Kuwait-based fintech startup, Kem, has successfully secured a $3 million investment from the digital asset behemoth, Tether. This strategic partnership marks a significant milestone for both companies, promising to reshape the regional payments landscape.

Founded in 2021, Kem has rapidly gained traction as a leading peer-to-peer (P2P) instant payment platform in Kuwait. Its innovative approach, which eliminates the need for traditional payment methods and relies on QR codes for seamless transactions, has resonated with consumers and businesses alike.

With this fresh infusion of capital, Kem is poised to expand its reach and solidify its position as a dominant player in the region's fintech ecosystem.

The collaboration between Kem and Tether is a strategic match made in fintech heaven. By combining Kem's expertise in real-time payments with Tether's commitment to expanding access to digital finance, the partnership aims to empower millions of people across the region with innovative and inclusive financial services.

This alliance is particularly significant in countries facing economic challenges, as it offers a potential lifeline for individuals and businesses seeking to mitigate the impact of hyperinflation and currency fluctuations.

For Tether, the investment in Kem represents a strategic foothold in the Middle Eastern market. As the largest company in the digital asset industry, Tether has been at the forefront of driving financial inclusion and stability.

By supporting Kem's growth, Tether is demonstrating its commitment to democratizing access to financial services and empowering individuals to protect their wealth.

The partnership also holds immense potential for Kuwait. The influx of foreign investment into the country's fintech sector is a positive indicator of its growing attractiveness as a destination for innovative businesses.

By fostering a thriving fintech ecosystem, Kuwait can position itself as a regional leader in financial technology and attract further investment.

Kem's founders, Seth Sadeq, Zane Chichua, and George Chichua, expressed their enthusiasm for the partnership, highlighting its potential to transform the Gulf region into a digital cash economy.

They envision a future where financial services are accessible to all, regardless of socioeconomic background.

As Tether continues to expand its global footprint and solidify its position as a dominant force in the digital asset industry, the partnership with Kem is a strategic move that aligns with the company's broader mission.

With its massive 24-hour trading volume and substantial treasury holdings, Tether is well-positioned to support Kem's growth and drive the adoption of digital currencies in the region.

The collaboration between Kem and Tether is undoubtedly a game-changer for the Middle East's fintech landscape. By combining their strengths and resources, the two companies are poised to revolutionize the way people and businesses transact, paving the way for a more inclusive and efficient financial future.

The technical crews and labor at the project site are preparing the infrastructure, sewage and water networks in preparation for receiving the new project

Kuwait City - After the Government Communication Center announced the entertainment and games project — the Winter Wonderland — two weeks ago, heavy machinery and equipment, under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Works, began work on preparing and equipping the site at the Al-Shaab Entertainment Park, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The preparations came after completing the signing of the agreement between the Tourism Enterprises Company and an international company specialized in the entertainment industry.

The designated site for the Games City, the supervisory staff began work on leveling the land and preparing it technically based on the standards required for the installation of equipment and mechanisms and their distribution according to the agreed technical and engineering design.

The technical crews and labor at the project site are preparing the infrastructure, sewage and water networks in preparation for receiving the new project, which begins its season in London annually in November and extends until January. Winter Wonderland entertainment project relies in designing its games on a range of games, ice skating rinks and other designs for seating inspired by snow, in addition to a wide range of hand-crafted games as well as mobile restaurants and stores.

Meanwhile, an informed source revealed that entrepreneurs and owners of small and medium enterprises are waiting for the invitation of the Ministry of Finance and the Tourism Enterprises Company to inform them of the design of the Winter Wonderland project and the possibility of applying to participate in points of sale during the upcoming winter season.

According to the source, the entrepreneurs have not yet received any invitation from the relevant authorities regarding what is required of them, and whether there will be participation from owners of small and medium enterprises and national companies working in the field of restaurants and services in the upcoming Games City project or not.

source: Zawya

Expats with student visas and those on dependency visas are now allowed to stay abroad for over six months as it applies to those with work permit. “The initiative is to make life for expats in Kuwait easier, with consideration to foreign students as the world battles COVID-19,” sources told Kuwait Times. The only exception is for domestic workers.

If they stay abroad for more than six months, their residency permit will be cancelled unless their sponsors sign an agreement.

