Connect with us

Business

Shaikha Al-Bahar: Public-Private Partnership is a national necessity and a key pillar in realizing Kuwait Vision 2035

Published

on

KUWAIT CITY, May 18: Ms. Shaikha Al-Bahar, Deputy Group CEO of National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) stated that ‎Public-Private Partnership (PPP) has become a national necessity, emphasizing that it ‎represents the cornerstone of Kuwait’s future economic and developmental trajectory.‎

Al-Bahar noted that PPP projects are a key pillar in realizing Kuwait Vision 2035 and the ‎country’s broader development objectives, contributing to the creation of sustainable value ‎for the national economy.‎

Her remarks were delivered during the opening of the “Third Kuwait PPP Conference ‎‎(PPPKW3)” held under the patronage and in the presence of Eng. Noura Al-Fassam—‎Minister of Finance, Minister of State for Economic Affairs and Investment, and Chair of ‎the Higher Committee for Public-Private Partnership Projects—with the participation of ‎public and private sector institutions, alongside key regulatory authorities.‎

In her address, Al-Bahar highlighted that Kuwait’s PPP model offers promising ‎opportunities, particularly in the energy, infrastructure, logistics, and healthcare sectors. She ‎pointed out that such partnerships can play a vital role in diversifying Kuwait’s economy by ‎fostering cooperation in sectors such as renewable energy, technology, and tourism—‎opening new avenues for growth, generating job opportunities for Kuwaiti youth, and ‎enhancing Kuwait’s regional competitiveness.‎

Long-term Partnership

‎“At NBK, we take pride in being a long-standing partner in Kuwait’s national development ‎journey, having financed and supported some of the largest infrastructure and public sector ‎projects in the country’s history. As Kuwait’s leading financial institution, we remain ‎steadfast in our commitment to advancing partnership initiatives by leveraging our deep ‎market insight, decades of experience, and robust network of international partners to drive ‎successful project financing and execution.”‎

She explained that NBK’s role is not limited to financing but extends to combining regional ‎expertise, investor confidence, and collaborative efforts to propel the progress and ‎prosperity of the national economy. She emphasized the bank’s unwavering commitment to ‎this role, noting its contribution to facilitating the success of partnership projects through ‎innovative financing solutions, advisory services, and capital markets offerings. She also ‎reiterated NBK’s full readiness to support upcoming partnership initiatives—particularly ‎those focused on sustainability, which the bank considers among its top strategic priorities.‎

Huge Potential

Despite Kuwait’s abundant financial resources, Al-Bahar emphasized that navigating the ‎accelerating global complexities requires an innovative approach and a strong framework ‎that leverages the private sector’s efficiency, expertise, and capital to fund world-class ‎infrastructure, enhance public services, and drive economic diversification. She ‎underscored Kuwait’s immense potential to build a future-ready economy underpinned by ‎cutting-edge infrastructure.‎

She added that partnership projects have the potential to take the lead in key sectors, ‎including transportation, smart cities, social development, healthcare, education, housing, ‎renewable energy, technology, and tourism.‎

Regulatory Framework

‎“To ensure the continued success of partnership projects and to maximize their ‎effectiveness in driving national economic growth, it is essential to develop a solid ‎regulatory framework, and a supportive environment built on streamlined decision-making, ‎well-defined legal structures, and transparent procedures,” Al-Bahar stated. She stressed that ‎ongoing dialogue and cooperation between the public and private sectors are vital to ‎improving these frameworks and fostering an environment conducive to successful ‎partnerships.‎

Furthermore, Al-Bahar praised the recent regulatory reforms and Kuwait Public-Private ‎Partnership Authority’s efforts to streamline procedures and foster viable partnership ‎models. She recognized that these advancements are crucial for enhancing Kuwait’s ‎competitiveness, while also highlighting challenges related to regulatory clarity, governance, ‎and risk-sharing. She called on all relevant stakeholders to act swiftly and collaboratively to ‎address these issues and attract both local and international investments.‎

She further stated that PPPs should evolve beyond traditional infrastructure to encompass ‎areas such as education, digital transformation, healthcare technology, and renewable ‎energy. She reaffirmed NBK’s commitment to playing a central role in this journey by ‎mobilizing capital, fostering innovation, and advancing sustainable development in line with ‎Kuwait Vision 2035.‎

