Real Estate Kuwait to let expats buy property to boost market Real estate activity in Kuwait has fallen over the past year, but the government is hoping to turn that around by allowing expats to buy property for the first time. A ministerial committee has lodged a proposal to the cabinet to allow non-Kuwaitis to own investment residential properties, according to a local media report this […] May 17, 2023
Analysis Construction Kuwait’s building towards its $100bn ambition Work has started on the first phase of Kuwait Port Authority’s $160 million redevelopment of Shuwaikh Port as the country steps up its multi-billion-dollar infrastructure strategy. The port expansion has been awarded to a joint venture of South Korea’s Hyundai and Kuwaiti Gulf Dredging & General Contracting, as the government increasingly turns to private investors […] April 25, 2023
Energy Kuwait increases May crude export price to Asia Kuwait raised the official selling price (OSP) for Kuwait Export Crude (KEC) to Asia in May by 25 cents from the previous month to $2.40 a barrel above the average of Oman/Dubai quotes, a price document reviewed by Reuters showed on Wednesday. The producer set the May Kuwait Super Light Crude (KSLC) OSP at $2.50 […] April 13, 2023
Logistics Agility targets rapid growth as it hails ‘huge potential’ of Saudi market Kuwaiti logistics firm Agility sees huge potential in Saudi Arabia and is “taking every measure” to boost its investments in the kingdom. The company, which has reported earnings of KD68 million ($221 million) for 2022, a year-on-year increase of 180.7 percent, believes Saudi Arabia “definitely” offers the biggest market potential in the GCC. Agility’s revenues […] April 11, 2023
Banking & Finance Kuwait’s Agility raises $1bn from hedging DSV stake Kuwait’s Agility has entered into a derivative transaction, known as a collar trade, with banks to hedge its investment in Danish transport firm DSV. The company said it signed multi-year funded agreements with the banks that will allow Agility to draw down within a few weeks up to €1 billion ($1.09 billion). A collar is […] April 4, 2023
Banking & Finance Kuwait sovereign fund to offload stake in Mercedes-Benz Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), a sovereign wealth fund, plans to reduce its stake in the German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz by selling 20 million shares. The Kuwaiti fund is the third-largest shareholder in Frankfurt-listed Mercedes-Benz. At price guidance of €69.27 ($18.86) per share, KIA may raise €1.385 billion ($1.5 billion), which will reduce its stake to […] March 29, 2023
Logistics AD Ports’ new cargo service to improve trade with Kuwait Abu Dubai’s AD Ports Group has launched a new direct shipping service dedicated to roll on-roll off (Ro-Ro) between UAE’s Khalifa Port and Kuwait’s Shuwaikh Port. The new service aims to improve commercial connectivity and facilitates trade with Kuwait, the UAE state-owned WAM news agency reported. Ammar Mubarak Al Shaiba, acting CEO of the maritime […] March 26, 2023
Banking & Finance Kuwait’s Agility awarded $1.65bn in dispute with Iraqi telecom firm Kuwaiti logistic firm Agility said one of its subsidiaries and an affiliate have been awarded $1.65 billion in damages in an arbitration case against Iraq’s Korek Telecom and prominent Iraqi Kurdish businessman Sirwan Barzani. Agility said that the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce had awarded subsidiary Agility Public Warehousing Company […] March 22, 2023
Tourism India resists allowing Gulf carriers to increase air traffic to its cities India is resisting calls from both Dubai and Kuwait to increase their national airlines’ flights to the subcontinent’s fast-growing aviation market. The country wants its own domestic airlines to offer non-stop long haul flights rather than increasing air traffic from Emirates and Jazeera Airways, its civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told Reuters on Tuesday. “The minute […] March 21, 2023
60 seconds with... Lifestyle Alison Milton, Ambassador of Ireland to the UAE Alison Milton has been the Ambassador of Ireland to the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait since August. Before then she worked as the British-Irish director, in Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs. What does your company do? I work for the Embassy of Ireland in Abu Dhabi covering the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar. I also have responsibility […] March 17, 2023
Banking & Finance UAE and Kuwait banks least at risk from energy transition UAE and Kuwait banks are the least exposed in the region to the impact of the energy transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable sources such as wind and solar. The new research comes as the UAE’s top banks saw profits rise by nearly one-third last year. As part of the global climate change […] March 15, 2023
Logistics Agility and Hassan Allam link up to build logistics parks in Egypt Kuwaiti logistics specialist Agility has formed a joint venture with the development arm of Hassan Allam Holding to build and run warehouses in Egypt. The venture, Yanmu, is due to open its first logistics park in August with an initial investment of about $100 million, Agility said in a stock market filing. The development, a […] March 14, 2023
Banking & Finance Kuwait central bank expects little SVB impact on local lenders Kuwait’s central bank said on Sunday there would be very little impact on local lenders from the collapse on Friday of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The Kuwaiti central bank governor said that the exposure of the local banks to SVB was very limited and that the banks assured him that their business would be barely […] March 13, 2023
Economy Kuwait re-appoints Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Sabah as prime minister Kuwait’s crown prince re-appointed Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Sabah as prime minister and asked him to nominate a cabinet, state news agency Kuna reported, more than a month after the government resigned due to renewed friction with parliament. A long-running standoff between the government and the elected parliament has hampered efforts by the wealthy Gulf Arab […] March 6, 2023
Banking & Finance Kuwait records 85.5% jump in trade with Japan Kuwait’s trade surplus with Japan has increased by 85.5 percent in the past year to JPY110.3 billion ($823 million) in January, according to government data. Overall exports from Kuwait to Japan surged 81.2 percent year on year to JPY126.5 billion for the 22nd consecutive month of expansion. Imports from Japan also soared 56.4 percent to […] February 20, 2023
Opinion Tech Never underestimate the human touch Developments around AI are phenomenal but technology in the workplace is no substitute for humans February 14, 2023
Banking & Finance Boursa Kuwait hails increasing international investor appeal The CEO of Boursa Kuwait says he is seeing increased confidence from international investors in the stock exchange as net profit grew by over 13 percent to KD18 million ($59 million) in 2022. “We were successful in attracting institutional international investors, as total foreign turnover activity was up 29 percent, with a total traded value […] February 13, 2023
Banking & Finance Kuwait plans reform to aid via economic development fund Kuwait intends to reconsider its policy of providing aid to Arab and developing countries through the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, its foreign minister said. “There are developments at the international level that require us to reconsider the mechanisms of the fund’s work and harness the fund’s work to preserve our national interests,” Sheikh […] February 10, 2023
Banking & Finance Jazeera Airways cuts bank funding needs for Airbus deal to $1bn Kuwaiti low-cost carrier Jazeera Airways aims to secure $1 billion from banks to help finance the purchase of new Airbus aircraft, its chairman said on Tuesday, half the amount it had initially planned to seek. The airline placed a multi-billion dollar order with Airbus for 28 single aisle A320neo family passenger jets in November 2021. […] February 8, 2023
Aviation Kuwait Airways eyes break even by 2024-end despite losses Kuwait Airways’ revenue last year rose by 115 percent from 2021 and was up 10 percent from pre-pandemic 2019, Reuters reported, citing chairman Ali Aldokhan. The state carrier posted a net loss of KD55 million ($180.3 million) for 2022 and still expects to break even by the end of 2024, Aldokhan told a news conference […] January 27, 2023
