Overview
2024 marks the 125th anniversary of UK-Kuwait diplomatic relations and the 70th anniversary of the Kuwait Investment Office (KIO) in London. The UK and Kuwait share a strong trade and investment relationship, with the total volume of trade almost doubling last year. Moreover, the UK’s announcement in July that Kuwaiti nationals will be able to travel visa-free using the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme from February 2023 will make travel to the UK cheaper and visits cheaper and easier. This, in turn, will further expand business, tourism, and cultural relations.
In a recent visit to Kuwait, UK Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office, Oliver Dowden, commemorated with His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, the close and important partnership between Kuwait and the UK for the last 125 years.
Dowden highlighted the multifaceted relationship that extends beyond security and defense to encompass sectors like cybersecurity, investments, education, and culture. He also reinstated the UK’s commitment to cooperating with Kuwait to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East.
Total trade in goods and services between the UK and Kuwait amounted to GBP5.7 billion in the four quarters to the end of 1Q2023, an increase of 118.3%. UK exports of goods to Kuwait increased by 33% in the 12 months to May 2023 compared to the same period the previous year, while UK imports of goods from Kuwait increased by 198.8% over the same period.
In light of these events and of the mutual desire to expand cooperation, The Business Year is leveraging its strong partnerships with governments and businesses in both regions to host an event on bilateral investment opportunities. The event, which will be held in London in March 2024, will gather the leaders at the forefront of both economies to shed light on the most burning issues and opportunities that are shaping ties between the two countries.
Speakers
HE Dr. Anwar Ali Al Mudhaf
Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Economic Affairs and Investments, Kuwait
HE Dr. Anwar Ali Al Mudhaf
Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Economic Affairs and Investments, Kuwait
Dr. Anwar Ali Al Mudhaf is Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Economic Affairs and Investments and Chairman of the Board of Directors of KDIPA. He is a former chairman of the board of directors and corporate governance committee at Ahli United Bank K.S.C.P. and director of the board of governors of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. He has more than 25 years of experience in banking and finance and holds a PhD in finance from Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management, Claremont Graduate University.
Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon
Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict and Minister of State (Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, United Nations and the Commonwealth)
Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon
Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict and Minister of State (Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, United Nations and the Commonwealth)
Lord Ahmad was first appointed as Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict and as Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the United Nations in June 2017.
The Minister deputises for the Foreign Secretary in the House of Lords. Before entering politics, Lord Ahmad had a 20-year career in the City working in banking and finance, including at the NatWest Group, where he was a senior manager in corporate banking and financial markets. He was later vice-president and marketing director of Alliance Bernstein and his last role before joining the government was as strategy and marketing director at Sucden Financial.
Abdulwahab Issa Al-Rushood
Acting Group CEO, Kuwait Finance House
Abdulwahab Issa Al-Rushood
Acting Group CEO, Kuwait Finance House
Abdulwahab Issa Al-Rushood received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from Western Oregon State College in the US in 1987. He successfully completed a specialized training course on strategic leadership at Harvard Business School. He has been the Acting Group CEO and Group Chief Treasury and Financial Institutions Officer at Kuwait Finance House since 2015. In addition, he is the chairman of KFH Capital Investment Company and a board member at Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain. He possesses vast banking experience spanning more than 33 years. During his professional career, he has held numerous prominent leadership roles starting in the treasury department at Gulf Bank before moving to Kuwait Finance House.
Sheikh Ahmad Duaij Al Sabah
Chairman, Kuwait Banking Association
Sheikh Ahmad Duaij Al Sabah
Chairman, Kuwait Banking Association
Sheikh Ahmad Duaij Jaber Al Sabah has been the Chairman of the Commercial Bank of Kuwait since April 1, 2018. In his capacity as Chairman of the Commercial Bank of Kuwait, he was nominated as Chairman of the Kuwait Banking Association effective from February 20, 2022 and became a member of the World Union of Arab Bankers in May 2022. He has also been a board member of the Kuwait Institute of Banking Studies since April 2018. Furthermore, he held the position of board member at Kuwait Clearing Company, representing the Commercial Bank of Kuwait, from 2018 until 2019. He was recommended once again on May 11, 2022 as member of the board of directors of Kuwait Clearing Company. He previously held the position of Chairman of Al Tijari Financial Brokerage Company from 2014 until 2020. He graduated with an MBA from Maastricht School of Management in March 2008 after obtaining his bachelor’s degree in science with a major in finance from Bentley College, US, in May 2000.