A government decision allowing expatriates with iqama to remain outside the country for more than six months is still in force. Until now, the decree has not been cancelled,” the sources said. However, the sources said only domestic workers are not permitted to remain outside Kuwait for more than six months unless their sponsor applies for an exception on their behalf.

Expatriates are also allowed to renew their residency permits while they are outside Kuwait. “The decree allowing the expatriates to renew their iqamas online while abroad is still in effect,” the sources added.

Residency of expatriates who stay outside Kuwait for more than six months won’t be canceled, except for domestic workers.

This decision to continue with the exemption will be valid until further announcement. Kuwait’s Interior Ministry had made this exemption for expatriates during the COVID pandemic as expatriate arrivals into Kuwait were suspended for fear of spread of coronavirus.

Kuwait has slowly returned back to normalcy with all government and private sector offices functioning to pre-pandemic levels. The government recently cancelled all online work without exceptions.

Regarding the opening of visit visas, the Ministry of Interior has decided to extend its decision to halt the issuance of family visit visas until the end of this current year. According to sources, the Ministry said that security of the state and the parliamentary elections are of vital importance to the Ministry.

The Ministry will deploy its personnel and will increase its presence in strategic areas during electoral gatherings, election-day and campaigns.

The new elections will be held at the beginning of October. Files related to security need adequate time to be studied, especially the ones related to issuing family visas.

source: Kuwait Times

One of Kuwait’s largest manufacturers, Kuwait Steel (United Steel Industrial Company), has said that its digital transformation with global technology company SAP is enabling new levels of manufacturing efficiency and productivity.

Johan Henning, CIO, Kuwait Steel and SAP made the statement during the recent Digital Transformation (DX) event, which brought together Kuwait’s business and technology leaders.

“Kuwait Steel shows how business redesign, digital transformation is supporting the company to achieve its vision in becoming a leader in the steel industry by investing in technology and driving change,” said Andy Froemmel, Managing Director, SAP Kuwait.

Kuwait’s Vision 2035 presents major opportunities for government agencies to use e-services to improve people’s daily lives, and help people in Kuwait to save time and money.”

source: zawya

Increasing government expenditure towards sustainable infrastructure development with continued investment in energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable assets is promoting the market demand for Kuwait Construction and Infrastructure companies. The government is also encouraging companies that emphasize on technological advancements and standardizing modern methods of construction.

Globally, industrialization and urbanization trends are propelling the demand for client-driven Construction and Infrastructure activities and augmenting demand for investment in railways, roads, ports, power transmission, and water utilities. Growing demand for Building Information Modelling, Modular construction, and building materials industry is being observed across the Kuwait Construction and Infrastructure market. Estimated construction and infrastructure growth of 6% CAGR is forecast globally between 2019 and 2026.

Investment in large-scale infrastructure projects is one of the key strategies of Kuwait to fuel economic growth. The government’s effort to improve the country’s infrastructure to sustain growth in the manufacturing sector and expand municipal utilities will contribute to the growth in construction spending. Rising personal income levels, household growth, and population migration from rural to urban areas will augment the need for better construction facilities and road infrastructure developments in the country.

Increasing public investments into Kuwait’s commercial construction sectors will be a key market opportunity for the companies operating in the construction and infrastructure industry.

The presence of a huge customer base is resulting in strong FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows into the country. Further, increasing investments in real estate and infrastructure sectors result in the growth of construction activities.

The 2019 Construction and Infrastructure Market research identifies that the competition continues to intensify year-on-year with emerging applications. This OG Analysis report covers the 2019 scenario and growth prospects of the Kuwait Construction and Infrastructure Market for 2020-2026.

To calculate the market size, revenue from the market sales of Construction and Infrastructure materials to retailers, wholesalers, and institutional buyers is considered.

The global Construction and Infrastructure Market is poised to grow robustly over the forecast period 2020-2026. The ongoing trend towards modernization of Construction and Infrastructure through renovation projects, new building construction, and other civil projects are supporting Kuwait to strengthen its Construction and Infrastructure Market size.

The report presents a comprehensive analysis of Kuwait Construction and Infrastructure activities. Key trends and critical insights into Kuwait Construction and Infrastructure markets, along with key drivers, restraints, and growth opportunities are presented in the report.

Kuwait Construction and Infrastructure Market are compared against five of its competitive markets in the region to analyze the role of Kuwait on the regional front and benchmark its operations.

