KAPP: three PPP projects to be launched in 2018

KUWAIT, Sept 26 (KUNA) -- Three public-private partnership (PPP) projects on the state development plan are expected to be launched next year, it was announced Tuesday..
The Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) I in the process if launching several projects as part of the National Master Plan for 2017/2018, KAPP Director General Mutlaq Al-Sanea told the "Euromoney Kuwait Conference 2017.".
These projects have been in the works for the past 18 months.
The KAPP is in the final stages of the financial closure for three of these projects and is preparing to launch others soon, Al-Sanea told the international event.
In addition, the authority is now working on a host of infrastructure projects to be launched as PPP in line with law 116/2014, he said, pointing to the KAPP efforts to disseminate awareness of the PPP benefits.
The KAPP has opened huge opportunities for the local and international investors to take part in financial development in Kuwait through mega projects, Al-Sanea said.
Another main goal of the PPP is to provide new jobs for Kuwaiti citizens in the private sector as well as increasing the sector's contribution to the state's GDP, he noted.
He referred to "strong indicators" that the local banking and the legal consultancy sectors have taken much interest in the KAPP's projects as a result of the serious approach from the government to support the PPP program.
According to Al-Sanea, the KAPP targets the launch of the projects of the Labor City, Kabd Municipal Solid Waste Project and Umm Al-Hayman Wastewater Projects.
He boasted the fact that the construction of the KAPP's first project, Azzour North One Power and Water Plant, was completed and started full commercial operation in November 2016.
For his part, Khaled Al-Khaled, CEO of Boursa Kuwait, told the Euromoney Kuwait conference 2017, said that following the latest meeting of the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) Russell Governance Board, the FTSE could announce the upgrade of Boursa Kuwait from a Frontier Market to a Secondary Emerging Market.
The impact of being classified within this index for Kuwait can mean a significant increase in turnover and foreign investments in the market, he noted.
The new FTSE status has been a key objective of Boursa since the inception in April last year, he said.
It highlights its mission to enhance the current level of performance in Kuwait, and enables Boursa Kuwait to compete with regional peers and build a market reflecting the strength, depth and flexibility of the Kuwaiti private sector.
Al-Khaled said that Boursa Kuwait is introducing Market Segmentation for the first time in Kuwait and in the region as a whole.
This approach to manage the market, which is an internationally recognized practice undertaken by some of the world's largest markets, will allow Boursa Kuwait to achieve major changes and improvements in the operations of the exchange. He noted that the market will be segmented into three main categories: Premier, Main and Auction. Each category has been designed based on certain criteria and more importantly, in a means to cater to and accommodate the current Kuwait market status. (pick up previous) fnk.tab.msa