PwC holds seminar in cooperation with UIC

Focus on economic, regulatory impact on businesses

KUWAIT CITY, Dec17: PwC’s Annual Seminar in collaboration with Union of Investment Companies in Kuwait attracted many Kuwaiti and multinational companies on Dec,17, 2019.

The event was focused on providing updates around the business, tax and risk assurance landscape, and looked at the opportunities & challenges of doing business in Kuwait . The event also covered the far-reaching economic, fiscal and regulatory developments that are impacting businesses, and the steps companies need to take to transform their organisations and prosper in the digital era.

Topics centred around the role of technology and its potential to play a significant role in the transformation and fulfillment of Kuwait’s vision 2035 and KDIPA one of it’s key drivers. Other topics on the agenda included, among others, a glimpse on a year of transfer pricing, VAT dispute hurdles and lessons learned, International Tax Change and its impact on Financial Institutions, as well as the

Photo from PwC’s Annual seminar.

emerging trends in regulatory technologies and corporate governance

Sherif Shawki, Kuwait Country Senior Partner provided insights on the overall tax landscape having to shed light on the increased interest in tax and other assurance matters affecting the business environment. A lot of these changes are due to Vision 2035 and the opening up of the economy. We see Kuwait participating in international agreements around taxation, which in turn is driving a lot of change businesses are having to deal with onground. Another factor affecting the tax landscape is the foreign investment influx due to massive government project. The role of tax in technology and global tax trends that will develop in Kuwait, as well as OECD’s importance in relation to tax, are just some of the areas organizations should consider in response to these changes.”

Based on the changes taking place, Kuwait is adopting all the new measures with a view of matching the global trends taking place around the world and of course become the new financial hub in the Middle East.

Taking the matter forward and ensuring such vision and objective is met, Kuwait is to take on such initiatives of having to implement such actions i.e Digital Transformation, more robust tax and financial structures and aligning Kuwait organizations with a more global outlook to become one of the go to destinations for business opportunities.

PwC’s Middle East Tax Leader, Mark Schofield said: “The tax landscape is changing at a great pace affecting the way we do business. Every organization needs to acquire and develop the proper expertise and the know-how in order to respond to tax authorities in a timely manner.”

UIC’s Technical Support, Mrs Fadwa Darweesh also shed light on the importance of such collaboration with PwC on having to touch base on the significant impact of raising awareness on the latest updates taking place in Kuwait for the benefit of Investment Companies in addition to all entities in Kuwait.