Global Construction and Infrastructure, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East Africa, North America, and South & Central America Construction and Infrastructure market outlook is also presented in the report to provide a global perspective of the industry.

Kuwait’s population and economic outlook are also included in the report to provide insights and forecasts of macroeconomic factors shaping the future of Construction and Infrastructure markets.

Business and SWOT profiles of three of the leading Construction and Infrastructure companies in Kuwait are detailed in the report along with strategic initiatives, recent developments, and their impact on overall market growth.

source: primefeed

(عربي)

During its last session, the Kuwaiti Council of Ministers approved two new laws for the residency of expatriates, according to which a continuous residency period of ten years was granted to investors and property owners of expatriates and 5 years to ordinary expatriates.

The articles of the new law stipulated that it is permissible for a foreigner to reside for a period not exceeding 10 years for both investors and real estate owners, provided that the Council of Ministers issues a decision specifying the areas in which expatriates can invest and the amounts that they must invest, as for expatriates who wish to own real estate in Kuwait, they must obtain approval from the Kuwaiti Council of Ministers, after submitting the required documents to the Ministry of Justice, to review the legal situation of the expatriate and his family members, as they must have their records free of any criminal case or misconduct, and the expatriate should hold a valid residency and should not have any violation of the residency regulations. The purchase of the property should be for own residency and not for renting purposes.

The distinguished residence is considered a temporary residence, that is, it is not automatically renewed. The conditions of the residence may be modified in the future; also the Ministry of Interior reserves the right not to renew the residence for an expatriate based on valid reasons.

This law also allows expatriates subject to a deportation order, to have a grace period in order to be able to liquidate their business, determined by the Ministry of Interior, while not allowing them to return to the country without permission from the Ministry.

In addition to that, the new residency law gives Kuwaiti citizens the ability to obtain a residence permit for their husbands and members of their family, provided that none of them work for a governmental or non-governmental entity, also its citizenship should not be obtained through naturalized by a marriage with a Kuwaiti citizen.

The law stipulates that the maximum period for a domestic worker, wishing to reside abroad, should not exceeding 4 months compared to 6 months before.

It is expected that the new law will revive the real estate sector in Kuwait, and it will also make it easier for expatriates to deposit their money in banks and invest it, instead of transferring it abroad, which will benefit investors, expatriate workers and the Kuwaiti economy.

Kuwait has become the latest country to receive the coveted emerging markets status from MSCI, in a move that is expected to result in billions of dollars of investor inflows into the Gulf country's stocks.

MSCI, the world's top equity indexing provider, said in a statement late on Tuesday that it would reclassify its MSCI Kuwait Index benchmark to emerging markets status.

Kuwait was previously classified as a frontier market. The upgrade, which comes following MSCI's latest market classification review, will see nine Kuwaiti blue chips included in MSCI's emerging markets benchmark from May next year, with an index weighting of 0.5 per cent .

MSCI's emerging markets index is tracked by about $1.9trn in investment funds globally.

The reclassification of Kuwait as an emerging market could see the country's stock market lure an additional $2.8bn in passive investment flows, according to NBK Capital. In comparison, China's much larger equity markets is expected to see $125bn in inflows as its presence in the emerging markets benchmark expands.

NBK Capital said that the upgrade for Kuwait could boost liquidity, corporate governance and earnings growth in the Gulf nation's equity market. The upgrade is subject to the Kuwait market meeting certain stipulations and reforms.

In the year through to May 31, Kuwaiti stocks returned 22 per cent, versus 4 per cent for emerging markets overall.

The Gulf bourse's biggest names include National Bank of Kuwait and global logistics business Agility.

source: FT

The oil price shock has led the country's government to record sustained fiscal deficits since 2015, which has forced it to draw on the reserves of one of its sovereign wealth fund's assets

Assets of the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the oldest sovereign wealth fund (SWF) in the world, have continued to grow despite the oil price shocks, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

Future Generations Fund (FGF), one of two funds managed by the KIA, which receives mandatory transfers of funds equivalent to 10 per cent of the government's revenue has continued to grow with solid profitability that has seen it rise to about 309 per cent of Kuwait's gross domestic product, Moody’s said in a report. The growth has come despite a reduction in the ratio of mandatory funds transfer from previous 25 per cent, Moody’s which rates Kuwait at Aa2 with a stable outlook, said.

“We expect it [FGF] will continue to grow as long as the fund remains profitable and the mandatory transfer remains in place,” it noted in the report.

