The who’s who of US business and finance lined up to meet Kuwait’s crown prince in New York this week, including the bosses of BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Goldman Sachs, and senior executives from Microsoft and Alphabet.
There have been some signs that Kuwait is looking to follow the playbook of neighbors including Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, which have used the clout of their huge sovereign wealth funds as a way to encourage firms to open offices in their cities. Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah asked the CEOs he met with to boost their presence in Kuwait, according to official statements.
Kuwait Investment Authority controls over $1 trillion, but has not been as high profile as other regional states in pursuing international deals or in being used as an instrument to help to diversify the oil-dependent economy. BlackRock plans to open an office in Kuwait, making it one of the first major global financial firms to do so.