ASAR holds seminar on investment law – Technical aspects of Law No. 116 of 2013 explained

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KUWAIT CITY, Oct 27: ASAR — Al Ruwayeh & Partners (ASAR), Kuwait’s leading corporate, commercial and finance law firm, Tuesday hosted a leading seminar on the Promotion of Direct Investment in the State of Kuwait. The seminar held at the JW Marriot Hotel in Kuwait City, had the presence of KDIPA’s Director General, Sheikh Dr Meshaal Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah, senior officials from KDIPA and ASAR partners and lawyers in attendance. They shared significant insights on the technical aspects of Law No. 116 of 2013 (Regarding the Promotion of Direct Investment in the State of Kuwait) and its executive regulations (the “Direct Investment Law”).

The seminar was specifically designed and organized by ASAR to shed light on the considerable incentives under the Direct Investment Law and practical issues currently facing investors in the course of the KDIPA application process and thereafter. Moreover, the seminar also addressed the various exemptions available to investors under the Direct Investment Law with regards to foreign ownership restrictions (which allow foreign investors to own up to 100% of the shares in a Kuwait incorporated company), partial and full custom duties exemptions, and Kuwait income tax exemptions for a period of up to 10 years.

Additionally, the seminar featured key note speeches by KDIPA’s Sheikh Dr Meshaal Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah along with other senior KDIPA officials including, Sheikh Abdullah Sabah Al Sabah – Head of Licensing and Registration at KDIPA, highlighting the authority’s role, in being the applicable Kuwaiti regulator under whose purview the Foreign Direct Investment Law falls.

Sam Habbas, Senior Partner at ASAR – Al Ruwayeh & Partners said: “It gives ASAR great pleasure to have organized and hosted such a prominent event; we are also honored to have had the presence of KDIPA’s Director General Sheikh Dr. Meshaal Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah. We have been working closely with KDIPA to attract foreign investment in Kuwait, and to assist investors in establishing Kuwaiti owned entities under the Direct Investment Law, and today’s seminar has played a major role in outlining significant milestones and key regulatory frameworks. It is of prime importance to have these types of platforms organized among the regulatory authorities, industry experts and other key market players to exchange ideas on how to enhance the efficiency, reliability and transparency of the investment market landscape in Kuwait.”

As to the red tapes prospective investors will face in Kuwait, Ahmad Barakat, ASAR Managing Partner said that it’s not a secret that bureaucracy has always been around as a main barrier to development, “I think it stems partly from lack of clarity of the law sometimes, and sometimes because of the lack of flexibility in the implementation laws and so forth. I think the first issue has been dealt with satisfactorily to some extent, reducing it to a simplified law by introducing clear implementing regulations and by maintaining dialogue with the authority. Now comes the most challenging and most difficult part, which is how to remove all the practical difficulties in implementation of the law. Some of the frustrations are either because there’s slow documentary process or a lack of flexibility in taking some decisions”.

With dedicated offices in Kuwait and Bahrain coupled with its associated offices and relationships, ASAR provides clients across an extensive range of industry sectors with comprehensive legal advice and strategic support for their business activities in Kuwait, across member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and beyond.

The firm has been consistently rated as the leading corporate, commercial and finance law firm in Kuwait by reputable legal guides such as the Chambers Global Guide, International Financial Law Review (IFLR) and the Legal 500. In October 2014 ASAR won the “IFLR National Law Firm of the Year Award” for the 6th consecutive year and the “Project Finance Deal of the Year Award”. In addition, ASAR also won the prestigious “2014 Commercial Litigation Law Firm of the Year” and the “2014 Best Banking and Finance Legal Team -Kuwait” awards from Acquisition International Magazine in 2014. ASAR lawyers also received multiple awards under different categories in the Fourth Edition of “Best Lawyers” in Kuwait.

By Iddris Seidu

Arab Times Staff

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