By contrast, Kuwait's government has drawn down on its second investment vehicle, the General Reserve Fund (GRF) “quite rapidly since the 2015-16 fiscal year to finance deficits triggered by the oil price shock,” Moody’s said.

Kuwait's fiscal deficit peaked at 17.5 per cent of its GDP in 2016-17, a huge decline from a 20 per cent surplus recorded in 2013-14. The government had tried to relieve pressure on the GRF in the beginning of the oil price slump that saw crude falling from a peak of $115 per barrel in the mid-2014 to below $30 per barrel in the first quarter of 2016.

However, the country’s parliament blocked the government's attempts to increase the debt ceiling to 25 billion dinars (Dh301.6bn) and lengthen tenors up to 30 years in 2017 from previous 10bn dinars and 10 years, respectively. The debt law subsequently expired and the government was forced to finance deficits and maturing domestic borrowings from the GRF.

Relying on the GRF has led to an accelerated drawdown of the fund's assets to an estimated 23bn dinars as of March 2019, from 26.

4bn dinars from a year earlier, Moody’s explained.

The rating agency said a further depletion of the GRF would depend on “if and when” parliament passed another debt law, but the government will need to finance deficits around 9 per cent of GDP over the next few years. However, as only around 65 per cent of GRF assets are liquid, the fund would only be able to finance around three years’ worth of deficits and run out by the end of fiscal year 2021-22.

“The eventual depletion of the GRF could have several implications for sovereign creditworthiness,” Moody’s said. “Under our baseline scenario, which assumes parliament approves the debt law by 2020 and FGF assets remain ring-fenced, a depleted GRF implies that the government will rely much more on debt issuance for funding.”

Combined with large fiscal deficits, such a scenario could lead to a rapid increase in general government debt and an increase in debt-servicing costs from the budget.

“Although unlikely, a situation where the GRF is depleted before no alternative funding sources have been arranged would be very credit negative,” Moody’s said.

“Such a scenario would require the government to make significant cuts to spending, given our expectations for persistent fiscal deficits.”

source: thenationalthenational

The bridge will bring the capital closer to the planned new free trade zone known as 'Silk City'

Kuwait inaugurated one of the world’s longest sea bridges on Wednesday, shaving an hour off the drive from the Gulf country's capital to an uninhabited area set to become the country’s major free trade zone.

The Sheikh Jaber Causeway, named after the late Sheikh Jaber Al Sabah who reigned during the Gulf War, is 36 kilometres long – making it the fourth longest bridge in the world.

Approximately 80 per cent of the bridge is over water and will connect Kuwait City to Subiya, where a 100-billion dollar mega-city is being built.

The bridge also makes Kuwait’s largest island 30 minutes from the Gulf state’s capital, having previously been a near two-hour drive.

The $3.6 billion causeway, designed by Paris-based engineering and consulting group Systra, took a consortium led by South Korea's Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co.

along with Kuwait's Combined Group Contracting Co four years to build.

The project is Kuwait’s largest construction feat to date and kicks off the country’s economic reform measures titled Kuwait 2035.

In addition to a free zone and port, Silk City envisions an airport, an Olympic stadium, a tower taller than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, currently the world’s highest, and housing for up to 700,000 people.

However, some members of Kuwait’s democratically elected parliament have opposed what they say are laws that will allow the Silk City to function as a “state within a state”.

Some of Kuwait's top parliamentarians have expressed fears over how the project could fall outside of their jurisdiction, claiming that the laws governing Silk City could be completely different to those followed in the country.

The Silk City project is being led by the Emir Nasser Al Sabah, the deputy prime minister, and will see Kuwait partner with China to build the zone.

The opening ceremony was attended by Kuwait's emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed along with South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon and the leader of the French senate, Gerard Larcher.

The Minister of Public Works and Minister State for Housing, Jenan Boushiri was also present, saying the bridge’s inauguration marks the first step towards Kuwait’s future away from an exclusively oil-dependent economy.

"We are beginning a new era in building Kuwait 2035, under the vision of your noble Highness and your high guidance, bearing in mind the aspirations of citizens and their aspirations for a better life committed to building a better tomorrow for the future of our generations,” she told reporters.

Mr Nak-yeon said Wednesday the causeway would establish Kuwait as an international trade centre connecting the Middle East with the rest of Asia.

Source: Thenational