'File 4/1 General Information regarding Kuwait and Hinterland' [‎156r] (311/474)

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Kuweit and India Page 2
cloth, roping-stuffs, s:nall canoes, furniture. In Kuweit
the building of dhows is still a very live and even a
growing business. (This week the keels of four new large
booms have been laid.) Kuweit is a good port, and a center
admirably suited both for the storage of goods and for their
infiltration into other areas. The climate is the best in
the northern end of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; the harbour is as good
as can be found in the same area; the inhabitants are friendly,
honest, and peaceloving* import duties are very low; and the
tov/n is the natural outlet, and trade center, for a considerable
area of north-eastern and northern Arabia and for much of
northern ITejd. A few years ago, much of the trade with Nejd
was disrupted because of the difficulties with King Ibn Saud,
who desired to establish his own customs facilities at Kuweit;
but the ban then imposed unon llejd trade with Kuweit has now
been lifted and normal trading is fast being re-introduced.
This condition of affairs,** for some years, caused a
deilinu in the imports of staples s ch as rice and sugar; but
that is a condition now ended^^^a** 0 ven whi 1 e it lasted, Luveit’s
inroorts of other Indian goods increased. The reason for this is
the simnle one that in recent years - very recent years - ohe
standard of living in Kuweit has improved tremendously, ana it
is stil-i improving. Kven in the short space of the last rive
years, the differences which have come to Kuweit have Dcen
astonishing. Kuweiti have long been in contact, through tneir
leading merchants, with the nearer outside world - with Basra,
with Bomoay and Karachi, even with Damascus and Syria. But for
many years there seemed almost no receptivity to new ideas at
all; and nothing changed very much. It is tha.t conuioion which
has so surprisingly altered, bringing with its alteration an
imrrtrfcved standard of living, a demand for more ana
different tyres of goods - a demand which ought to be
cultivated and trained. Pive years ago, there was scarcely
a decently dressed im n in Kuweit, for all v’ore the time
honoured BeduinT^iirt, with its wide sleeves and its oreast
pocket for funds: even a coat was a rare sight. How it is rare
indeed to see a Kuweiti (other than the Bedu who flock to tne