Kuwait en route to become trade hub

Kuwait is moving to strengthen its position as a regional trade hub after the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) initiated two major feasibility studies and outlined an expansive economic zones programme in the 2025/2026 Development Plan. KDIPA has asked the Central Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT) to issue a tender for a consultancy to update the feasibility study for the Al-Na’ayem Economic Zone and to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study for the Al-Nuwaiseeb Free Zone, while the CAPT Board has postponed a decision pending a formal amended submission within five working days.

"The authority aims to transfer modern technology and technical expertise to Kuwait, create job opportunities, and provide capacity building opportunities, thereby, transforming Kuwait into a commercial hub," the development plan report states.

Those moves come as part of two strategic projects listed for KDIPA in the 2025/2026 Development Plan. The first, described as the Economic Zones Project, aligns KDIPA’s mandate to improve Kuwait’s investment environment and to attract value-added projects for both local and foreign investors. The plan notes coordination with government entities under the Third National Structural Plan 2005/2030 and identifies three initial zones allocated by Kuwait Municipality: Abdali, Wafra and Na’ayem.

In its recent board meeting the CAPT decided to delay a ruling on KDIPA’s tender request, with minutes indicating the need to "postpone making a decision until a letter containing the discussed amendments is received from the entity within five working days." The request for consultancy work is aimed at refreshing the Al-Na’ayem feasibility as well as producing a standalone assessment for Al-Nuwaiseeb Free Zone, signalling KDIPA’s push to advance project-ready documentation ahead of contractor selection and investment marketing.

The second strategic initiative in the plan focuses on expansion and development of free zones with a detailed infrastructure and services build-out. The proposal enumerates specific facilities and target capacities to support logistics, manufacturing, services and worker welfare:

• 50 logistics warehouses and storage plots
• 50 light factories
• 500 investment companies to be hosted in free zone complexes
• Two investment complexes intended for leasing
• Four restaurant complexes serving workers
• Five commercial banks planned within the free zones
• Two medical centres
• A tender for three hotels

These allocations indicate a comprehensive approach: combining industrial capacity with financial, social and healthcare infrastructure designed to make free zones operational and attractive to investors and employees. KDIPA’s dual focus on economic zones and free zone expansion underscores a strategy to not only attract capital but also to foster skills transfer and local job creation through targeted project design.

Outlook: With CAPT awaiting KDIPA’s amended submission, short-term progress depends on administrative steps and the commissioning of consultancy studies for Al-Na’ayem and Al-Nuwaiseeb. If feasibility studies confirm commercial viability, KDIPA will be positioned to move rapidly into tendering and infrastructure delivery for Abdali, Wafra and Na’ayem zones and to begin rolling out the 50 warehouses, 50 factories and the wider free-zone ecosystem. The timeline for construction, investor attraction and operational launch will hinge on the outcome of the studies and subsequent procurement rounds, but the plan sets clear benchmarks for transforming parts of Kuwait into a structured commercial and logistics hub.