Trade & Industry

With its strategic location, highly developed infrastructure and history of highly successful international business partnerships, Kuwait has positioned itself as an ideal base for United States investors interested in entering the Iraq market and other markets throughout the region. Kuwait is focusing on strengthening its traditional role as a transhipment center and trading hub, and the recent signing of the Trade and Investment Agreement between Kuwait and the United States further enhances Kuwait’s attractions for United States investors.

Business-friendly policies attracting investors in many sectors

Kuwait’s Foreign Investment Law allows for foreign-majority ownership in joint ventures and will authorize 100 percent foreign ownership in certain industries. It also exempts foreign-majority-owned companies from requiring a local agent; creates new entities to promote foreign investment in Kuwait; authorizes 10-year tax holidays for new foreign investors; facilitates the entry of expatriate labor; authorizes land grants and duty-free import of equipment; guarantees against expropriation without compensation and the right to repatriate profits; and protects the confidentiality of proprietary information in investment applications.
Kuwait’s on-going privatization program continues to create new opportunities for investors. The licensing authority of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry screens all proposals for direct foreign investment.

An essential local partner for investors is the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce (KCC), established in 1959. Under the leadership of President Ali Al-Ghanim, a prominent local business leader, the KCC has been instrumental in opening up the Kuwaiti economy to foreign investment and in promoting liberalization. As Al-Ghanim explains, “We are an advisory body to the government in all business and commercial laws, every law.”

Optimistic about his country’s future, Al-Ghanim urges potential investors to make the KCC their first point of call in Kuwait. “Kuwait has an excellent connection with the region through its infrastructure, knowledge and experience. It is a gateway to Iraq,” he points out.

M.S.&R.Y. Behbehani Company

“The business culture in Kuwait is firmly entrepreneurial.”

As one of the most successful trading families in Kuwait, the Behbehani Company exemplifies the country’s history as a trading community. “With the lack of natural resources other than oil,” notes company President Mohammad Saleh Behbehani, “trade is ingrained in the mindset of the people. We act as a gateway to the Middle East, where many goods and products can be transported to for regional distribution.”

A diversified holding company, Behbehani offers a wide range of products and services, and is one of the most recognized names in Kuwait, both in business and social circles. The company acts as local agents for General Motors and Jeep, as well as Isuzu and Seat. Their business and product lines extend from watches and beverages to transportation, logistics rental and leasing services. “We are always open for new business with American companies coming to Kuwait or the region,” says Behbehani. “We are very diversified and study a range of opportunities, but select only those brands we feel will have the greatest success.”

The company believes that despite regional turmoil, the Middle East is set for high growth and has a huge potential to become a stronger player in the world economy. “I have worked a long time with international corporations and formed many successful partnerships,” explains Behbehani. “We were very successful building our company back up after the first Gulf War, and the same can happen regionally.”

Behbehani believes that strong ties with the United States are important both politically and economically.Having been a hostage of Iraq during the first Gulf war, he feels personally close to Americans. “Americans liberated my country and I am forever grateful for what they’ve done,” acknowledges Behbehani. “Kuwait is a strong partner of the United States, and we are happy to act as the local business partners for American companies.”

Kuwait Cement Company (KCC)

“We want to show American companies what we can do for them.”

Kuwait Cement Company (KCC), established in 1968 and headquartered in Kuwait’s landmark Cement House building, has grown steadily over the years to become one of the region’s biggest cement producers as well as a driving force in Kuwait’s economy. KCC supplies high-quality cement to a range of clients in the public and private sectors, and operates its own quarries and production facilities to ensure top quality and efficient service. The company’s products include various cements for different purposes. KCC also maintains an extensive portfolio of financial and real-estate investments.

Rashed Abdulaziz Abdulmohsen Al-Rashed, Chairman and Managing Director, was educated in the United States and applies western-style management techniques in his thriving company. He explains, “Maintaining transparency is a very important part of our philosophy. KCC has increased its production capacity immensely over the last decade, and has taken risks and succeeded. In addition, we are able to maintain very competitive pricing.”

Al-Rashed has held important posts in Kuwait’s government, including serving as ambassador, undersecretary in the ministry of foreign affairs, and minister of state. From a prominent Kuwaiti business family, he has in-depth understanding of doing business in Kuwait and throughout the region.
KCC has often worked with foreign clients and has now positioned itself as the ideal partner for American firms getting involved in reconstruction efforts in Iraq. “I envision a joint market between Kuwait and Iraq, and we want to show American companies what we can do for them. We have the local knowledge and experience to work in the region,” Al-Rashed points out, adding, “We are proactive in finding opportunities and targeting them.”

Urging United States companies to contact him concerning the possibilities of working with Kuwait Cement Company, Al-Rashed concludes, “We have an opportunistic business philosophy, and we are broad-based and focused on quality.”

