The American Business Council Kuwait– AmCham Kuwait held the March Speaker Series and General Meeting on the 12th of March at the Holiday Inn Salmiya Hotel, in attendance of 20 members and non-members who had an interest in learning about Kuwait’s future and current business environment. ABCK invited Mr. Mohammad Yousef Yaqoub from KDIPA.
In his opening statements, ABCK’s Vice-Chairman Mr. Fred Shuaibi thanked the members and non-members for being present and for their constant support. After, the Vice-Chairman introduced ABCK’s guest speaker- Mr. Yaqoub. In his address, Mr. Yaqoub spoke about the new business opportunities in Kuwait, new developments, and Kuwait’s plan for 2035.
In his address, Mr. Yaqoub also explained the Kuwaiti government with KDIPA has been implementing methods to encourage foreign investment and more external markets to come to Kuwait, for example, one of the methods that Mr. Yaqoub spoke about was that KDIPA has made it easier for organizations to register legally, as he explained that nowadays clients can come to KDIPA and register an organization in less than a month.
Mr. Yaqoub emphasized that knowledge transfer was needed for Kuwait’s future to keep evolving, and he stated that KDIPA is currently working in creating a knowledge center/technology center in order to tackle this challenge.
Mr. Yaqoub brought up a crucial reason for encouraging foreign investment in Kuwait. He stated that this will create more economic stability in the country, as every country within the region has been diversifying. Mr. Yaqoub explained that the first step that KDIPA has taken in order to create diverse markets, has been through opening the door for international companies by submitting the concept paper, so that if there is a possibility for companies to invest in Kuwait, and if there is a letter of intention from outside companies, KDIPA will then guide them through the rules of the sector, and they will aid them in opening a door for them within different sectors through information and guidance.
In the past, KDIPA’s focus was on 5 sectors: oil and gas, education, health care, construction, and ICT, since then they managed to get many international companies from different countries in these 5 sectors.
Mr. Yaqoub also noted that KDIPA believes that every company that goes to them should be able to have a different legal setup, as they work on different scales.
In his remarks, Mr. Yaqoub stated that KDIPA has been made responsible for the new commercial plots so that they go through every project in order to understand how much investors will add value to these areas. Moreover, he spoke briefly about the economic zones in which KDIPA together with the Kuwaiti government had been jointly working towards. The economic zones were said to be developed within 2-3 years, and there will be a total of three.
To finalize, ABCK’s Vice-Chairman and Executive Director recognized Mr. Yaqoub for his valuable informative session, and he was thanked for his contribution to the Speaker Series. The event concluded with networking where new and existing members had the chance to get to know each other.
