Kuwait approves 948 million dinars in new foreign investment

Summary

• Kuwait's investment authority approved 948.037 million dinars across 17 foreign entities in fiscal 2025/2026.
• Cumulative approvals since 2015 reached 2.920 billion dinars, with China the largest single investor.
• Some 76% of investment spending stayed inside the domestic economy, according to the authority.

The latest

New foreign investments approved in Kuwait reached 948.037 million dinars through 17 investment entities during the financial year that ran from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. The Direct Investment Promotion Authority, KDIPA, published the figures in its eleventh annual report on 4 November 2026, describing inflows as having quadrupled. The report was submitted to the Amir, the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister a day earlier.

Details

• The headline number: KDIPA said approved new investment for the fiscal year totalled 948.037 million dinars across 17 entities licensed in the twelve months to 31 March 2026. The authority characterised the year's inflows as a fourfold increase, without publishing a year-earlier comparison figure.
• The cumulative picture: Total approved investment since the authority began operating in 2015 stands at roughly 2.920 billion dinars, according to the report. That means the single fiscal year just reported accounts for close to a third of everything approved across the entire decade.
• Money actually spent: Cumulative investment spending through December 2024 reached about 1.24 billion dinars, up roughly 14% year on year, KDIPA said. Approved capital and deployed capital are distinct measures, and the spending figure tracks what has physically entered the economy.
• The local retention rate: The authority reported that 76% of that cumulative spending was retained within the domestic Kuwaiti economy, a metric it uses to argue that incoming foreign capital circulates through local suppliers, contractors and labour rather than flowing straight back out.
• Sector leaders: Construction and infrastructure topped the cumulative breakdown at 907.927 million dinars, or 31.09% of the total. Information and communications technology ranked second with 668.959 million dinars, or 22.91%, giving two sectors more than half of all approved investment.
• Who is investing: China is the largest cumulative investor at 903.64 million dinars, equal to 30.95% of the total, followed by the Netherlands at 541.554 million dinars, or 18.55%. The United Kingdom ranked third. KDIPA did not publish a figure for the British share.
• The wider base: Investors have come from 33 countries, and 122 entities hold licences from the authority, according to the report. Of those, 80 are Kuwaiti companies, indicating much of the approved activity runs through locally incorporated vehicles rather than direct foreign branches.
• The policy frame: KDIPA tied the report to its own 2025–2030 strategy and to the broader Kuwait Vision 2035 development plan, positioning foreign direct investment as part of the state's effort to widen its economic base beyond hydrocarbons. The figures also appear on the authority's website.

Background

KDIPA was established to license and promote direct foreign investment in Kuwait and has tracked approvals since 2015. Its annual report is the state's primary public accounting of how much foreign capital has been authorised, in which sectors, and from which countries.

Between the lines

The fourfold characterisation rests on approvals, not deployed capital — and the two series move at very different speeds. Approved investment has reached 2.920 billion dinars since 2015, while actual spending through December 2024 was 1.24 billion, growing at about 14%. The concentration in construction, infrastructure and ICT also means the headline total is sensitive to a small number of large projects.

What's next

Watch for KDIPA's next spending update, which would show whether the 1.24 billion dinar deployed figure accelerates toward the 2.920 billion approved, and for any breakdown of the 17 newly licensed entities by sector and origin.

Source: KDIPA (Direct Investment Promotion Authority), Al-Anba