Kuwait Amir signs decree, reshuffles Cabinet with key title changes

• Khalifa Abdullah Dhahi Ajeel Al-Askar is the new Minister of Commerce and Industry. Abdullatif Hamed Hamad Al-Meshari will be Minister of State for Municipal and Housing Affairs. Dr. Nader Abdullah Mohammad Al-Jallal is appointed Minister of Higher Education and Acting Minister of Education and Nora Suleiman Al-Fassam will serve as the Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Economic and Investment Affairs.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah signed a decree reshuffling the cabinet. The Amir’s decree changes the title of the following cabinet members.

Khalifa Abdullah Dhahi Ajeel Al-Askar has been appointed as the Minister of Commerce and Industry. Abdullatif Hamed Hamad Al-Meshari will serve as the Minister of State for Municipal Affairs and Minister of State for Housing Affairs. Dr. Nader Abdullah Mohammad Al-Jallal has been named the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and will also act as the Minister of Education. Additionally, Nora Suleiman Al-Fassam has been named as the Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Economic and Investment Affairs.

Amiri Decree No. 140 of 2024 amended the appointments of several ministers and appointing new ones in the government led by His Highness Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the Prime Minister, for the year 2024.

The decree was issued after reviewing the constitution, the Amiri Order of May 10, 2024, and the Amiri Order of April 15, 2024, which appointed the Prime Minister. Additionally, Decree No. 73 of 2024, which formed the ministry, was considered. Based on the Prime Minister’s recommendation, the following decree has been enacted.

The appointments listed in Decree No. 73 of 2024 will be amended as follows, with the Amir’s decree changing the titles of the following cabinet members.

Abdulrahman Badah Al-Mutairi, Minister of Information and Culture and Minister of State for Youth Affairs, Dr. Nora Khaled Al-Mashaan, Minister of Public Works, Omar Saud Abdulaziz Al-Omar, Minister of State for Communications Affairs, Mahmoud Abdulaziz Mahmoud Bushehri, Minister of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy and Dr. Amthal Hadi Hayef Al-Huwailah, Minister of Social Affairs and Family and Childhood Affairs.

The Prime Minister will implement this decree, which takes effect from the date of issuance and will be published in the Official Gazette. Here are the biographies of the new ministers:

1. Khalifa Abdullah Dhahi Ajeel Al-Askar, appointed as the Minister of Commerce and Industry, holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Faculty of Administrative Sciences at Kuwait University, earned in 2002. He has served as Chairman of the Financial Controllers with the rank of Minister since 2019.

He was a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Capital Markets Authority from April 2014 to September 2019, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Awas Holding Company from May 2013 to April 2014.

Additionally, he was Chairman of the Board of Directors and Managing Director of Al-Musatar Financial Business Company from November 2008 to April 2014, and Regional Director – Brokerage Sector at Kuwait and Middle East Investment Company (KMFIC) from October 2006 to September 2007. He also held memberships on several boards of directors of local private sector companies from 2003 to 2014.

2. Abdullatif Hamed Hamad Al-Meshari, the Minister of State for Municipal Affairs and Minister of State for Housing Affairs, holds a master’s degree in Architecture from Harvard University, earned in 2009, and a bachelor’s degree in the same field from the University of Southern California, earned in 2006. He has worked as a consultant in the Council of Ministers and as a member of the technical team for the investment land development project for the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Bridge project.

He served as Vice Chairman of the Population and Urban Development Committee and as a member of the Vision Realization Committee for the Five Islands Development Project within the New Kuwait 2035 Vision.

He was also a member of the Supreme Committee for Structural Plan and Major Projects in the Council of Ministers from 2014 to 2017 and a member of the Housing Projects Coordination Committee of the General Organization for Housing Welfare from 2015 to 2017. Additionally, he was a jury member at Boston Architectural College in 2008 and has been a jury member at Kuwait University since 2010. He is also a member of the technical team for the Silk City Development Follow-up Service.

3. Dr. Nader Abdullah Mohammad Al-Jallal, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and acting Minister of Education, was born in Kuwait in 1957. He holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Reading in England, earned in 1984, a master’s degree in Inorganic Chemistry from Kuwait University, earned in 1981, and a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Kuwait University, earned in 1979.

He served as Director of Kuwait University from 2002 to 2006, Secretary General of Kuwait University from 1999 to 2002, and Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies at Kuwait University from 1994 to 1999. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the General Authority for Applied Education and Training in 1999, and a professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Faculty of Science at Kuwait University starting in 1996.

He was also a member of the Board of Directors and Secretary of the Kuwait Chemical Society from 1987 to 1992, Head of the Department of Chemistry at Kuwait University from 1991 to 1992, and a Visiting Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Bahrain from 1990 to 1991.

4. Nora Suleiman Al-Fassam, the Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Economic and Investment Affairs, holds a master’s degree in business administration from Kuwait University. She holds a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering and Systems with honors from Kuwait University.

She has held many leadership positions throughout her career and has extensive experience in the financial, banking, and investment sectors, working with various government and private agencies such as the General Investment Authority, the National Bank of Kuwait, the National Investment Company, and Boubyan Bank.

She is the first Kuwaiti to receive approval from the Central Bank of Kuwait for the position of Head of Strategic Planning at Boubyan Bank, reflecting her extensive investment experience of over 25 years.

She has also served as a member of the boards of directors of local and regional companies and has engaged professionally with senior executives in global and regional banks. Additionally, she has managed deals in the private property sector and founded companies valued at one billion US dollars.