Kuwait’s Council of Ministers is discussing consolidating government authorities with similar mandates.

The bodies under consideration include Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) and Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA).

The Council of Ministers has requested that the bodies study the proposal and provide feedback.

A decision has yet to be taken on the restructuring.

KDIPA declined to comment until the Council of Ministers has taken a decision. KAPP declined to comment as the matter is still under discussion.

The changes would reduce the number of separate organisations working in the same area.

KAPP is in charge of Kuwait’s public private partnership (PPP) programme. It has a pipeline of more than $20bn of infrastructure schemes across the power, water, wastewater and transport sectors.

Formerly known as the Partnerships Technical Bureau, it was restructured and renamed in 2015, following reforms to Kuwait’s PPP framework. Its general manager has since been replaced.

KAPP tendered five major projects in late 2015, although these have all been delayed. Bids for the flagship PPP project, the Al-Zour North independent water and power project (IWPP) are now due on 21 June.

Other schemes do not have firm deadlines.

KDIPA is responsible for attracting private sector foreign direct investment (FDI) into Kuwait. It is responsible for licensing foreign companies to invest in Kuwait and providing incentives.

Its first success was assisting US-based IBM to open an office in Kuwait. KDIPA also worked to bring China’s Huawei and the US’ GE to the country.

KDIPA was known as Kuwait Foreign Investment Bureau (KFIB) until 2015, when reforms to Kuwait’s foreign investment law came into force.