Al-Bahar concluded her speech by addressing attendees from both the public and private ‎sectors, stating: “Let us seize this opportunity as a starting point for collective responsibility ‎in shaping a future where innovation flourishes and the well-being of our beloved country ‎is safeguarded. Together—government, private sector, and financial institutions—let us ‎work to build a stronger, more diversified, and inclusive Kuwaiti economy.”‎

Kuwait 3rdConference for Public-Private Partnership, held over two days, brings together a ‎wealth of international, regional, and local expertise. The event’s program provides valuable ‎insights into best practices, industry standards, and practical experiences in PPPs, equipping ‎stakeholders to address potential challenges and empowering relevant authorities to identify ‎and implement effective solutions.‎

Business

MEW gets CAPT approval to link external sites, NDCC

Published

on

By

KUWAIT CITY, July 21: The Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy has obtained approval from the Central Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT) to issue a tender for linking the external sites of the ministry with the National Data Control Center (NDCC), say sources from the ministry. Sources indicated that this tender is included in the contracts of the ministry for the current fiscal year and are scheduled to be implemented by the Planning, Training and Information Systems Sector. Sources revealed that the tender is for linking the external branches with the data center in the main ministry building and the NDCC in order to allow the exchange of information and provision of electronic services.

Sources pointed out that “subject to the approval of CAPT, the tender will be announced and a date will be set for specialized companies to submit their bids, select the winning bid and implement the project under the regulations.” Sources added the ministry intends to install five main power transformer stations for the Automobile Circuit Project — Rawda Block Three, Kabd C, cow farms, Sharq Block Four and Al- Arabi Club; in addition to supplying and extending the necessary underground cables to feed the five planned stations through two tenders: the first for the stations and the second for the cables. Sources said the two tenders aim to provide the energy needed to expand the high-voltage and ultra- high-voltage electrical networks resulting from the increased demand for electricity in the aforementioned areas, as well as to provide electricity continuously throughout the day. Moreover, the ministry also confirmed the start of electricity connection in Al-Mutlaa Residential City (N1 District – parts of Block One; in cooperation with the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW). It reiterated that it is now receiving applications to connect electricity to 251 plots

By Mohammad Ghanem
 Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff 

Continue Reading

Business

DGCA of Kuwait and Japan Take Off on a New Chapter of Aviation Cooperation

Published

on

By

DGCA of Kuwait and Japan Take Off on a New Chapter of Aviation Cooperation

Chairman of the Kuwaiti Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Sheikh Humoud Mubarak Humoud Al-Sabah receives the Japanese Ambassador to Kuwait Kenichiro Mukai

KUWAIT CITY, July 21: Chairman of the Kuwaiti Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Sheikh Humoud Mubarak Humoud Al-Jaber Al- Sabah said Sunday that the DGCA looks forward to promoting cooperation with Japan in civil aviation. Sheikh Humoud made the remarks while welcoming Japanese Ambassador to Kuwait Kenichiro Mukai to discuss bilateral cooperation in the field of civil aviation, the DGCA said in a press release. He underlined the importance of deepening the distinguished ties between both friendly countries, praising Japan’s advanced experience in technology and aviation industry, it said. For his part, the Japanese Ambassador expressed his appreciation to the Kuwaiti official for his hospitality, saying that his country is interested in furthering cooperation with the State of Kuwait in aviation, in a way that contributes to exchanging expertise and achieving integration in the fields that concern both sides. (KUNA)

Continue Reading

Business

‘Please be careful.’ There are risks and rewards as crypto heavyweights push tokenization

Published

on

By

NEW YORK, July 21, (AP): As cryptocurrencies become more intertwined with the traditional financial system, industry heavyweights are racing for a long-sought goal of turning real-world assets into digital tokens.

“Tokenization is going to open the door to a massive trading revolution,” said Vlad Tenev, the CEO of the trading platform Robinhood at a recent James Bond-themed tokenization launch event in the south of France.

Advocates say tokenization is the next leap forward in crypto and can help break down walls that have advantaged the wealthy and make trading cheaper, more transparent and more accessible for everyday investors.

But critics say tokenization threatens to undermine a century’s worth of securities law and investor protections that have made the U.S. financial system the envy of the world. And Robinhood’s push into tokenizing shares of private companies quickly faced pushback from one of the world’s most popular startups.

The basic idea behind tokenization: Use blockchain technology that powers cryptocurrencies to create digital tokens as stand-ins for things like bonds, real estate or even fractional ownership of a piece of art and that can be traded like crypto by virtually anyone, anywhere at any time.

