Foreign investors who don’t want to establish an entity but wish to trade in Kuwait, can appoint a commercial agent who will be responsible for the distribution of their product within the defined jurisdiction. The primary legislation that governs agency arrangements in Kuwait is the Commercial Law 13 of 2016. This regulation is extremely wide and captures all forms of agreements for sale through third parties.
The Commercial Law has established a comprehensive framework that governs the relationship between the commercial agent and the foreign principal. Pursuant to this regulatory framework, a number of requirements must be satisfied, including that a commercial agent must be either a Kuwaiti National or a company that has at least 51% ownership by Kuwaiti nationals.
Commercial agency and distributorship agreements must be registered with the Commercial Agencies Registry for the provisions of the Commercial Law to apply to the relevant agency arrangement.
These regulations have established a comprehensive framework that governs the relationship between the Kuwait Agent and foreign principal. Pursuant to this regulatory framework, a number of requirements must be satisfied, including that a commercial agent must be either a KSA National or a company that is wholly owned by one or more KSA Nationals, and that the commercial agency agreement need be registered with the Commercial Agencies Department at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
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