The Foreign Ministry summoned on Sunday ambassador of the friendly state, the Philippines, Renato Pedro Villa, to the State of Kuwait, Renato Pedro Villa, Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Sulaiman Al-Jarallah announced.

The Filipino envoy met at the ministry building with the assistant foreign minister for consular affairs, who notified the ambassador about Kuwait's regret and bewilderment toward his president's decision to suspend dispatch of laborers to Kuwait.

Such a stance contradicts nature of the distinctive ties between the two countries and does not serve their common interests. Deputy Foreign Minister Al-Jarallah added that the Kuwaiti side noted to the ambassador that freedoms and rights enjoyed by the expatriate communities in the country contributed to lifting number of the Filipino workers to 276,000.

Status of the workers in Kuwait cannot be assessed according to individual cases that are common in other nations.

Moreover, the Kuwaiti side expressed readiness to host Filipino diplomats to discuss conditions of the community and follow up on Filipinos' problems.

Al-Jarallah added that the envoy was asked to seek to lift the ban.
The Filipino envoy praised the cooperation the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and pledged to recommend to his government to end the ban soon.

Al-Jarallah also noted that the Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to the Philippines, Musaed Al-Thuwaikh, would meet on Monday with the Filipino foreign minister and other officials as part of the Kuwaiti efforts in this respect.