Category: Information

Kuwait: Continuing its slow climb. Kuwait (9th) rises three spots as its economy grows steadily and outlook remains favorable amid increasing consumer spending and a greater presence of international retailers.

In line with an optimistic economic outlook for 2013, the retail sector is expanding and demand for retail space is growing despite expensive real estate. The country’s largest mall, The Avenues, opened its phase-three extension in 2012, and other developments, such as the Gate Mall, are opening their doors in 2013. The country’s mostly urban and suburban population has high levels of disposable income, and Kuwaitis are drawn to luxury products and high-end concepts. The Avenues’ new extension includes a street area of high-end standalone shops to cater to this luxury demand.

Kuwait is typically the second MENA location (after the UAE) for international brands. International retailers Cheesecake Factory, Victoria’s Secret, and COS entered in 2012 with franchise agreements with Kuwaiti retailer M.H. Alshaya Co. Prada opened its second Kuwait store at The Avenues in early 2013.

While the luxury market remains bright, Kuwait is a difficult environment in sectors with slim margins. In grocery, for example, large and well-established retailers (such as Sultan Center, City Centre, and Casino), expensive retail estate, and limited space for expansion pose obstacles for entry by foreign grocery retailers.

It’s all very interesting but I’m more interested to know where this Casino is located please. [Link]

Arabian Business has a list of top 20 banks in the region and I was expecting NBK to be like in the top 3 but according to them, NBK came in 10th place. The only other Kuwaiti bank in the top 20 was KFH who came in 12th place. Check out the full list [Here]

According to a friend of mine the sinkholes on the King Fahad Highway (40) are being caused by ongoing pipeline projects. They’re micro-tunneling under the 40 passing pipes from one side of the highway to the other and because the ground beneath the road is not stable it’s creating sinkholes [1,2].

A friend of mine called me earlier tonight from Bneider telling me that the road was blocked towards Saudi near the Starbucks rest stop because of a new sinkhole in the road. I found the picture above via the almubarkia blog showing the hole. This is the second sinkhole on the 40 this year, the first one was back in February.

According to the 2013 Global Fire Power Index, Kuwait ranks 63 worldwide in military strength. It’s a low ranking but thats because the index doesn’t take into consideration foreign military support. The highest ranking GCC country is Saudi Arabia in 27th place. Below are some interesting numbers related to Kuwait’s military:

Active Frontline Personnel: 14,500
Tanks: 368
Armored Fighting Vehicles: 932
Total Aircraft: 108
Helicopters: 44
Coastal Craft: 39

For the full ranking list and more details click [Here]

A reader left the comment below under on of the old posts:

I will clear everything at the current moment, this house belongs to my dad’s uncle. In the Late 50′s all four brothers built quite similar houses, 4 of them to be exact, One in Shamiya, Two in Daiya and one in Salmiya (the one posted). Three of them were lived in and the fourth was made a diwaniya (the one in Salmiya). All the houses have been demolished and still are held by the same owners. They were two toned, white and blue. The only one left is in AlDaiya you could visit it, holds the same desgin. The house is not haunted, it was held on a valuable location that at the time it was impossible to forecast how much it was worth. How could people lower the prices of such a land create rumors about it. The family kept away from media and didnt care about any rumors. Since it was a sharp location

So basically the reason the house was vacant for all this time was because it wasn’t being used anymore and the owners were just waiting for the right time to sell it and not because the house was haunted.

While the world is becoming less peaceful, Kuwait moved up a few spots and came in 37th place out of 162 in the most recent Global Peace Index report (Iceland came first). The peace index uses a variety of different stats to generate an overall ranking including:

– Level of organised conflict
– Relations with neighbouring countries
– Level of perceived criminality in society
– Political instability
– Terrorist activity
– Number of homicides per 100,000 people
– Level of violent crime
– Likelihood of violent demonstrations
– Number of jailed population per 100,000 people
– Nuclear and heavy weapons capability
– Ease of access to small arms and light weapons

Amongst our neighboring states Kuwait ranks 3rd behind Qater (19) and UAE (36). For their full findings and stats visit their website [Here]

The new Kuwait University building under construction caught fire again earlier today for the second time this month. Pretty weird.

Thanks Mohsin

The Eight is a new project by Tamdeen that will feature 70 sea view apartments, in-line retail shopping, fine dining, cafes, and drive thru services that vary from financial institutions to fast food restaurants. The Eight is going to be located in Sabah al Salem, West of the Fahaheel express way and adjacent to the sea. Based on the 3D renderings it looks like it’s going to be a mini city of a sort with lots of stores and restaurants surrounding the apartment block. Check out all the pictures and more information [Here]

*VIDEO REMOVED*

According to a TorrentFreak user, it seems theres currently a phishing scam which tries to fool local internet users into thinking the MOI has blocked their IPs for illegally downloading torrents. The scam tries to get users to pay to remove the pop up warning which will take up the full computer screen and block the user from performing any task on the computer. The scam takes over the computer through a malware so if your computer is virus free or if you use a Mac you’re most likely safe. You can watch the video above showing the scam or click on the following link for more information [Link]

