KUWAIT CITY, Sept 23: Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) has announced the conclusion of a partnership agreement with a company for an investment opportunity in Jaber Al-Ahmad Residential City, reports Al-Rai daily.

In a recent press statement, Minister of Public Works and State Minister for Housing Affairs Dr. Rana Al-Faris said the total cost of developing this project in Jaber Al-Ahmad Residential City is about KD 50 million, which is approximately $165 million.

She explained that the project is invested by the company executing the project without any financial burden on PAHW. The process of signing that agreement by the authority is a subsequent procedure for signing the commitment document for that investment opportunity with the winning investor in June.

The bidding and contracting procedures were carried out in accordance with law No. 47/1993, the investment regulations issued by the ministerial resolution No. 32/2016 and its amendments, and the Partnership Law between the Public and Private Sectors No. 116/2014 and its implementing regulations.

The minister revealed that the total revenues expected for PAHW from that project during the partnership period and for the entire 25-year investment period are estimated at KD 14.8 million or about $48.8 million.

She praised the role of Kuwait's banking sector in interacting with the developers and and contributing to financing projects in accordance with the structural and contractual frameworks established by the PAHW that were prepared in a way that places the private sector within the framework of the desire to partner with PAHW to finance and develop its projects.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director General for Investment Affairs and Private Sector Projects in PAHW Hadeel bin Naji said in a similar statement that this opportunity is located on a land area of 148,560.94 square meters and a building area of 125,000 square meters that includes a commercial center consisting of office spaces, galleries and a multipurpose hall, in addition to cafes.

She explained that partnership projects reduce the financial and administrative burden on PAHW by converting non-income-generating lands into assets with rewarding and growing returns while ensuring access to the highest quality standards through competition among private sector companies and creating jobs and investment opportunities for Kuwaiti youth.

The partnership between the two sectors in positive projects raises the quality of living in residential cities by providing the required services and goods through the private sector based on studies prepared by PAHW to verify the feasibility of developing them.