The massive growth of stablecoins, which are a type of cryptocurrency typically bought and sold for $1, has helped fuel the appetite to tokenize other financial assets, crypto venture capitalist Katie Haun said on a recent podcast.

She said tokenization will upend investing in ways similar to how streamers radically changed how people watch television.

“You used to have to sit there on a Thursday night and watch Seinfeld,” Haun said. “You tune in at a specific time, you don’t get to choose your program, you couldn’t be watching a program like Squid Games from Korea. Netflix was market-expanding. In the same way, I think the tokenization of real-world assets will be market expanding.”

Robinhood began offering tokenized stock trading of major U.S. public companies for its European customers earlier this month and gave away tokens to some customers meant to represent shares in OpenAI and SpaceX, two highly valued private companies.

Several other firms are diving in. Crypto exchange Kraken also allows customers outside the U.S. to trade tokenized stocks while Coinbase has petitioned regulators to open the market to its U.S. customers. Wall Street giants BlackRock and Franklin Templeton currently offer tokenized money market funds. McKinsey projects that tokenized assets could reach $2 trillion by 2030.

The push for tokenization comes at a heady time in crypto, an industry that’s seen enormous growth from the creation and early development of bitcoin more than 15 years ago by libertarian-leaning computer enthusiasts to a growing acceptance in mainstream finance.

The world’s most popular cryptocurrency is now regularly setting all-time highs – more than $123,000 on Monday – while other forms of crypto like stablecoins are exploding in use and the Trump administration has pledged to usher in what’s been called the “golden age” for digital assets.

Lee Reiners, a lecturing fellow at Duke University, said the biggest winners in the push for tokenization could be a small handful of exchanges like Robinhood that see their trading volumes and influence spike.

“Which is kind of ironic given the origins of crypto, which was to bypass intermediaries,” Reiners said.

Interest in tokenization has also gotten a boost thanks to the election of President Donald Trump, who has made enacting more crypto-friendly regulations a top priority of his administration and signed a new law regulating stablecoins on Friday.

“Tokenization is an innovation and we at the SEC should be focused on how do we advance innovation at the marketplace,” said Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins.

Securities law can be complex and even defining what is a security can be a hotly debated question, particularly in crypto. The crypto exchange Binance pulled back offerings of tokenized securities in 2021 after German regulators raised questions about potential violations of that country’s securities law.

Under Trump, the SEC has taken a much less expansive view than the previous administration and dropped or paused litigation against crypto companies that the agency had previously accused of violating securities law.

Hilary Allen, a professor at the American University Washington College of Law, said crypto companies have been emboldened by Trump’s victory to be more aggressive in pushing what they can offer.

“The most pressing risk is (tokenization) being used as a regulatory arbitrage play as a way of getting around the rules,” she said.

However, the SEC has struck a cautionary tone when it comes to tokens. Shortly after Robinhood’s announcement, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who has been an outspoken crypto supporter, issued a statement saying companies issuing tokenized stock should consider “their disclosure obligations” under federal law.

“As powerful as blockchain technology is, it does not have magical abilities to transform the nature of the underlying asset,” Peirce said.

One of the most closely watched areas of tokenization involves private companies, which aren’t subject to strict financial reporting requirements like publicly traded ones.

Many hot startups are not going public as often as they used to and instead are increasingly relying on wealthy and institutional investors to raise large sums of money and stay private.

That’s unfair to the little guy, say advocates of tokenization.

“These are massive wealth generators for a very small group of rich, well-connected insiders who get access to these deals early,” said Robinhood executive Johann Kerbrat. “Crypto has the power to solve this inequality.”

But Robinhood’s giveaway of tokens meant to represent an investment in OpenAI immediately drew pushback from the company itself, which said it was not involved in Robinhood’s plan and did not endorse it.

“Any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval-we did not approve any transfer,” OpenAI said on social media. “Please be careful.”

Public companies have strict public reporting requirements about their financial health that private companies don’t have to produce. Such reporting requirements have helped protect investors and give a legitimacy to the U.S. financial system, said Allen, who said the push for tokenized sales of shares in private companies is “eerily familiar” to how things played out before the creation of the SEC nearly a century ago.

“Where we’re headed is where we were in the 1920s,” she said. “Door-to-door salesmen offering stocks and bonds, half of it had nothing behind it, people losing their life savings betting on stuff they didn’t understand.”

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2025 SKUWAIT.COM .