Thanks Quintin

Update: Video was removed since it was no longer playing

The 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index is out and Kuwait has dropped down a few places over the previous year. Kuwait is now ranked in 66 place when it was previously ranked in 54. Qatar and UAE are both tied in 27th place as the least corrupt countries in the GCC. You can check out the full list [Here]

Thanks Patrick

The hacker group Anonymous released a video a few days back stating they were planning to attack a number of countries including Kuwait on June 20th. Why? Because oil is sold with the dollar and Saudi Arabia has betrayed Muslims with their cooperation. No idea what their strike would encompass but most likely they’ll be bringing down all the oil related websites. Check out the video they released above. [YouTube]

The Regional Center for Development of Educational Software (ReDSOFT) have created a pretty amazing iOS App which allows you to download all the books for all grades required by of the Ministry of Education in Kuwait. You just have to tell the App which class you’re in and then you will then have access to all the books that are required by the Ministry for that year. The App is called “كتابي” but if you don’t have an Arabic keyboard setup on your iPhone or iPad then you can search for “nader marafie” in the App store and you’ll find the app or even better here is the direct link to the App Store [Link]

The weather this past week has been fantastic, it was sunny and the skies were a deep blue with very little wind. It’s really the best time for outdoor activities including jet skiing.

If you’ve never jet skied before it’s really very easy and not complicated at all. Jet ski has just two buttons and one leaver. The buttons are for starting and shutting down the engine while the lever is for accelerating. To slow down the jet ski you just let go of the lever. You don’t need to know how to balance a jet ski or anything of the sort, you just sit on it and pull the leaver and that’s pretty much it.

There are various locations on the Gulf Road where you can rent jet skis from and they all basically follow the same guidelines. You need to keep your Civil ID with them while the jet ski is out with you and you also have to sign a waiver/contract. Some locations offer lockers to put your stuff in others don’t. I would recommend you keep everything in the car anyway and then either leave your keys with them so they don’t get wet or get a small waterproof pouch to take with you. Some jet ski renters also give you a cheap Casio watch to wear so you know how much time you’ve been out for and when you need to be back by. Most also have a tap/shower to rinse off once you’re done.

The cost of renting a jet ski is KD10 for 30 minutes or KD15 for 1 hour. If you’re interested in renting one below are some Google Map links to various locations along the Gulf Road. If you’re planning to take pictures make sure your phone has a water poof case.

Location 1
Location 2
Location 3
Location 4

Below is a comparison between the old airport taxi prices and the recently updated ones. I tried to be as accurate as possible but they’ve divided up the areas in the new pricing system slightly so it was a bit confusing creating this list. For example Hawalli and Salmiya were both KD5 previously but now Hawalli is KD7 and Salmiya is KD8.

Aldajeej – Air Cargo
Old Price: KD6
New Price: KD4

Sabhan – Almagwa – Alfarwaniya – Jileeb Alshuyoukh – Khaitan – lshbeelia – ardhiya industrial – Alrabiya – Alrehab
Old Price: KD4
New Price: KD5

Alshuwaikh industria – Alodailiyah – Alrai – Alriggae – Alandalus – Gurnada – Alrawda – Alyarmouk – Qortuba – Alsurra – Aljabriya – Salwa – Almessilah – Bayan – Meshrif – Dahiyat Mubarak Abdulla Aljaber – sabah Alsalem – Alzahraa – Alsadeeq – Alsalam – Huteen – Alshohadaa
Old Price: KD5
New Price: KD6

Alshuwaikh Residential – Alshamiya – Alkhaldiya – Alfaiha – Kaifan – Alsulaibikhat – Alnuzha – Algadisiya – Aldaia – Al mansouriya –Aldasma – Midan Hawally – Hawally – Alnugra – Alrumaithiya –Algurean – Alqussor – Aladan – Mubarak Alkabeer – Jaber Alali – Aldaher – Abu Fatira – Al Funaitees
Old Price: KD5
New Price: KD7

Hadiya – Al Rigga – Al Fintas – Al Ogailah – Abuholaifa – Alsobahiya – Almahboula – Alahmadi – Al Mangaf – Al Fahaheel – Alqaser – Alnaseem – Alnaeem – taimaa – Aloyoon – Alwaha – Aldoha – Alshedadia – Amgarah – Kuwait City – Salmiya – Bneid Algar
Old Price: KD5
New Price: KD8

Almotlaa – kabd – Abdulla port – Alshuaibah lndustrial Area
Old Price: KD7
New Price: KD8

Um Al-Haiman
Old Price: KD8
New Price: KD10

Benaider Chalets – Aldhubaeiah
Old Price: KD10
New Price: KD12

Alzoor port – Alwafra – Alkhiran
Old Price: KD17
New Price: KD19

Alabdelli – Alsalmi – Alnuwaseeb – Alsabeya
Old Price: KD20
New Price: KD20

Photo above by Crazy in Kuwait
Old prices from [Here] and new prices from [Here]
Thanks Vineeth