Chamber Overview
The Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a public-benefit institution with a legal personality, financially and morally independent. The Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry was established by a decree issued in 1959, granting it a distinct institutional status. Its entire Board of Directors is democratically elected by its General Assembly, and its elected Chairman and Board members are considered volunteers for public service without compensation. Its resources consist of membership dues and service fees, without any government support. Its opinion is considered essential in all matters and legislation of an economic nature.
The economic progress achieved by the State of Kuwait was not the product of a rootless plant that emerged from an oil field. Rather, it is the natural evolution of a civilizational accumulation in an independent society, established more than two and a half centuries ago on a solid foundation of faith, effort, and freedom—freedom of the nation, thought, and economy.
Vision, Mission, and Objectives
Basic Principles:
Commitment to economic freedom based on a market economy, while unleashing the forces of competition, preventing monopoly, protecting consumers, and ensuring justice and equal opportunity. Focusing on human capital, encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises, directing national labor toward the private sector, and social responsibility.
Emphasizing the importance and necessity of the state's role in legislation, planning, regulation, and oversight.
Opening up to the outside world, international cooperation, and Gulf and Arab economic integration.
Objective:
Calling for the private sector to play its developmental role as the engine of economic activity, so that the Kuwaiti economy can transform from a rentier economy governed by public spending to a productive economy driven by the private sector.
Activities and Services
Main Services:
Authentications (certificates of origin, invoices, guarantees, signatures, etc.)
Granting certificates of origin.
Establishing and hosting permanent and temporary exhibitions.
Specialized training courses.
Study missions in the field of business.
Resolving commercial disputes through conciliation and arbitration.
Defining "commercial custom."
Providing barcode services.
Organizing economic delegations and participating in official delegations.
Receiving visiting economic delegations.
Organizing and/or participating in economic events, conferences, forums, and seminars that create a friendly and encouraging environment for the business sector.
Publishing the monthly magazine (The Kuwaiti Economist) and the annual report.
Providing economic advice and studies.
Initiatives and Projects
Abdulaziz Hamad Al-Saqr Center for Development and Advancement
An integrated center equipped with the space, equipment, and skills to prepare programs and hold training courses organized by the Chamber as part of its training services to qualify Kuwaiti youth for employment in the private sector or as self-employed.
Kuwait Commercial Arbitration Center
A center specializing in settling commercial disputes through conciliation and arbitration. It manages conciliation and arbitration procedures and assists disputing parties in selecting their arbitrators through special lists of arbitrators and experts. The center is characterized by rapid resolution, low costs, and ease of procedures, in addition to the support services it provides.
Business Owners Center
Provides the following services:
Foreign trade statistics.
The most important laws and regulations of an economic nature in the State of Kuwait.
A model commercial agency contract in Arabic and English.
A directory of addresses of Arab and foreign chambers, and a directory of Arab standard specifications.
Arab and foreign commercial opportunities and offers.
International tenders.
Local and international conferences and seminars.
Commercial inquiries about Kuwaiti and foreign companies.
The Kuwaiti Economist magazine and the Chamber's annual report.
Economic information via electronic media and the internet.
Information on trade delegations.
Advertising Kuwaiti offers and events through Arab and foreign chambers.
Information on training courses and discussion panels.
Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of Kuwaiti companies and institutions registered with the Chamber.
Booklet on the Commercial Conciliation and Arbitration System.
Free internet access for Chamber members.
Relationships and Alliances
Membership in international and regional organizations:
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
World Chambers Federation.
Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture.
Union of Arab Chambers.
Federation of Chambers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Joint Arab-foreign chambers in several countries around the world.
Arab-British Chamber of Commerce: His Excellency the Chairman of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the First Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce.
Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry: His Excellency the Chairman of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the First Vice President of the Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Arab-Austrian Chamber of Commerce: His Excellency the President of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a member of the Board of Directors of the Arab-Austrian Chamber of Commerce.
Arab-Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry: Mr. Osama Mohammed Al-Nusf represents the Chamber on the Board of Directors of the Arab-Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Arab-Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce: His Excellency the President of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a member of the Board of Directors of the Arab-Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce.
Argentina-Arab Chamber of Commerce: Mr. Abdulwahab Mohammed Al-Wazzan is a member of the Board of Directors of the Argentine-Arab Chamber of Commerce.
Arab-Kenyan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry: His Excellency the President of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a member of the Board of Directors of the Arab-Kenyan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Arab-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry: His Excellency the President of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a member of the Board of Directors of the Arab-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Arab-Chinese Chamber of Commerce: His Excellency the President of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a member of the Board of Directors of the Arab-Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce: Mr. Abdulwahab Mohammed Al-Wazzan is a member of the Board of Directors of the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. Arab-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and Development: Mr. Tariq Badr Salem Al-Mutawa, Member of the Board of Directors of the Arab-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and Development.
