Vice Chairman, Horizon Draftfcb

35 years on, and still delivering the message. So gradual, yet constant, are the massive changes that have undergone allaspects of our lives and the influences upon them, that sometimes it is difficult to recall a period when the world wasn’t exactly as it is now. 

Managing Director, Oula Fuel Marketing Company

There’s been a quiet revolution taking place along the roadsides of Kuwait. It can’t have escaped your attention. Where once we’d only fuel our cars at the ubiquitous state-owned gas stations, today we have a choice. Some might find this a trivial advancement, but certainly not Hamza Bakhash who sees any opportunity to combine freedom of choice with greater levels as 

2011 was destined to be a year of celebration and commemoration. 50 years of independence, 20 years since liberation and the 5th anniversary of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s accession. It was a year for much reflection and thought. At Men’s Passion we were proud to play our role fully. In fact, as the year passed by, it became clear that we were indeed in a privileged position as more and more stories revealed themselves to us, and as families and companies opened their hearts and their photograph albums for us. For us it became a journey too, and a year of discovery.

The Story of Hassan’s Optical Company

There can be few businesses that have grown over the years to touch and improve the lives of quite so many of Kuwait’s citizens as that founded by Hassan Saadat Yazdi in 1951. As you read this you’re probably not sitting very far away from a pair of spectacles supplied by Hassan and his company – they’re either yours, a colleague’s, or a friend’s. Hassan’s Optical Company celebrated 60 years in business this year – it was established a full ten years before Kuwait regained its independence. Hassan’s has grown as Kuwait has grown, giving Hassan himself a prime view of his chosen home as it developed.

Arriving in the pre-independence Kuwait, fully six decades ago, it is difficult to understand the challenges that faced the young Hassan Saadat. Newly qualified as an optician in his home city of Tehran he was keen to settle somewhere new, and where he felt his skills could be put to best use for the benefit of the community.

Abdulmohsen Abdulaziz Al-Babtain Group was established in 1942 as an individual company held the name of its founder Mr. Abdulmohsen Abdul Aziz Al Babtain.

Kuwait still retains a strong historical connection with its past. It is a history which, as the years pass by, takes on greater importance. Throughout its history this nation has grown in strength and importance through the wisdom and astuteness of its merchants as much as through the diplomacy of its leaders.

Many of the trading families of the past continue to hold their prominence at the forefront of commerce today. Those that remain the strongest are those which have adapted best to the changing world. One such family are the Al-Saleh, a family who have evolved their businesses over the years and which now sees Najeeb Hamad Musaad Al-Saleh sitting as Chairman and Managing Director of Al-Massaleh, a company with its roots set by generations of Al-Saleh before him, yet with a clear vision of the future as a dynamic publicly-owned company. The best of both worlds perhaps.

One morning in 1932, long before Kuwait had emerged as one of the world’s major oil exporters, a sandy airstrip outside the walls of Kuwait City received its first aircraft - a British Handley - Page Hermes. That early flight marked the dawn of commercial aviation in the country.

A Talk with ITN Source’s Matthew Keene about the Kuwait Historic Newsfilm Collection

Documentary filmmaker and media consultant Talal Al-Muhanna speaks with Matthew Keene, Middle East Business Development Manager for ITN

It’s easy to take for granted many of the familiar companies we cherish in Kuwait. They have become so much a part of our lives that we rarely reflect on them.

For nearly six decades the company has managed to build strategic partnerships with many of the world’s most reputable companies, whilst, establishing sound relations across a broad range of trade channels in Kuwait, resulting in it gaining the trust and confidence of Kuwait’s consumers. We have a brief story on the start of MNH and the businesses they are in today.

The initiative Ali Abdulwahab started 80 years back is still alive with more and more success over the years. In this interview, Ali Al-Mutawa enlightens us on how to have a long life business and create customer loyalty along the years, how the new generations applied the old business rules and how applying ethics can create the most successful business ever.

Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) was established as an International Upstream Arm in 1981 with an authorised and issued capital of KD 200 million by its sole shareholder Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC).  KUFPEC’s core activity is to seek for hydrocarbon outside its boundaries and to achieve capital transformation and profitable investments.

