Kuwait Fund
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| Government-owned companies, State of Kuwait, Ministry of Finance | |
| Industry | Development, Banking |
| Founded | 1961 |
| Headquarters | Kuwait City, Kuwait |
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Area served
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Developing countries |
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Key people
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Sheikh Mohammad Al-Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Chairman of the Board, Abdulwahab Al-Bader, Director General, Hisham I. Al-Waqayan, Deputy Director General |
| Website | www.kuwait-fund.org |
The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), commonly known as the Kuwait Fund, is the State of Kuwait’s agency for the provision and administration of financial and technical assistance to developing countries.
Founded in December 1961 by then Minister of Finance Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Kuwait Fund was operational shortly after the country’s independence, ensuring that Kuwait’s newly discovered oil wealth was put to benefit neighbors and friends alike. The Fund was created as a message from the Kuwaiti people, ensuring that “Here we are embarking on the tides of change but we will not forget our friends in need”.
The Kuwait Fund is the first aid agency in the world to be established by a developing country. KFAED was originally established with a capital of KWD 50 million, increased to KWD 200 million in 1966.
"When first established in 1961, the Kuwait Fund was without precedent. Here was Kuwait, a tiny country, until recently among the poorest places in earth, establishing a development fund in the year of its political independence. While welcoming its new-found prosperity it was declaring a willingness to share its future wealth with its Arab neighbors." * -Robert McNamara, President of the World Bank (1968-1981)
Kuwait Fund is currently located in al-Murgab, Kuwait City, in two beautifully maintained office buildings, for administration and operations, respectively. Managed as a semi-independent arm of the Kuwaiti government, the Fund maintains sovereignty over its operations, notwithstanding governmental oversight. Originally, the Prime Minister of Kuwait chaired the Fund’s Board of Directors. However, in 2003, an amendment to the law was passed, conferring control of Kuwait Fund to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In July 1974, the scope of the Fund’s activity was extended to the rest of the developing world (from its original mandate of solely helping countries in the Arab World) and its capital increased from KWD 200 million to KWD 1000 million.
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Wikipedia