Kuwait has signed an agreement with China State Construction and Communications (CSCC) to work on completing the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port project, news agency Kuna reports.

The agreement was signed yesterday by Noura Al-Mashaan, Kuwait’s minister of public works, and Chen Zhong, vice chair of the CSCC. The ceremony was attended by a high-level delegation from China’s Ministry of Transport.

The project, which has been underway since 2021, is located on the eastern side of Bubiyan Island in the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway. It is part of the larger Silk City project to develop the island, and a component of the New Kuwait 2035 plan.

Regional transshipment hub

Silk City is also part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The first phase will include the port, the completed Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway and the economic development of the northern Subiya region, which has already gained a 5GW power station.

Al-Mashaan said the aim of the port was to establish a regional transportation and transshipment hub and develop the northern region as an “integrated economic and urban system based on a comprehensive development vision that considers all economic and urban aspects”.

She added that the project would help restore Kuwait to its regional commercial and financial role, and would provide “business opportunities, professional development opportunities, and job opportunities for citizens”.

The scheme will also establish Kuwait as a “major strategic partner for China in all political, economic, commercial and investment fields”.