KUWAIT CITY, April 17: As part of a regulatory initiative to improve the local business environment and boost Kuwait’s standing in global competitiveness indices, officials from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry are working with relevant government bodies to study a proposal that would permit up to five commercial licenses to be held at a single office, provided they are owned by the same entity.

They explained that officials from the ministry held discussions with senior representatives from the Kuwait Municipality, the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM), and the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) regarding the possibility of exempting business owners with more than one commercial license from certain requirements stipulated in the executive regulations of the Commercial Establishments Licensing Law, which govern the conditions for licensing business premises.

The sources highlighted a proposal that would allow a maximum of five commercial licenses to be registered at a single company headquarters, provided that all the licenses (five or fewer) are owned by the same entity or by an individual with significant ownership stakes. They said this initiative aims to streamline business operations, support entrepreneurial projects, and combat the black market for fake business addresses.

The sources explained that relevant government agencies are still exploring solutions to the legal and procedural challenges raised by each authority involved. Among the most pressing concerns is how to handle violations, specifically, whether the main office should be closed if one of the associated licenses is found to be in breach of regulations, and whether it is appropriate in this case to close the main office, as it is the collector of the violating license.

In light of ongoing procedural developments, closures can be carried out using an alternative mechanism. Due to the established interconnectivity between various government entities, it is possible to suspend a specific license and freeze all related transactions in relevant agencies during the closure period, effectively enforcing the penalty without the need to shut down the main office.

This approach will help expedite the handling of recorded violations and ensure the quick reactivation of the company’s file once the issue is resolved, restoring the effectiveness of the company’s file. Ongoing discussions included a legal concern raised by PACI regarding the mechanism for registering the addresses of multiple licenses under a single headquarters.

Under the current system, each commercial license is assigned a unique number. This raises a challenge when attempting to register five licenses at the same location, as assigning a single number to multiple licenses complicates legal processes such as litigation and official communication. A proposal has been put forward suggesting the use of supporting mechanisms to resolve the legal ambiguity.

One proposed solution involves assigning a shared number to the group of five licenses and registering a dedicated, official mailing address for each license within that number. This would ensure that each license can be individually identified and held accountable for violations, communication, and legal action.