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Kuwait approves Chinese company for port operations

Shipping Container, Cargo Container, Boat Mubarak Al-Kabeer Kuwait China Kuwaiti Chinese Wam
Mubarak Al-Kabeer port is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and will have a capacity to handle more than 8 million containers

The Kuwaiti cabinet has approved a contracting pact with China State Construction Engineering Corporation for the operation and management of the Mubarak Al-Kabeer port project.

Noura Al-Mashaan, Kuwait’s public works minister, met with a Chinese delegation in September 2024 to speed up the work on the port, state-run Kuna news agency reported.

Chinese state-owned companies will be involved in all stages of the port, with 50 percent of the port’s first phase completed, she said.

In March, a local Arabic daily reported that the government had approved nearly QD186 million ($614 million) for the port, which is under construction on Bubiyan Island.

Mubarak Al-Kabeer port is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and will have a capacity to handle more than 8 million containers.

Kuwait’s fiscal balance swung from a surplus of 11.7 percent of GDP in the 2022-23 financial year to a deficit of 3.1 percent of GDP in 2023-24, on the back of lower oil prices and production, and an increase in spending. 

The International Monetary Fund has urged the Kuwaiti government to introduce structural reforms that improve the business environment and attract foreign investment to boost private sector-led inclusive growth.