United Medical Services

“We have the local expertise.”

United Medical Services sets the standards for medical healthcare in Kuwait through its five subsidiaries. These are the Advanced Technology Company, the International Clinic, the Kuwait Medical Services Company and the Maidan Clinic and Hospital.

Chairman and Managing Director Dr. Maytham Haider has built the company up into the largest medical services firm in Kuwait, with significant market share in all its activities. It is a leader in dental services, healthcare, consultancy and support, as well as the supply of medical technology and equipment, and has plans to expand into Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman. It has been publicly listed since 2001.

Haider is actively expanding his business into a regional giant, and says, “We want to cooperate with outside companies to exchange know-how for our outward expansion. We have the local expertise.”

Haider has adopted a careful acquisition strategy to grow further in the regional health care sector. However, he remains cautious about the sector, saying, “It is a very promising sector to invest in but it is almost saturated.”

United Medical Services has a strong management track record, employing efficient and professional staff to manage its many ser-vices. It also has an above average stock market performance. Haider maintains shareholder value through the payment of dividends and his share price has seen a 300 percent increase over the past 3 years.

Al-Essa

“We are pioneers in our industry.”

A leader in Kuwait’s health-care and analytical sector for 27 years, Al-Essa has constantly adapted to keep pace with developments both in technology and the industry consolidation in general. Today, Al-Essa has grown to occupy a position of privilege and trust in Kuwait’s trading, contracting and service community.
K.T. Mathew, Managing Director, explains that Al- Essa’s range of activities involves supplying products, supporting applications and providing maintenance for medical and analytical equipment; addressing human resource requirements through supplemental staffing and home health-care programs; delivering complete solutions in facility engineering; focusing on improving quality of life through rehabilitation expertise.

In addition, Al-Essa has executed several projects on a turnkey basis by combining local project management and project support expertise with international technology partners, including such diverse projects such as Cadastal mapping and Airport Weather Observation Systems.

Concerning plans for the future, Mathew says that Al-Essa is focusing on the life sciences and environmental sectors, women’s health programs and promoting retail outlets for durable medical equipment and health-care products. The company is also targeting the Iraq market, hoping to help develop the Iraqi health-care system and to train Iraqi medical personnel. “If Capitol Hill uses its budget to fund medical progress a lot can happen,” Mathew says.

Al-Essa is open to forming partnerships with American companies and providing logistics support to develop lower Iraq. Urging United States investors to target Kuwait, Mathew says, “Kuwait is a safe and secure country and religious tolerance is observed. Professionalism, patience and the willingness to sit down for a cup of tea are crucial to deve-loping business in Kuwait. Properly sown the rewards can be bountiful.”

Swiftel International

“We aim to be the leading prepaid communications provider for the region.”

Swiftel International is a leading prepaid communications services provider that specializes in providing private and corporate users with world-class, attractively priced and reliable telecommunications solutions. The company, founded in 1995, employs advanced call-managing software that allows it to handle 3.5 million accounts simultaneously and to complete more than 2.5 million minutes of calls per month. Swiftel is currently increasing its capacity further through an SQL database engine. Although at present the company primarily serves individual clients, its attractive pricing and high quality makes it an excellent choice for corporate customers as well.

Known for its varied and state-of-the-art services, Swiftel offers prepaid calling cards, GSM, SMS and Internet cards through 1,100 vending machines and over 4,700 sales outlets throughout Kuwait. This dynamic company also develops enhanced telephony, Internet, SMS, IVR, GSM, satellite television, computer software and information technology security solutions.

Tareq Al- Mazeedi, General Manager, a well- known business leader in Kuwait, explains that Swiftel has been expanding extremely rapidly since its founding. It has already established a strong presence in Jordan and Bahrain as well as in Kuwait, and aims to enter the Lebanon and Iraq’s market very soon. Defining his company’s competitive edge, he says, “The key to our success is our ability to competitively price our products while still offering the reliable services individual and corporate customers demand. Through our policy of pricing very competitively, we can consistently gain market share.”

Another of Swiftel’s strengths is its marketing expertise. Swiftel’s aggressive marketing of its own products has garnered the company a very strong presence on the local scene, particularly through its vending machine sales. Swiftel is not the biggest telecommunications company in the market, but is one of the best known as well as most attractively priced. Swiftel has positioned itself to serve as the ideal partner for companies seeking a local firm to market their products in Kuwait and elsewhere in the region; American companies can rely on Swiftel’s proven marketing techniques and in-depth knowledge of local business practices.

