Kuwaitis, Saudis to use smart cards instead of Passports

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have signed yesterday an agreement allowing their nationals to use smart ID cards instead of passports to cross the joint borders. The deal will take force only one month after being signed by Kuwaiti Minister of Interior Lt-Gen (rtd) Sheikh Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah and Saudi Arabia’s Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Prince Nayif Bin-Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

Sheikh Jaber said the agreement would give a strong impetus to the friendly exchanges between the two countries. Saudi Arabia is of strategic importance for Kuwait and constitutes a crucial link between Kuwait and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states. The deal will greatly facilitate the movement of citizens of the two sister countries and it sets example for what the ties between neighbors should be.

It is only a step which will be followed by other steps on road of cooperation in all domains,” Sheikh Jaber affirmed. Meanwhile, Director-General of Saudi Passports Directorate Salem Bin-Mohammad Al-Belhid said the document materializes the political will of GCC leaders for facilitating the movement of the GCC nationals. Echoing Sheikh Jaber’s remarks, Al-Belhid said: “The GCC interior ministers are determined to adopt a range of measures to bolster up integration particularly in the security field. The Kuwaiti and Saudi nationals will be able to use smart cards to enter each other’s country through the official crossing points in line with the travel laws and their executive statutes.