore
Kuwait Fund for Development: Six decades of humanitarian and developmental impact across globe
On Dec. 31, the Kuwait Fund for Development marks the anniversary of its establishment, opening a new chapter of success and ambition as one of the most prominent pioneers of development on both regional and global levels. Founded in 1961, the fund became the first and oldest development institution to operate in Arab countries and other developing nations.
Today, after more than six decades of continuous work, the Kuwait Fund for Development remains steadfast in its mission and has never ceased its efforts to support development causes in developing countries. As it celebrates its 64th anniversary, the fund has drawn a national portrait under the theme “Partners in Development,” reflected through its projects spread across the globe, all of which aim to build brighter and more sustainable future.
An external development arm
The establishment of the Kuwait Fund for Development embodied a wise and visionary decision by the leadership of Kuwait at the time. Kuwait was the only developing country that chose to share the challenges of development with other developing nations, cooperating with them through the provision of concessional loans, grants, financial assistance, and technical support tailored to their development priorities.
Since its inception, the Kuwait Fund for Development has served as Kuwait’s external development arm, sparing no effort in supporting development causes and extending assistance to developing countries worldwide.
Vision and early beginnings
In the early 1960s, the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, then head of the financial department, proposed the idea of establishing a development entity that would serve Kuwait’s foreign policy and assist Arab and other developing countries in achieving development across various sectors. The idea received strong support from the late Amir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, as it aligned with Kuwait’s vision at the time to build a modern state.
Consequently, an Amiri decree was issued on Dec. 31, 1961, establishing the Kuwait Fund for Development with an initial capital of 50 million Kuwaiti dinars ($162.6 million).
Global reach and development impact
The fund’s activities have extended to all corners of the world, contributing to the financing of projects in 106 countries, including 16 Arab countries, 41 African countries, 19 in East and South Asia and the Pacific, 17 in Central Asia and Europe, and 12 in Latin America and the Caribbean.
This support was delivered through 1,037 concessional loans provided to the governments of these countries, with a total value of approximately 7 billion Kuwaiti dinars. In addition, the fund has provided grants and technical assistance to support a wide range of development services, helping beneficiary countries implement their development programs. A total of 420 grants and technical assistance operations were extended, amounting to approximately 401 million Kuwaiti dinars.
Loan agreements
During the past year, the Kuwait Fund for Development signed several loan agreements supporting development across different regions of the world. Among these were two loan agreements with the government of Bahrain. The first loan, valued at 31.25 million Kuwaiti dinars, contributed to financing the Electricity Transmission Networks Development Project. The second loan, valued at 10 million Kuwaiti dinars, supported the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Highway Development Project (Phase II).
On the sidelines of the World Bank Group meetings held in Washington, D.C., the fund has also signed a 4 million Kuwaiti dinar-worth loan agreement with Saint Lucia to help finance the Sir Julian R. Hunte Highway Project, as well as another 4 million Kuwaiti dinar-worth loan agreement with Belize to support the George Price Highway Project.
Supporting and assisting refugees
The Kuwait Fund for Development’s contributions to humanitarian action stand out at both regional and international levels. Since its establishment, the fund has represented a unique model in supporting and assisting refugees in countries affected by disasters, conflicts, and wars, in line with Kuwait’s moderate and balanced policy.
These efforts have helped strengthen Kuwait’s relations with Arab and international partners. The fund has played a significant role in the reconstruction of Lebanon and Iraq following periods of crisis, and its assistance to the Palestinian people has never ceased.
International Participation
Over the past year, the Kuwait Fund for Development recorded notable participations in major international forums. These included taking part in the 2025 annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C., with a delegation headed by the fund’s Acting Director General Walid Shamlan Al-Bahar. The fund also took part in the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, held in Tokyo, Japan.
Additional international engagements included participation in the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries, held in Awaza, Turkmenistan, and the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, organized by the UN in Seville, Spain.
