KUWAIT: Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and Minister of State for Economic Development Hind Al-Sabeeh said the Cabinet's decision to transfer the domestic help department from the Ministry of Interior (MoI) to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL) needs some time to be put into practice. Sabeeh added that further meetings will be held by between MoI and the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) to discuss the transfer. She also noted that MoI is still responsible for recruiting domestic labor until the transfer proceedings are complete.

Labor cities

Well informed sources at the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) said that a committee entrusted with setting the conditions booklet of the labor cities project is about to complete and send it to the Fatwa and Legislation Department for review. The sources added that once reviewed, the booklet will be sent to international consortiums and local companies that have been already qualified to file their technical and financial bids.

Hospital expansion

Health Minister Sheikh Dr Bassel Al-Sabah said the third phase of the Amiri Hospital expansion project will be concluded on Nov 21, noting that the contract had been extended without costing the health ministry any extra charges. He explained that the project costs KD 98 million to add 415 beds to the hospital's bed capacity. He also noted that 76.6 percent of the project has been completed.

Contractors' claims

The total claims made by contractors working with Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has reached around KD 1 billion, said informed sources, noting that 80 percent of these claims (around KD 843.6 million) are still subject to studies.

New companies

Nine new foreign companies have started operating in Kuwait under the umbrella of the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) to invest in various fields and sectors such as services, IT, communications, maintenance services, healthcare, renewable energy and others, said informed sources. The sources added that over 26 entities belonging to 18 different nationalities had invested over KD 383 million since 2017, after KDIPA managed to attract over KD 720 million in investments since 2015 with plans to increase it to KD 1.7 billion by 2021.

By A Saleh