Swiftel will study carefully any international partnerships to help it achieve its goals for the future. The company presents an outstanding opportunity for investors in the United States. As Al-Mazeedi says, “This new wave of pre-paid telecommunications solutions is taking over the telecommunications market globally and we are positioning ourselves to be the leading prepaid communications supplier for the region. We are diversifying our products and services in order to achieve this goal, and we need to develop new technologies to do this. We are open to new ventures with international communications and information technology companies through which we can obtain technological advancement.”

The company’s managers see Swiftel as playing a cutting-edge role in a booming global industry and they are committed to contributing to the evolution of global telecommunications through ambitious efforts with international partners. Inviting companies in the United States to contact him concerning a potential win-win relationship with Swiftel, Al-Mazeedi adds, “We are able to take quick and incisive business decisions, and we take a long-term approach to our business development.”

Al Alamiah Group

Al Alamiah Group of companies was established under the visionary leadership of Mohammed Al-Sharekh in 1970, and has been at the forefront of bringing the latest in global IT to the Arab World. Established on the same day as Al-Sharekh’s wedding day, he has successfully built a group of companies comprising 9 businesses with strong international alliances that specialize in computer systems, electronics and office equipment, bridging the gap between Arab consumers and modern computer technology. Over the years the Group has expanded its operations geographically to include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE whilst maintaining their position in Kuwait. However, the Group’s Chairman considers the development of Sakhr Software Co., a company everyone recognizes simply as Sakhr, to be the crowning jewel of his dedicated efforts; a company borne of a labour extending over 15 years that is set to create a massive breakthrough in computerized linguistic translation.

Over the past twenty years Sakhr has spearheaded the development of computer and communication technologies to solely serve the needs of the Arabic language. Sakhr’s vision of being a world leader in Arabic language processing technology is materializing through the in-house development of the Automatic Morphologizer, the Automatic Diacritizer and the Electronic Dictionary. Along with other unique technologies such as Automatic Speech Recognition, Machine Translation and Electronic Publishing, Sakhr has laid down the foundation for Natural Language Processing (NLP). This means that Sakhr can meet client demands in two main areas:

- Translation to help companies re-engineer and adapt their products to the Arabic speaking market; and
- Localization which is the adaptation of hardware, operating systems and software applications.

What makes this technology truly unique is that it is based on Sakhr’s own operating system which has been locally developed and which has passed the test of one of the most difficult and sensitive translation challenges imaginable, as Al-Sharekh proudly says: “We have accurately translated the Qur’an. If you can translate the Qur’an, you can translate anything!” This new technology can meet the demands of large international corporate clients requiring high volume, real-time translation solutions, as well as cater for the needs of individual users interested in learning the Arabic language. Al-Sharekh is now ready to embark on a global sales and marketing strategy to bring this technology to the world. So confident is he of the potential of this product that a NASDAQ stock market listing is in the pipeline.

Al-Sharekh believes that one of the key objectives of this technology is “to enhance the cultural capital of Arabic around the world.” As Arabic is one of the five main world languages, Al-Sharekh believes that this technology serves the larger purpose of putting Arabic on a par with the other major languages. In addition to building bridges between different cultures in an increasingly global village, this technology will also be a solution to international companies needing Arabic language solutions.
After years of development, the time has now come to bring this technology into the world markets and to enhance the profile of the Arabic language.

The Market Complex Company

“We are one of the best in our work.”

The Market Complex Company specializes in the ownership, management, operation and rental of commercial real estate centers. These include ventures like theme parks, entertainment and sports complexes, commercial facilities and exhibition centers, as well as franchised properties and chains.

Chairman and Managing Director Tawfiq Ahmad Al Jarrah explains that the Market Complex Company is unlike other real estate firms, “We don’t focus on conventional projects and real estate, we operate in niche markets,” he says. “We are one of the best in our work, and the number one in B.O.T. real estate projects.”
The Market Complex Company was formed in 1982, and today is a public shareholding corporation with total assets of KD 43 million. Under Al Jarrah’s dynamic management the company has expanded its operations into Bahrain, Oman and Iraq, and is currently bidding for several major Kuwaiti public sector contracts.

Al Jarrah believes very strongly in giving back to Kuwait, and making sure that his projects have a positive impact on society. “We build with a purpose,” he comments. “We are also keen to provide shareholder value, and have seen our share price rise by 300 percent.”

The Market Complex Company is interested in new partnerships and more business. It already operates the well-known Dairy Queen franchise and is looking to introduce more franchises to the market. “The franchise and service markets are very lucrative in Kuwait,” explains Al Jarrah. “The Market Complex Company understands the local business culture and can successfully introduce new entrants to the market. We are the right partner for them.”

Al Jarrah adds, “We are a good investment opportunity with much potential and consistency in performance. We are the right alliance for international companies to join with in executing and implementing real estate projects.”

United Fisheries

“We are creating higher added-value products for consumers.”

