Kuwait

Kuwait is located in the Middle East, bordering Iraq to the North and Saudi Arabia to the South.  It has a 500 kilometer coastline along the Persian Gulf to the East.  It occupies 17,818 sq. kilometers (slightly smaller than New Jersey) and has a total population of 2.7 million, about half of whom are non-nationals, growing at a rate of 1.986%.  Its capital and largest city is Kuwait City, which contains the vast majority of the country’s population at 2.23 million people.  The predominantly Muslim population is ruled as a constitutional emirate, and the official language is Arabic, although English is also very widely spoken.  The currency used is the Kuwaiti dinar. 

Kuwait itself reports that it holds approximately 9% of the world’s crude oil reserves.  Although it is very small geographically, Kuwait has a very wealthy economy driven by petroleum, which accounts for almost half of the GDP ($153.4 billion, $40,000 per capita, 5.1% real growth rate) and 95% of government income.  Significant imports include food, construction materials, and vehicles.   Rising oil prices around the world have sustained Kuwait’s economic growth despite the lack of economic diversity.  However, legislation was passed in 2010 with the aim of creating private sector economic growth diversifying the economy away from oil, and attracting private-sector investment. 

Click on the links below for information on Franchising in Kuwait. 

Taking Your Brand to the Middle East 

Building Goodwill and U.S. Brand Awareness in the Middle East 

Expanding Your Brand in the Middle East: A Fresh Perspective (2012) 

* CPI Score is published by Transparency International and relates to the perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between 100 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).  

**Ease of Doing Business Ranking is determined by the World Bank Group and is ranked out of a possible 185 countries. www.doingbusiness.org  

Most recent statistics have been taken from the CIA World Factbook unless noted otherwise. 

International Franchising Opportunities

After you have finished researching the international markets, learning international expansion strategies and best practices, and understanding the basics of international franchising law, IFA provides numerous opportunities for franchising internationally.