KDIPA completes study on establishing Nuwaiseeb FTZ

T4 adds value to transport services

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 5: Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) has completed a feasibility study concerning the establishment of Nuwaiseeb Free Trade Zone (FTZ), reports Al-Qabas daily quoting informed sources.

They said the authority has submitted the feasibility study to the Cabinet’s Services Committee, with the expectation for the committee to present its viewpoint in the coming few weeks to the authority, after which the free trade zone will be established, the first of its kind to be established in the last twenty years.

The sources affirmed that Nuwaiseeb Free Trade Zone will be different from the Shuwaikh Free Trade Zone, as the Nuwaiseeb Free Trade Zone will be located in an area that is free from the complications witnessed in Shuwaikh Free Trade Zone.

Concerning the future of Shuwaikh Free Trade Zone, the sources indicated that the file now is with the Services Committee of the Cabinet, revealing that relevant bodies including Kuwaiti Municipality, Public Authority for Industry, Fatwa and Legislation Department and others have completed their tasks by preparing their reports and referring them to the committee.

They said the committee will decide how Shuwaikh Free Trade Zone will be managed and if Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority will be assigned to run it.

The sources explained that the rent contracts of the investors in Shuwaikh Free Trade Zone were amended in the beginning of 2018 to terminate them as of Oct 31, 2018, which is the date when the contract of assigning Public Authority for Industry to run Shuwaikh Free Trade Zone had ended. Their destiny will be determined based on the decision of the Cabinet’s Services Committee to either renew the contracts for longer periods or for one year or not to renew at all.

Meanwhile, Bahraini Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications Minister Kamal Mohammad said Sunday Kuwait Airport’s Terminal Four (T4) was an added value to air transport in Kuwait.

Kamal made the remarks during a meeting with Kuwait’s Ambassador to Bahrain Sheikh Azzam Al-Sabah, and the Bahraini minister congratulated leaders of Kuwait for the operation of T4, due to launch operation in a flight to Manama on Wednesday, official BNA news agency reported.

Kuwait leadership’s support for T4 will improve air transport services, he said.

“It is a source of pride that the Kuwait Airways makes its inaugural flight from the new terminal to Bahrain,” said Kamal.

Sheikh Azzam said the first flight from T4 to Bahrain embodied deeprooted relations, and distinguished status the kingdom enjoys among Kuwaitis.

He thanked all those who contributed to the success of Kuwait Airways flight to Bahrain.