United Fisheries was established in 1972, becoming one of Kuwait’s leading food companies, specializing in seafood production and distribution. From its Mina Al Shuwaiba base, a modern fishing fleet catches a wide variety of shrimp and fish for regional and European export, and for sale through 25 Al Danah seafood outlets and local supermarkets, United Fisheries exported 145 tons of shrimp in 2003, including to new markets in Syria and Egypt.

As part of the KIPCO Group, Kuwait’s largest investment company, United Fisheries benefits from a strong local partner. Publicly listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, United Fisheries has seen a steady increase in its total revenues - up from KD 7.6 million in 2002 to KD 8 million in 2003 - and has also increased its net profit.

Under Acting General Manager Jörg Feltz, the company is undertaking a strategic restructuring. United Fisheries is faced with increased local and international competition, sustainability issues and restrictive institutional regulations. In 2003 it divested its non-core activities and sold its shares in the Ra’ad Stores Company. It also divested its ownership of Al Danah retail business, concluding a new contract to manage this business.

As local stocks have been diminishing, the company has begun importing large quantities of fresh fish, helping maintain competitive prices and produce more fish products. This is leveraging United Fisheries into an attractive new niche market.

The completion of the Doha factory enables fish products to be offered in different packages and forms for local distribution and export. Feltz explains, “We are moving from catching to trading, and creating higher added-value products for consumers.”

Feltz encourages more businesses to discover Kuwait. He says, “Kuwait is a good base - it has the infrastructure, airports, roads and communications, as well as cheap energy and land.”

Automated Systems Company

“We’re the best kept secret in Kuwait.”

In the ever-growing, ever-changing air travel industry, the Automated Systems Company is one of Kuwait’s leading automated travel services companies to have emerged from the recent challenges in the industry as a strong player in the market and is currently embarking on an aggressive new strategy to further enhance its position in the market. ASC’s primary line of business is servicing the Kuwaiti travel market with the Global Airline Distribution System (GALILEO) and other automated systems through its National Distribution Center. GALILEO and ASC’s other systems handle the ticketing requirements for the national and several international carriers, and having achieved success and recognition in this field, ASC is now ready to expand and diversify. “We are aggressively increasing our regional market share through further developing our products and by diversifying into new business lines,” explains Chairman Saleh Khalid Al- Askar. “Our strategy is to achieve both organic growth and growth through acquisitions, moving away from a sole focus on the travel market.”

Al-Askar has implemented a clear plan to guide the company into the future by improving the quality and service of its GALILEO and other systems to the market and to continue building on its main business. 2003 saw ASC’s realized net profit being entirely operating profits from its core business and it is looking to further build upon this success by adapting to new developments in information technology. The plans laid down are to expand the installation of its technical support system, (Clients Service Digital System), in government sectors and agencies dealing with the public, and increasing local subscription by providing free operating systems and upgrades. ASC is seeking to increase its market penetration by introducing se-veral new products. To improve the delivery of services and information, subscribers are now being provided with DSL technology to allow electronic trade and online payment. Another important development has been ASC’s efforts to improve the operational and technical services delivered to subscribers and to embark on an aggressive business development plan to source new clients regionally and internationally. ASC endeavors to be a key player in the Kuwaiti tra-vel market for international companies interested in expanding into the region. A key development in this direction (subject to board approval) is the establishment of a Data Processing Center in Sharjah, UAE, which will further enhance ASC’s ability to deliver quality products and services. With this active plan to enhance the quality of its services and products and its ability to cater for higher operating volumes, Al-Askar has set the stage for ASC’s further expansion, as he explains “We are eagerly seeking partners for the travel distribution market.”

ASC’s diversification strategy is aimed at reducing the company’s dependence on one re-venue stream and to further extend its expertise into the market. Among these is the development of a secure payment gateway service in the form of a company called International Payment Gateway, incorporated in Kuwait for tax purposes, to handle on-line credit card payments. In response to the potential in the Middle East in the area of online reservations, ASC has developed an on-line travel portal to address traveler, leisure and business needs into the region and within the region. In the long term, Al-Askar has identified Iraq as a key market for further investment, the company is looking at being a key player in the development of the country’s travel and tourism sectors. It is currently developing several innovative strategies to enter the Iraqi market and is keen to develop relationships with international firms to develop the market’s investment opportunities.

The active approach to business is based on Al-Askar’s strong leadership and the principled implementation of the company’s business strategy. With the current developments taking place he is not afraid of risk and believes this to be a natural part of business: “Sometimes you need to take a risk and go for it.” The company is also undergoing a streamlining to meet the future as a strong, pro-active company with a competitive business culture. Al Aksar doesn’t expect to be Kuwait’s best kept secret for long. “By creating a new identity and brand awareness, we are confident in extending our client base and increasing our market presence.”