Kuwait - MarcoPolis

Interview with Abdulwahab Al Bader. The Kuwait Fund is hoping to present to our board our latest strategies for 2010 and Kuwait Fund is hoping to continue with its current trends and possibly increase Kuwait Fund’s lending opportunities. Kuwait Fund has several recommendations to make and the Kuwait Fund would like to continue working with other Arab countries, Africa, and Asia while trying to strengthen our relations with them. Additionally, I would like to see us continue with social and health related projects.

Kuwait Investments, Global Securities House and Gatehouse Bank

March 15, 2010

Interview with Fahed Faisal Boodai, Gatehouse Bank. When we at Kuwait Global Securities House say cherry picking we look at this from two points. One, from the investor’s standpoint what does the investor and what are the clients needs in this market? For example, In 2002-2003 Kuwait Global Securities House invested heavily in GCC and Kuwait real estate but slowed down in 2004 – that is where the cherry picking comes in and where opportunities began to be handpicked. Most importantly real estate and investment are all about timing. In 2006-2007, Global Securities House started exiting some of these investments and I think that that was very smart because given the economic downturn we recently witnessed Global Securities House would have really been hurt.

Kuwait Economy Kuwait Economy Interviews

Kuwait Economy, Economic growth in Kuwait

March 15, 2010

Interview Bader Al Humaidhi. Kuwait’s government and parliament in 2008 issued a law that was organized by the Central Bank of Kuwait to boost economic growth in Kuwait. It had three objectives: to extend financial assistance through banks to financial institutions who were effected by the crisis, to help economic growth in Kuwait.

Kuwait Tourism Kuwait Tourism Interviews

Sahara Kuwait Resort, Best Golf Resort in Kuwait

March 14, 2010

Best Golf Resort in Kuwait, General Manager of Sahara Kuwait Resort, Hassan Bayerli – traveler’s tips
Sahara Golf Resort resort is like a rainbow and has all of the colors, not only top executives, but also several different segments in order to fulfill the needs of the golfers. Sahara Golf Resort has academic professors, general managers, CEOs, chairmen, engineers, and people from all sectors in general. There is an increasing trend in Kuwait to practice golf. At the Sahara Kuwait Resort we are able to fulfill the needs of this sport both locally and in the region. We are frequently visited by international travelers at our resort who come to play golf in Kuwait.

Kuwait Retail & Services Kuwait Retail Interviews

Kuwait Luxury Retail Chalhoub Group

March 9, 2010

Kuwait retail market is more mature market and Kuwait luxury retail market is probably the most mature market of the GCC countries in this field, with a long history of renowned luxury brands opening their first shop in Kuwait. Subsequently, Kuwaiti customers are very brand-aware; fashion-oriented and act as real trendsetters for the rest of the region. Chalhoub Group often witness customers visiting shops with 1 or 2 pictures collected from the Internet, of fashion shows that only happened a few hours earlier, asking to pre-book these items to be the first to acquire them. Chalhoub Group expects the region to be relatively resilient: 2% growth in 2010, compared to a 15-20% decline globally.

Gulf Bank Kuwait Banking Kuwait Banking Interviews

Gulf Bank Kuwait New Strategy

March 4, 2010

Interview with Mr. Michel Accad, CEO of Gulf Bank
In December, Gulf Bank Kuwait had a meeting with the top fifty leaders at Gulf Bank and we decided on Gulf Bank’s strategic direction. Gulf Bank’s vision was to be a dominant player in the local, conventional banking market, focusing on retail and commercial banking. At this stage, Gulf Bank is not particularly interested in Islamic finance, or direct investments, or brokerage. The key thing that came up from that meeting was that for the next two years Gulf Bank will be in rebuilding mode and our strategy will revolve around four pillars.

Kuwait Banking Kuwait Islamic Banking Interviews

Kuwait Leading Islamic Bank, Kuwait Finance House (KFH)

February 11, 2010

Interview with Mohammed Sulaiman Al-Omar, CEO of Kuwait Finance House (KFH). Kuwait Finance House is in green numbers and working within the markets. If we as Kuwait Finance House look at Kuwait costs of funding, it came down from 6.5% to 3% which is almost 50% and if I was a bank and wanted to price my product I would need to look at the base rate, which has come down quite a huge percentage. Thus, Kuwait Finance House is still in the green and are optimistic for the market in the banking sector.

Kuwait Capital Markets Kuwait Economy Kuwait Investment Kuwait Investment Interviews

Kuwait Investment, Global Investment House

February 10, 2010

Mrs. Maha Al Ghunaim, Chairperson and Managing Director of Global Investment House. Our main challenge is to reposition the Global Investment House brand. The weak macroeconomic environment impacted Global Investment House operations negatively and in 2008 Global Investment House recorded our first loss in the company’s history. We are now working to deleverage the company, while maintaining our clients’ trust. Global Investment House has revised its strategy to focus on our asset management, investment banking and brokerage activities and enhance our products and services.

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