KUWAIT: Efforts to nationalize leading positions in the banking sector have been relatively fruitful so far, according to Well-informed banking sources who stressed that 33 percent of those positions, including CEOs, their deputies, department managers and heads of various sections are currently occupied Kuwaitis. The sources added that local banks recently received instructions to increase Kuwaiti employees to 70 percent in various banking positions. The sources said that several leading banks in Kuwait are already managed by Kuwaitis "who have shown remarkable competence and achieved unprecedented success." The sources also noted that Kuwait Central Bank is very committed to such steps and had earlier urged local banks to set well-defined schedules to put such instructions into practice and limit the use of foreigners for training purposes only.

Clean fuel project

Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has so far received $2.5 billion of the foreign funding for the clean fuel project, while the balance of $3.7 billion will arrived within six months. Notably, the clean fuel project is one of the largest by Kuwait to renovate Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries with a total value of KD 4.68 billion, of which KD 3.2 billion in self-funding and local loans has so far been spent on the project. KNPC signed the largest foreign funding contract in Kuwait's history in May 2017 to fund the second phase of the project, worth $6.2 billion. KNPC has set a timetable for monthly payments as per bills presented by international consortia executing the project, taking into consideration that 92 percent of the project has been concluded and 95 percent of the equipment has been supplied. Around 110 local and international companies with over 45,000 people are working on the project.

Senior officials' appointments

Decree number 1/2018 was issued yesterday pertaining the appointment of senior officials at the state security department, said informed sources, noting that Fawwaz Meshaal Al-Sabah, Abdullah Mubarak Al-Hajraf and Abdul Aziz Abdullah Khalaf Al-Salem have been appointed as assistant undersecretaries at the department. Meanwhile, decree number 2/2018 was issued pertaining subjecting the supervision of the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) to Minister of Information Mohammed Al-Jabri. A third decree (3/2018) was issued appointing Saleh Sulaiman Hamad Al-Mulla as assistant undersecretary at the ministers' council.

By A Saleh