Geneva, April 21 (QNA) - Kuwait warned Tuesday that attempts to use international straits as tools for financial or political coercion risk disrupting global value chains, undermining innovation, and destabilizing markets.

Speaking at a World Intellectual Property Organization meeting, Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, Nasser Al Hayen, stressed that safeguarding maritime navigation, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz, is essential for the flow of patented technologies and global trade.

He warned that arbitrary transit fees or restrictions would violate the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Kuwait called for preserving freedom of navigation, strengthening international cooperation, and protecting intellectual property systems to ensure the sustainability of global innovation, while cautioning against escalating actions that threaten key waterways and research infrastructure. (QNA)