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RIYADH: Kuwait has signed a 2.5 million Kuwaiti dinars ($8.1 million) contract for the design and planning of its section of the regional rail network, marking a step forward in the realization of the Gulf Railway Project first conceived in 2009. 

The agreement with Turkish consultancy firm Proyapi marks the official launch of Kuwait’s participation in this Gulf Cooperation Council-wide infrastructure initiative, bringing the long-delayed project closer to reality. 

The 2,177-km GCC railway will connect Kuwait City to Muscat via Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE, with most of the route running through Saudi and Emirati territory.

Construction is already underway in the UAE, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and the project aims to boost regional trade, travel, and tourism. 

Kuwait’s Public Works Minister, Noura Al-Mashaan, said that “the railway project comes in line with the visions of the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to establish a passenger and freight railway network linking the GCC countries,” the Kuwait News Agency, also known as KUNA, reported. . 

Kuwait is set to be the northern terminus of the network, with its portion covering 111 km. The route will extend from Al-Shadadiya — where a major train station will be constructed on a site spanning 2 million sq. meters— to Al-Nuwaiseeb at the Saudi border. 

The contract signing ceremony was attended by Turkiye’s Ambassador to Kuwait, Tuba Nur Sonmez.

The agreement encompasses design and engineering studies, soil testing, route mapping, and the preparation of tender documents for the subsequent construction phase. Once the design work is finalized, Kuwait will move forward with inviting bids for the actual construction. 

Ahmed Al-Saleh, assistant undersecretary for planning and development and official spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Works, highlighted the railway’s far-reaching impact.

“The project has great social and economic importance for the smooth transport of passengers and goods,” he said, according to the KUNA report, adding that it is being implemented in line with “the desire of the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.” 

In April 2024, Hafeet Rail began implementing the Oman-UAE connection, marking the first operational GCC link in the regional network. The 238-km stretch will connect Sohar Port in Oman to Abu Dhabi, integrating with the UAE’s national rail system and significantly reducing travel times. Passenger trains will cover the Sohar-Abu Dhabi route in just 100 minutes, according to the Hafeet Rail website. 

During the 26th meeting of GCC transport ministers in Doha in November, officials reaffirmed the project’s advancement toward its 2030 completion target. GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Al-Budaiwi highlighted Hafeet Rail as a key milestone, emphasizing its role in creating a unified transport and logistics network across the region. 

KARACHI: Haball, a Pakistan fintech firm, raised $52 million to expand its Shariah-compliant supply chain financing and payments services, the company said on Tuesday.
The funding, led by Zayn VC and Meezan Bank, includes $5 million in equity and $47 million in strategic financing and will support Haball’s growth plans for Pakistan, the company said in a statement.
The money will also help Haball’s expansion into the Middle East, starting with Saudi Arabia this year, it added.
“Supply chain finance in Pakistan is nascent but is expected to be worth over $9 billion; driven by the severe financing gap faced by the country’s SMEs – less than 5 percent can access financing from commercial banks,” the company statement said.
Islamic banking and finance has been growing rapidly in Pakistan, the world’s second most populous Muslim country, with assets reaching 9,689 billion Pakistani rupees ($34.54 billion)at the end of June 2024, according to the Quarterly Islamic Banking Bulletin released by the State Bank of Pakistan.
The market share of assets and deposits of the Islamic banking sector in the overall banking industry stood at 18.8 percent and 22.7 percent, respectively.
The central bank has a target of 30 percent of overall banking assets and deposits to be Islamic by this year, according to its strategic plans for 2023-2028.
Haball says it provides shariah-compliant financing to nearly 8,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as multinationals, in addition to digital invoicing, payment collection, and tax compliance services.
“Haball has processed over $3 billion in payments and disbursed over $110 million in financing – optimizing supply chains across the country,” said the firm’s founder and CEO, Omer bin Ahsan.
Islamic finance bans interest payments and pure monetary speculation and can only be used to invest in Shariah-compliant assets or portfolios. ($1 = 280.5000 Pakistani rupees)