Feeding, and hosting, for nearly fifty years

Since its foundation in1962 Kuwait Hotels Company has sought towards achieving the vision it was created for - that is to be one of the leading companies providing first class hospitality services within Kuwait and the Middle East.

with Omar S. H. Alkazi

The Mutawa Alkazi Company is today indivisibly linked with Honda. In Kuwait both the names Honda and Mutawa Alkazi have become bywords for the highest levels of quality, service and customer support.

One person’s accomplishment is everyone’s achievement

Most family businesses today have never-ending conflicts and a race to superiority. At Al-Sayer, one person’s accomplishment is everyone’s 

Kuwait has grown so far and so fast since the middle of the 20th century that it is difficult to imagine the small city and nation Kuwait once was. A glance across today’s high-rise skyline or a drive along any downtown street will bear witness to the way banking shapes and influences the architecture of the city as well as our personal and business lives. It is difficult to comprehend that within the early lifetime of many of our citizens Kuwait did not have a bank to call its own.

Kuwait Petroleum International was established in 1983, the international arm of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), under its distinctive ‘Q8 Sails’ logo it refines and markets fuel, lubricants and other petroleum derivatives to a diverse customer base across Europe.

In 1938, as the first oil was being produced in the Burgan field, two men decided that business conditions were favorable for a new venture. Abdullah Saleh Al-Mulla, then secretary of state, with partner Saleh Jamal, set up a small electrical and domestic appliances shop in the heart of the old city, 

A Brief History

Founded on 14th August, 1983 the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) quickly became established as one of the foremost bourses in the region. Now, in Kuwait’s golden year, it remains one of the best regulated and top-performing stock exchanges in the world. Here we take the long-view of the history of Kuwait’s Stock Exchange.

Kuwaiti nationals have been acquainted with share trading since the establishment of the first Kuwaiti shareholding company, the National Bank of Kuwait, which introduced its share for public subscription in 1952. The establishment of the Kuwait Cinema Company soon followed.

The first dealing in the stock exchange was done through real estate brokerage offices and public cafes at the merchant’s market, where each broker represented an individual market, specifying the selling and the buying prices as well as the quantity that would be traded, according to the demands of investors.

Words that can only be spoken by a man who believes that an apology is a sign of strength rather than weakness, a man who combines both strong presence, delicate feelings and a truly humble personality. In an extremely candid and enjoyable interview, meet  Mr. Waleed al-Nusif, Editor in Chief of AlQabas newspaper, writes Nouf Al-Hajri

When most foreigners hear the name Kuwait, ‘oil’ is probably the first thing that comes to mind, writes Robin Bhattacharya. Although it is clichéd, that association is quite relevant: more than 75 years after the discovery of oil, it still represents for 95% of all exports and therefore remains central to Kuwait’s economy and wealth. As the national company focussed on the exploration and development of oil, the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has played a critical role in the development of the industry in Kuwait and therefore a central role in the development of the country.

Celebrating the Golden Year

The Kuwait Flour Mills & Bakeries logo is found in every household, and yet many of us know little about the devoted efforts behind this indispensable entity in Kuwait; and so together we learn more about the company, how it started, its history, all the wayto its products reaching our homes;and who better to tell the story than Mr. Mutlaq Al-Zayed, Deputy Managing Director of Kuwait Flour Mills & Bakeries Co., a humble and inspiring character who sat in every chair in this company for nearly 25 years. And today,he celebrates the golden jubilee of the company as he tells us how it all happened.

When it comes to the future of energy, the world needs a reality check. Contrary to public perception, renewable energy is not the silver bullet that will soon solve all our problems. Indeed, in the decades ahead, three hard truths will generate turbulence in the global energy system. 

We’ve all read and heard enough about the global credit crunch to be convinced that only the ill-informed are investing and launching new businesses. The right thing to do is to put your cash under the bed and sit tight until it’s all over. Right? Wrong. The wisest amongst are using this period to investigate new opportunities. This is the ideal time to discover the next big thing, or at least a new way forward. It’s always the way during economic downturns - as Luay Al-Qatami knows very well.

I can’t think of many more stressful occupations than a career in live television. So why is it that people queue up to join the swelling ranks of presenters, producers, cameramen and technicians? The only way to find out was to get up ridiculously early one morning and join the crew at Watan TV’s morning show.