Business
Companies Law 1 of 2016 with foreign investment by licence
The Companies Law of 2016 modernised corporate forms, and the 2013 direct investment law permits up to full foreign ownership in approved sectors through KDIPA.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Commercial circuits of the ordinary courts. Kuwait Commercial Arbitration Centre administers institutional arbitration.
- Deadline — 30 days to challenge a shareholder resolution
- Deadline — 30 days to seek annulment of an arbitral award
Governing law
- Companies Law, Law 1 of 2016
- Law 116 of 2013 on Direct Investment Promotion
- Arbitration provisions in the Code of Civil and Commercial Procedure, and Law 11 of 1995 on Judicial Arbitration
In practice
Outside the KDIPA regime the default remains a requirement for majority Kuwaiti ownership in most commercial activity, so Kuwait has not made the general shift the UAE made in 2021 and the local partner structure is still the norm. KDIPA licences allow up to one hundred per cent foreign ownership with tax incentives in listed sectors, but they are project-specific approvals rather than a general entitlement. Kuwait is a New York Convention party and arbitral awards are enforceable, though the framework is less consolidated than the Model Law statutes of its neighbours.