Business Corruption

According to the Transparency International Global Corruption Report 2006, public contracts and procurement are the sectors most vulnerable to corruption in Kuwait. Foreign companies are excluded from bidding for government-funded projects, unless they work through a Kuwaiti agent or partner. Kuwait's public procurement process is cumbersome and very time consuming and as a result, according to the US Department of State 2011, many bidders offer bribes or other inducements.

Companies are recommended to use a specialised public procurement due diligence tool in order to help mitigate the corruption risks associated with public procurement in Kuwait. For more information on public procurement in Kuwait, see 'Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives' in the Initiatives section.

Political Corruption

According to Global Integrity 2008, the conflict of interest regulations for public procurement officials are not always enforced evenly depending on the integrity of top management in the different institutions. The  US Department of State 2011 reports that there are many ongoing investigations and trials involving government officials accused of wrongdoing in the procurement process, but no one has been convicted for bribery since the end of the Gulf War.

According to a 2009 news article by The Washington Times, Parliament cancelled a project to build the al-Zour refinery in March 2009, after lawmakers accused state officials of profiteering from the project because the contracts to build it did not go through the Central Bidding Committee. Eight months after the cancellation of the project, the government once again announced its plans to retender the al-Zour refinery with the supervision of the Central Bidding Committee, as reported in a November 2009 news article by Downstream Today.

For more information on public procurement in Kuwait, see 'Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives' in the Initiatives section.

Frequency

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011:
- Business executives give the diversion of public funds to companies, individuals, or groups due to corruption a score of 3.6 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'very common' and 7 'never occurs').

- Business executives give the favouritism of government officials towards well-connected companies and individuals when deciding upon policies and contracts a score of 3.5 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'always show favouritism' and 7 'never show favouritism').