Kuwait Country Profile

Snapshot of the Kuwait Country Profile


Kuwait is a small country in the Persian Gulf region, with almost 10% of the world's known oil reserves. The country's economy has been dominated by oil, which is responsible for almost 50% of Kuwait's GPD, 95% of export revenues and 80% of government income. Political power remains concentrated in the hands of the Emir and the ruling Al-Sabah family, and corruption continues to pose problems for doing business. Kuwait has demonstrated an increasing openness to foreign investment and has passed several reforms in order to attract greater inflows of foreign investment, including a series of investment incentives corporate tax reductions. The reform agenda has also included attempts to tackle corruption and to increase transparency and good governance, advocating the establishment of an independence oversight and inspection body, the strengthening of the anti-corruption legal framework and increased cooperation with civil society.

Positive developments in relation to corruption and investment:

Risks of corruption:

  • Information on business-related corruption in Kuwait is scarce, making an accurate estimate of the extent of corruption very difficult.
  • Kuwait's bureaucracy is often inefficient, non-transparent, and can be biased in favour of domestic interests.
  • Tax laws are not enforced uniformly and without discrimination.
  • Domestic Kuwaiti business partners involved in disputes with foreign companies have succeeding in imposing travel bans on foreign partners for allegedly violating Kuwaiti civil law. Though infrequent, such cases underscore the importance to conduct extensive due diligence before entering into business relationships in Kuwait.
  • While Kuwait's public procurement process is cumbersome and susceptible to corruption, and many investigations and trials involving government officials accused of wrongdoing in the procurement process are ongoing, no one has been convicted for bribery since the end of the Gulf War.