ShareKUWAIT: The Ministry of Finance announced on Sunday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Microsoft to advance digital transformation, develop financial and administrative systems, and enhance training and artificial intelligence. The MoU was signed in Seattle, with Kuwait’s Undersecretary of Finance, Aseel Al-Munifi, representing the country and Microsoft’s Executive Vice President of Public Sector, Angela Heise, signing on behalf of the company.
The agreement follows a series of meetings between the two sides over the past few months. In September, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah met in New York with Microsoft Chief Commercial Officer Judson Althoff to discuss potential economic and investment cooperation. Building on that dialogue, Minister of Finance Noura Al-Fassam met with Microsoft official Angela Heise the following month to explore opportunities for collaboration, particularly in the areas of digitization and artificial intelligence. During the meeting, Microsoft outlined its support for Kuwait’s digital transformation goals, with a focus on enhancing cybersecurity and accelerating the adoption of advanced technologies. Both parties agreed to continue their discussions, which ultimately led to the formal agreement announced on Sunday.
The MoU aims to establish a timeline for developing financial systems and services, accelerating digital transformation through the latest technologies, particularly artificial intelligence and cloud services. It is part of the ministry’s efforts to enhance its financial systems and services, especially for government entities. Microsoft has committed to providing technical support to help the ministry achieve its goals.
Additionally, Al-Munifi met with Kirk Arthur, Microsoft’s Business Strategy Leader for the public sector, who outlined the steps Microsoft follows in its global partnerships with government entities. The ministry also plans joint workshops with Microsoft to develop a detailed cooperation plan, define necessary steps for each program, and identify the expertise required to implement the plans and address issues within a clear, specific timeline.
