Kuwait and neighboring Iraq on Monday agreed to resume full diplomatic relations.

A joint statement issued on the occasion of the visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to Kuwait, carried by the Kuwait News Agency, said that the two sides had discussed means to boost cooperation in all fields.

It was agreed that trade and commerce cooperation in particular would be enhanced through the establishment of a higher joint committee chaired by the prime ministers of the two countries, saidthe statement.

The committee is to hold annual meetings and the concerned ministers may represent the chairmen if necessary, it said.

The two sides also agreed to set up technical committees to handle all cooperation issues in all fields, it added.

The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry and the Iraqi Ministry of Planning and Development are to follow up and coordinate on the affairs of the higher joint committee, according to the statement.

Allawi arrived in Kuwait on Saturday, two days before the 14th anniversary of Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, for a three-day visit.

Saddam ordered his army to invade Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990, announcing that Iraq considered Kuwait as its 19th province in the wake of an oil exploitation dispute between the two countries.

Kuwait and Iraq resumed diplomatic ties on June 28, the day whenthe US-led coalition authority transferred sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government headed by Allawi.

Source: Xinhua