30- May- 2013, The Kuwait National Assembly approved in its second deliberations the draft law of encouraging foreign direct investment in the State of Kuwait, with a majority vote that took place in its regular complimentary session held on Wednesday May 29, 2013; it transferred the law for enactment by the Government.
The new law will create value added for establishing projects in Kuwait and will benefit both local and foreign investments. It will entail the establishment of a public authority for encouraging foreign direct investment, with the Minister of Commerce & Industry chairing the board of directors. In addition to that, the new law will utilize the negative list approach whereby the Council of Ministers will determine economic activities excluded for foreign investments; it will reduce the duration for the issuance of licensing applications to 30 days counted as of the date of receiving the investment application; it will also establish a one stop shop department with concerned government entities represented in it.
Kuwait Foreign Investment Bureau (KFIB), established in accordance with FDI Law No. 8/2001, will transfer all its funds, assets, obligations, and liabilities to the new authority; after the publication of this new law in the Official Gazette, it will take 6 months to complete the implementation of the executive order and producers of the new law.
