KUWAIT: In a further testament to its leadership in the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) was awarded the AI Excellence Award at the Microsoft Summit Kuwait, held under the patronage of His Excellency Omar Saud Abdulaziz Al-Omar, Minister of State for Communications. The award was presented to Mohammad Al Kharafi, Group Chief Operating Officer, Group Operations, Technology and Data at NBK during the summit held at the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Center on October 19, 2025.

This accolade underscores NBK’s unwavering commitment to harnessing cutting-edge AI technologies to optimize workflows, boost productivity, and strengthen organizational agility. The Bank’s recent rollout of Microsoft’s AI-powered digital assistant, “Copilot,” across all operations marks a defining milestone in its ongoing digital transformation journey.

The Microsoft AI Summit Kuwait serves as a premier platform, uniting business leaders, developers, IT professionals, and AI enthusiasts to explore the next generation of artificial intelligence and its transformative potential across diverse industries. The summit offered a unique opportunity to engage with industry leaders and Microsoft experts, and to gain insights from global and local speakers on how organizations can harness AI to drive practical solutions to operational and functional challenges, while achieving significant leaps in productivity.

The patronage of the summit by the Minister of State for Communications highlights Kuwait’s steadfast commitment to forging strategic partnerships with global leaders such as Microsoft, driving digital transformation and innovation in full alignment with the country’s long-term vision. Copilot leverages the power of generative AI to empower NBK employees to perform their daily tasks with unprecedented efficiency, including drafting documents, analyzing complex datasets, summarizing key information, and automating repetitive processes, seamlessly integrating this advanced technology into the digital work environment.

NBK’s strategy extends beyond the implementation of Microsoft Copilot, encompassing a holistic approach to enhancing the employee experience through cultural transformation and digital empowerment. The Bank continues to modernize its internal systems and deliver targeted skills development programs, fostering a work environment that seamlessly integrates human expertise with advanced technology. The strategy also seeks to promote continuous learning, cultivate a culture of collaboration, and drive human-centric innovation across the Group’s diverse sectors. By leveraging AI to reduce time spent on repetitive tasks, departments can focus on strategic initiatives and enhance customer engagement, thereby reinforcing the Bank’s leadership, innovation, and excellence.

As part of its journey toward a more advanced digital future, NBK is committed to enhancing customer experience through the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and data-driven strategies. The Bank’s initiatives include optimizing user journeys in mobile and internet banking, upgrading call center technologies, and expanding engagement across social media platforms.

Additionally, NBK is exploring AI applications to deliver greater value for both customers and the organization, ensuring continuous innovation and agility amid the rapidly evolving digital landscape. NBK has undertaken a series of development and enhancement initiatives as part of its ongoing digital transformation journey, including platform upgrades, strengthened digital infrastructure, and accelerated automation of routine processes to boost efficiency and mitigate operational risks.

These advancements have strengthened system resilience, enhanced cybersecurity protocols, and reinforced business continuity, creating a safer and more agile work environment that drives the Group’s digital efficiency. Notably, NBK has received numerous accolades from esteemed global and regional institutions, in recognition of its unwavering commitment to digital innovation, excellence, and responsible technology adoption, further solidifying its leadership in the banking sector in Kuwait and the region.

KUWAIT: Minister of Justice Nasser Al-Sumait issued a decision on Sunday to form a committee to set conditions for property ownership of investment companies in which expats are shareholders. An Amiri decree was issued last week allowing listed companies in which non-Kuwaitis have shares, in addition to investment entities, to own property in the country for their businesses but excluded private residences.

The decree relaxed strict conditions set by a 1979 law that banned foreigners from owning property without the prior approval of the Council of Ministers. Al-Sumait said the new step comes to improve the legal environment to encourage investments and facilitate their ownership of property in the country, adding that the proposed legislation aims at striking a balance between attracting investments and protecting property ownership.

The committee will list the conditions in a new decree that will include rules and regulations for licensing the property ownership, naming the areas where foreign ownership is allowed and restrictions on reselling them, the minister said. Most Gulf countries currently allow foreigners to own houses directly and some states even offer long term residence permits to big buyers.

Meanwhile, the Municipal Council on Sunday approved a request by Kuwait Municipality to change the names of 591 streets and roads to numbers, while renaming three streets after Arab capitals and retaining 66 existing names. During an extraordinary meeting, the council approved recommendations by a special committee formed to study the issue which called for changing the names to numbers. The new decision came after a change in the law stipulating that names of persons should not be used to name areas or streets except for rulers, crown princes, leaders of Arab and friendly nations, historical figures and some members of the ruling Al-Sabah family.

 1958: Kuwait Writers Association held its first meeting since its establishment in May of the same year. The meeting was held at Shuwaikh High School, the association’s interim headquarters.

1971: Kuwait Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah signed a decree separating Kuwait University’s Faculties of Sciences, Arts and Education into: Faculty of Science, and Faculty of Arts and Education.

1973:  State of Kuwait Army’s Al-Jahra Brigade headed to Al-Sheikh Mountain in Syria to take part in the October War.

1992: Kuwait Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah opened the seventh Legislative Session of the National Assembly, the first elected house since the parliament’s dissolution in 1985.

2001: State of Kuwait and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) signed an agreement to establish the UNESCO/Amir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Prize for Digital Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. The prize is worth USD 500,000.

2002: Kuwait Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah decorated Kuwait University’s former President Dr. Fayza Al-Kharafi with the Order of First Merit in recognition of her service and contributions to higher education.

2015:  Abdulameer Al-Turki, a renowned writer, director, and producer, passed away at the age of 70.

2020: Kuwait Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, at the opening of the fifth regular term of the 15th Legislative Session of the National Assembly, underlined importance of compliance with constitution, rule of law and national unity as the “weapon” to confront challenges.

2020: The National Assembly approved a bill to organize structure of population, aimed at specifying number of foreign workers in Kuwait. The parliament also approved a draft law amending some regulations concerning people with the special needs to improve services towards this section of society.

2021: Kuwaiti government implemented final actions to return to normalcy as of October 24 following COVID-19 restrictions. This includes allowing conferences, festivities, social gatherings, and weddings. Face masks were required in closed spaces and could be removed in open areas.

2021: The Kuwaiti government tasked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to implement the third phase of the plan to operate Kuwait International Airport at full capacity as of October 24 following COVID-19 restrictions.

2024: Kuwait’s Civil Service Commission (CSC) announced the evening work period at government bodies will start on January 5, 2025 based on a Cabinet decision. — KUNA