The Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) announced that Kuwait Finance House (Baytak) has joined the sponsors of the 15th Industrialists’ Conference “Foreign Direct Investment in GCC and its impact on industry” as Diamond Sponsor of this key event hosted by the State of Kuwait on the 25th and 26th of November, 2015.

The 15th Industrialists’ Conference is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait. It is organised by Kuwait’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Public Authority for Industry (PAI) and the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC), in collaboration with Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA), Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Industrial Bank of Kuwait and Kuwait Industries Union. The conference is organised in coordination with the Secretariat-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Federation of GCC Chambers (FGCCC).

GOIC Secretary General Mr. Abdulaziz Bin Hamad Al-Ageel stated: “Kuwait Finance House (KFH) is a leading institution in Kuwait, the Gulf and the world. Its support of the 15th Industrialists’ Conference will undoubtedly have a positive impact, especially that KFH provides a wide range of banking Sharia compliant products and services, covering real estate, trade finance, investment portfolios, commercial, retail and corporate banking and is available in Kuwait, Kingdom of Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Malaysia, and Australia.”

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) is a pioneer in Islamic Finance or Sharia Compliant Banking. It was the first Islamic bank established in Kuwait in 1977 and today it is one of the leading Islamic financial institutions in the world.

KFH has steadily managed to expand its business and achievements to lead the Islamic banking industry and become a major financial institution, not only in the Islamic banking industry, but also in the banking sector as a whole, besides being one of the biggest lenders in both the local and regional markets.

KFH’s largest shareholders include: Kuwait Investment Authority (Direct Ownership), Kuwait Public AWQAF Foundation (Direct Ownership), the Public Authority for Minors’ Affairs (Direct Ownership), the Public Institution for Social Security (Indirect Ownership). Furthermore, KFH (KSE: KFIN) is a publically listed company on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE).

Islamic banking refers to a system of banking, which is compliant with religious law called Sharia, guided by Islamic principles of an integral and just society. The cornerstone of Islamic banking and finance is transparency and honest dealings achieving mutual benefits for the bank and customer. Indeed, KFH provides services that exemplify those values.

KFH leads the Islamic finance industry globally and offers a suite of Islamic financial services and products. KFH’s Group banking network spans across seven regions worldwide, with more than 380 branches, over 475 ATMs and approximately 8,000 employees.

It is noteworthy that the15th Industrialists’ Conference to identify clear policies to stimulate development plans in GCC countries based on a comprehensive set of elements drawing foreign investors. It also seeks to create an ambitious strategy to develop and promote the industrial sector in order to attract more foreign investments. Furthermore, it aims at enacting legislations and laws and offering facilitations and incentives to foreign investors in order to create a promising investment environment. The conference will seek to strengthen the level of competitiveness of GCC countries by attracting foreign investments to promote Gulf economies.
The conference will develop recommendations and suggestions to improve the investment environment and overcome obstacles hindering foreign investments and directing foreign investments in accordance with GCC strategic plans to achieve their development goals and maximise the benefit from these investments. In addition to that, they will work on determining key pillars of GCC investment plans in the industrial sector.
The Gulf Industrialists’ Conference hosted by GOIC member states in rotation every other year is one of GOIC’s most important achievements since its foundation in 1976. Since the first conference held in Doha in 1985, they have been contributing in developing private and public industrial sectors in GCC countries. Each conference tackles a specific topic influencing the development of industries in the region through a series of papers delivered by international experts and specialists. In fact, previous conferences resulted in recommendations that helped in developing industrial plans in GCC countries, notably in the area of the industrial development strategy.

Decision makers, officials, businessmen and industrialists are all interested in this conference. In its 14th version “Industrial Exports: Opportunities and Challenges”, the recommendations were to actively work on adopting policies and procedures aiming at facilitating the flow of Gulf exports to strengthen trade activities between Gulf countries and to benefit from GCC and Yemen seaports in addition to the existing land border points in support of Gulf industrial exports.