Faisal Mansour Sarkhou
CEO, Kamco Invest
Faisal Mansour Sarkhou
CEO, Kamco Invest
Faisal Mansour Sarkhou was appointed Group CEO of Kamco Invest in 2014. He has extensive experience in investment services namely investment banking and asset management and joined the company in 2000. He has held several managerial positions including head of corporate finance and head of financial services and investments. Earlier in his career Sarkhou was a member of the corporate finance team at KPMG in Kuwait. He sits on the board of several companies, is a member of advisory boards and executive committees, and is a prominent speaker at various investment forums. Sarkhou holds a BSc economics degree with honors from the University of Birmingham, UK and an EMBA with distinction from HEC Paris, France.
Joanna Mobed
Co-Head, Global Origination, UK Export Finance
Joanna Mobed
Co-Head, Global Origination, UK Export Finance
Joanna Mobed leads UK Export Finance’s business origination activities in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, covering a range of sectors, including renewable energy, clean growth, and infrastructure. In this role, she manages the development of a diversified pipeline of bankable projects for UK Export Finance across these markets. She is also responsible for UK Export Finance’s international network in the region, including UK Export Finance’s country heads in the Asia Pacific, India, the Middle East, and the Western Balkans. She has extensive experience in negotiating and executing cross-border transactions, with a specific focus on structured and asset finance and project financing. She also maintains particular interest in the environmental and social impacts of overseas projects. She was previously regional head for Asia Pacific, South Asia, and China at UK Export Finance. Prior to this, she was a corporate lawyer advising sponsors, multilaterals, export credit agencies, and international commercial banks on transformational project finance deals.
Nouf Al Muzayyan
Head of the Follow up and Aftercare Section, Investment Operations Division, Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority
Nouf Al Muzayyan
Head of the Follow up and Aftercare Section, Investment Operations Division, Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority
Nouf Al Muzayyan holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting, an advanced certificate in credit management (ACCM), and is a certified quality internal auditor (CQIA) with extensive experience in the private sector in the banking industry, covering internal auditing, fraud audits, financial operational, and compliance in Kuwait and abroad. She later shifted to the public sector to join the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) as head of the Follow up and Aftercare Section under the Investment Operations Division, assuming the responsibilities relating to nurturing the relationship with licensed investment entities, measuring the economic, social, and environmental impact of their business operations, and managing granted tax incentives.
HE Bader Mohammad Alawadi
Kuwait Ambassador to UK
HE Bader Mohammad Alawadi
Kuwait Ambassador to UK
Bader Mohammad Alawadi holds a BA in political sciences and general administration, as well as various certifications from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, University of Tufts. His career has seen him lead Kuwait's embassies in the Republic of Korea and Cuba, as well as taking on the role of non-resident ambassador to Antigua and Barbuda, the Dominican Republic, and Saint Lucia. Prior to becoming Ambassador, he had served on Kuwait's mission to the UN in New York and the embassy in Paris.
Lord Dominic Johnson
Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade, UK
Lord Dominic Johnson
Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade, UK
Lord Dominic Johnson of Lainston CBE was appointed Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade on 7 February 2023. He was previously Minister of State (Minister for Investment) in the Department for International Trade between November 24, 2022 and February 7, 2023. He was Minister of State jointly in the Department for International Trade and the Cabinet Office between October 2, 2022 and October 28, 2022. He has spent over 25 years in financial services, beginning his career at Robert Fleming in 1995, before moving to Hong Kong to work for Jardine Fleming and then, in 2002, after a series of dot com start-ups, heading the marketing for Lloyd George Asset Management, an emerging markets specialist firm. In 2007 he co-founded Somerset Capital Management LLP as an employee-owned democratic partnership, focusing on pension fund management in developing countries. Between November 9, 2020 and October 2, 202, he was a non-executive board member of the Department for International Trade. He was Chair of the department’s Audit and Risk Assurance Committee. Between 2017 and 2019 he was vice-chairman of the Conservative Party.
