On 5 May 2025, Kuwait issued the Decree No. 66 of 2025 ratifying the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Agreement. This makes Kuwait the 111th member state of the AIIB, and the last GCC country to join the latter.

Joining the AIIB, which is one of the largest multilateral development banks specializing in funding infrastructure projects in Asia, underscores Kuwait’s commitment to enhancing its role in multilateral development financing, particularly in the power and renewable energy sectors, which represent key priorities for the Kuwaiti government to shore up energy production, as well as transition to green energy.

This move also complements the recent issuance of Kuwait’s public debt law, which aims to, among other things, increase the thresholds for sovereign borrowing to fund local infrastructure projects. It also comes as part of the Kuwaiti government’s accelerated pace to improve and expand on its infrastructure, as evidenced by the score of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects (ranging from new PPP projects such as KDIPA’s Economic Zones, to those that have been relaunched after a long stupor, such as Az Zour North Phases 2 and 3 Independent Water and Power Plants – IWPPs).

Joining the Beijing-based AIIB also reflects Kuwait’s increasing interest in China as a partner in infrastructure development. Indeed, several memoranda of understanding have been entered into with the Chinese government over the past few years to support Kuwait’s ambitious infrastructure plans in the areas of power, renewable energy, logistics and more.

We closely monitor the legal developments in the Kuwaiti market in the area of infrastructure, and stand ready to advise developers, borrowers and lenders on navigating this new legal framework upon its issuance.

If you have specific questions about how these changes may impact you or your business, please reach out to our finance and PPP experts.