Mutlaq Mubarak al-Sanei will replace Adel al-Roumi as general manager of Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) from 1 April.

He was previously director of follow-up at sovereign wealth fund Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA).

Al-Sanei has represented KIA on the board of several major companies the fund invests in, including the Manama-based Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait.

KAPP, formerly called the Partnerships Technical Bureau (PTB), was established in 2008 to oversee a programme of $28bn-worth of projects in partnership with the private sector.

However, the PPP body has suffered from several delays with its programme, with the Al-Zour North independent water and power project (IWPP) the only scheme to reach execution. Contracts for the Al-Zour North 1 IWPP were awarded in late 2013, after a protracted tendering process.

Developers are currently working on proposals for the Al-Zour North 2 scheme, the second major PPP project to be put out for tender.

MEED reported in August 2015 that seven groups had been prequalified to participate the tender for the IWPP, which will have a power generation capacity of 1,500MW and a desalination component of at least 102 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).

With Japan’s Mitsui joining up with Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power, it means four of the seven prequalified companies will bid in three consortiums. KAPP recently extended the bid submission deadline to 6 April.

Several other schemes are also at the tendering stage, including the Al-Abdaliyya integrated solar combined-cycle (ISCC) power plant and the schools programme.

In an interview with MEED, the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Anas al-Saleh said the particpation of Kuwaiti citizens in investing in KAPP projects will be an important pillar in the country’s diversification plans.