HE Belinda Lewis
UK Ambassador to the State of Kuwait
HE Belinda Lewis
UK Ambassador to the State of Kuwait
Belinda Lewis started her career in banking before joining the civil service in 2003. She worked for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA), the UK Border Agency, and the Ministry of Justice before transferring to the diplomatic service. Her career has covered a variety of policy areas, from public service broadcasting to border security, and stabilization to improving trade. She assumed her current role of His Majesty’s Ambassador to Kuwait in April 2021.
Alderman Alastair King
Founder & Chairman, Naisbitt King Asset Management Limited
Alderman Alastair King
Founder & Chairman, Naisbitt King Asset Management Limited
Alastair King was a Sheriff of the City of London from September 2022 to September 2023. Subject to election in September 2024, he is the likely to take office as the next Lord Mayor of London in November 2024. By way of professional background, he qualified as a solicitor in the City of London in 1995. He practiced in both London and Asia with the leading international law firm Baker McKenzie. He joined a leading venture capital firm, NewMedia Investors, in 1999, which provided early-stage capital for some of the UK’s leading technology companies. In 2002, he and a business partner took control of a small LSE-quoted investment vehicle, which they turned into a highly successful buy-out firm. In 2006, Alastair founded his own fund management company, and in parallel founded, raised, and ran an LSE-quoted fund to invest into Indian infrastructure projects. Currently, he is on the board of five City of London-based financial services companies, four of which he chairs. Of the five companies, four are FCA-regulated and he owns two, Naisbitt King Asset Management Limited (a fund manager) and Naisbitt King Limited (a family office). He is also Chair of the Advisory Board of Urbium Capital, a new real estate fund investing overseas capital into the UK.
Alastair has a number of charitable interests; he is Deputy Chair of both the British Liver Trust and Breast Cancer Haven. He is Chair of the environmental charity Common Earth and Treasurer of the long-established City charity, the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association.
In February 2022, Alastair was deeply honoured to be Commissioned as a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater London.
HE Sadiq M. Marafi
Assistant Foreign Minister for Europe Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait
HE Sadiq M. Marafi
Assistant Foreign Minister for Europe Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait
Sadiq M. Marafi has a degree in political science from Kuwait University. He is a seasoned diplomat, having held roles such as: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Kuwait to the Federal Republic of Austria and Permanent Representative to the United Nations International Organizations in Vienna; Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait; Ambassador Extraordinary of the State of Kuwait to the People's Republic of China; and Assistant Foreign Minister for Europe Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait.
David E Rutter
CEO, R3
David E Rutter is a well-respected thought leader in the financial technology industry. He has over 30 years of experience leading some of Wall Street's top institutions. He has invested in and founded a number of start-ups including R3 and LiquidityEdge LLC. He previously served for 10 years as the CEO of Electronic Broking at ICAP Plc. Prior to that, he was co-owner and CEO of Prebon Yamane.
Robert Barnes
Co-CEO, BPX
Robert Barnes
Co-CEO, BPX
Dr Robert Barnes, Co-CEO of real estate platform BPX, is an exchange expert of 30 years in financial markets, including as CEO of two regulated trading venues, Turquoise (2013-2022, majority owned by LSEG) & UBS MTF (2010-2013, while at UBS 1994-2013). FCA selected him in 2022 for a two-year term on FCA’s Secondary Markets Advisory Committee and appointed him in 2023 to its Sub-committee on Market Outages. Since 2021, he has served on the National Timing Centre programme Steering Committee led by the National Physical Laboratory. He holds a PhD from Cambridge and a BA from Harvard. His peers voted him The TRADE’s first Industry Person of the Year at its Leaders in Trading Awards, and he received the European Markets Choice Award for Individual Market Recognition in 2022. In 2023, the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment awarded him its highest accolade, an Honorary Fellowship and published his article on digital securities in The Review.
Esam Al-Kheshnam
CEO, KNET
Esam Al-Kheshnam
CEO, KNET
Esam Al-Kheshnam joined KNET in 2022 as the CEO and brings with him over 30 years of experience in the IT and financial services industry. Prior to joining KNET, he held several leadership roles including CEO of International Turnkey Systems, IT strategic department manager at the Central Bank of Kuwait, executive vice president for sales and COO at Path Solutions, business development manager for the financial services industry at Hasibat Information Technologies, and the business development manager at Gulf Business Machines. He also serves as board of director in the Industrial Bank of Kuwait.
Mr. Al-Kheshnam holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering from University of the Pacific in California as well as General Management Program from Harvard Business School.
Juliette Wilcox
Cyber Security Ambassador, UK Defence & Security Exports
Juliette Wilcox
Cyber Security Ambassador, UK Defence & Security Exports
Juliette Wilcox is the Cyber Security Ambassador for UK Defence & Security Exports at the Department for Business and Trade. She spent over 30 years as a British diplomat before joining DBT in March 2022. She held a variety of positions in the UK and overseas, including postings to Beijing, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Since 2013 she has served in director-level roles focused on national security and international relations, including leading cyber and science and technology development, capability and delivery. She holds an MA (Law) from the University of Cambridge.
Abdulrazzaq T. Razooqi
SVP – Head of Advisory and M&A, Investment Banking, Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz)
Abdulrazzaq T. Razooqi
SVP – Head of Advisory and M&A, Investment Banking, Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz)
Abdulrazzaq T. Razooqi works as a SVP – Head of Advisory and M&A in the Investment Banking department at Markaz where he has been actively involved in mergers & acquisitions, financial restructurings, valuations, and other transaction advisory services. With over 10 years at Markaz, he has assisted clients in exiting their stakes in companies operating in the industrial, education, insurance, and food and beverage sectors, amongst others. He has also been a key member of the financial restructuring of some of the major retail companies and family businesses. He is also a board member of First Equilease Company and Gulf Custody Company. He holds a bachelor of science in business administration with a concentration in economics and entrepreneurship from Babson College.
Alexander Krunic
Senior Consultant, Chairman’s Office, Commercial Bank of Kuwait
Alexander Krunic
Senior Consultant, Chairman’s Office, Commercial Bank of Kuwait
Alexandar Krunic is currently the Senior Consultant to the Chairman of the Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK - Al Tijari), where he focuses on strategy, business development, and optimization across the bank. Prior to joining CBK, Krunic was as the CEO at Kuwait Clearing Company, where he was responsible for all post-trade businesses in the Kuwait market, including the CCP and CSD. Prior to joining KCC, Krunic was the head of equities at London Clearing House (LCH), the post-trade division of London Stock Exchange. Krunic has more than 23 years’ experience in international banking and the securities services industry and has held senior roles at JP Morgan, Citi, Bank of New York, and Societe Generale. He holds a degree in economics from the University of West London and a master of science in business finance from Brunel University.
Ayşe Hazır
CEO & Founder, The Business Year
Ayşe Hazır
CEO & Founder, The Business Year
Ayşe Hazır is CEO and founder of The Business Year, a global media group that has been providing investors, businesses, and governments with first-hand insights into the world’s most dynamic markets for over a decade. Since founding the company, she has overseen the growth of operations across the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Having also successfully guided the company through the digital transition, she is now focusing on the expansion of coverage into Europe. Before founding The Business Year, Ayşe worked as Europe, Middle East and Asia Regional Director at Emerging Market Series, a London-based publishing house, from 2004 to 2009. Prior to that she was Project Director for Eastern Europe, where she coordinated research on countries targeting EU accession. At the start of her career, she also gathered extensive experience as a sectoral business intelligence project director in various geographies, from Oman to the Russian Federation and Indonesia, covering industries such as oil and gas, power, and chemical manufacturing. Ayşe holds a BA in chemistry from Istanbul Boğaziçi University and lives in London. She is a mother of two, a qualified yoga teacher, and an avid sailor.
Ioana Krempanszky Popa
Regional Director Middle East, The Business Year
Ioana Krempanszky Popa
Regional Director Middle East, The Business Year
Ioana Krempanszky Popa is The Regional Director for Middle East for The Business Year, where she has been working for the past 6 years. She has successfully created partnerships with the worlds' largest entities in highly competitive markets, and lead teams to complete successful projects in several countries, such as the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Jamaica, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Nigeria. She graduated from the University of Vienna, Austria, with a Master's Degree in Cognitive Science, majoring in behavioral economics.
Silvia Lambiase
Senior Country Editor, The Business Year
Silvia Lambiase
Senior Country Editor, The Business Year
Silvia Lambiase is Senior Country Editor at The Business Year. She has wide-ranging experience working in economic analysis, media, business development, and marketing in various countries, including the UK, Nigeria, the UAE, Oman, and Kazakhstan. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international economic relations from La Sapienza University of Rome and an MSc in economics and finance from the University of Liverpool.