Mubarak Port Development, Kuwait’s Dream to Take the Pulse of Persian Gulf Trade

West Asia and particularly the Persian Gulf has a unique position in the main international trade corridors between the East and West and North and South. 

In this situation, while the various countries of the Persian Gulf have been planning for the development of transit infrastructure for years, Kuwait is one of the actors that has recently taken fundamental steps to develop Mubarak Port in an effort to reverse its backwardness. In this regard, the Kuwaiti news agency reported that a Chinese delegation has traveled to this oil-rich monarchy of the Persian Gulf in recent days to have "in-depth technical and field discussions" with the Kuwaiti authorities about the construction of Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port and other projects. 

The Kuwaiti ministry of public works in a statement on Tuesday said that the minister along with Chinese ambassador and a technical team comprised of experts and engineers of big Chinese and Kuwaiti projects visited the port site. 

According to this statement, this trip took place in line with the implementation of the MoU related to the implementation of the Mubarak project, which was signed between Kuwait and China during the visit of Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber the emir of this country in September last year. Chinese Ambassador to Kuwait Zhang Jianwei confirmed that President Xi Jinping pays a lot of attention to Kuwait, explained that he is interested to visit Kuwait, and stressed implementation of the bilateral agreements. 

Although Kuwait is a major ally of the US in West Asia and one of the richest countries in the world due to its oil reserves, development goals in the country have long been hampered by political imbalances and ongoing crises between the parliament and the government— differences that have recently led the emir to dissolve the parliament and suspended some of the constitutional articles for a period not exceeding four years. 

"I will never allow" misuse of democracy" to destroy the state," he asserted. 

"The revival of the Mubarak Port project suggests that the emir of Kuwait intends to use the suspension of parliament to advance projects that have been stalled due to disagreements among lawmakers and ministers," Christian Smith Diwan, a senior resident scholar at the Persian Gulf States Institute in Washington. 

It is noteworthy that countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia have made huge investments in recent years to develop their ports, and currently most of the maritime trade of the Persian Gulf is done through these ports, and Kuwait has a long way to go to compete with other monarchies. 

Geopolitical position and significance of Mubarak Port 

Mubarak Al Kabeer Port is an under-construction port in the east of Bubiyan Island north of Kuwait. The construction of this port will be done in four stages, the first stage with 4 berths was completed in 2015, and eventually it will be one of the largest ports in the Persian Gulf with the construction of 60 berths. 

This port is connected to the mainland by three bridges and a highway in Subiya and the Silk Road, and it is supposed to be connected to Turkey by the Persian Gulf railway project. 

Focused on this important project, the Kuwaiti Council of Ministers decided in its recent meeting to allocate 186 million dinars ($549 million) for fiscal year 2024-2025 to complete this port project.

Informed sources told Kuwait's Al Qabas newspaper that amount allocated to this project shows the seriousness of the government to complete this large construction project that was supposed to be completed years ago.

According to feasibility studies of Mubarak Port development project, its cost is 990 million dinars ($3.23 billion) and it will be built in an area of ​​about 1,161 hectares and with a loading capacity of 8.1 million containers, and it will be completed within 9 contracts.

Sources suggest that the Mubarak Port project will turn Kuwait's territory into the main hub of transit trade and regional transportation, which will help achieve the goal of transforming Kuwait into a regional business center.

These sources reported that Mubarak Port will also influence the development of the maritime transport operations sector with the aim of maximizing the volume of domestic investments by the Kuwaiti private sector in the country and attracting foreign companies and investors that have not been used for decades.

This project helps to broaden the efficiency of the development infrastructure in the northern part of the country, leading to the creation of thousands of job opportunities for Kuwaiti youth.

Controversial competition of Mubarak Port with Iraq's Al-Faw Grand Port 

Mubarak Port has a direct competition with Iraq's Al-Faw Grand Port because Baghdad canceled the maritime agreement that allowed Kuwait access through the Khor Abdullah corridor, causing a dispute between the two countries. 

The revival of this project comes about 10 years after its construction was halted since it is influenced by an Iraqi plan to build a $17 billion road and rail network to boost trade in the region, in which Turkey, Qatar and the UAE are parties. 

Kuwait's recent moves came after Iraq's Supreme Court invalidated the Khor Abdullah agreement, which regulates shipping between the two countries. In addition, Baghdad signed the quadrilateral ogreement on the Development Road project with Turkey, the UAE and Qatar in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent visit to Baghdad. 

Kuwait's huge port project was first announced in 2007, and its construction operations started in 2011, and according to the initial plans, the construction of the entire project was supposed to be completed in 2016 with a cost of about $1.1 billion. This move angered Iraq, which believes that the construction of a port on Bubiyan Island will block Al-Faw Port's access to the waters of the Persian Gulf, which is the country's only connection to the sea. 

In July 2011, following a political rift between the two countries, Baghdad officially asked Kuwait to stop work at Mubarak Port, but Kuwait rejected this request. In 2013, the two countries signed an agreement to regulate maritime traffic in Khor Abdullah, which connects Iraq to the waters of the Persian Gulf. 

According to UN Security Council Resolution 833, which was adopted in 1993 following Saddam invasion of Kuwait, the borders of the two countries were revised and the waters of the Khor Abdullah were divided equally between the two sides.

Iraqis object to the agreement because they believe it gives Kuwait access to territorial waters deep within Iraq, which prevents maritime trade from moving through the country's restricted ports.

Last September, Iraq's Supreme Court ruled that the Khor Abdullah agreement, which restricts maritime navigation in the waterway that separates Kuwait and Baghdad, is unconstitutional. 

Now, it seems that after Kuwait's objection to the Iraqi court ruling about the agreement, announcement of investment in Mubarak Port is an operational step to preserve the country's interests under the agreement. 

Obstacles ahead of Kuwait corridor 

Although Kuwait is trying to develop its sea routes with the help of the Chinese, according to Bloomberg, there are still many obstacles that this project may face, because many important ports, including the ports of Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the Persian Gulf currently operate, and this issue poses a serious challenge to the revival of Kuwait's ports. 

Additionally, Diwan, referring to the unsettled Kuwaiti differences with Iraq, told Bloomberg that Kuwait has concentrated its strategic investment on the city and port of Mubarak that encourage trade-based development to establish its leadership in northern Persian Gulf. But this is impossible while the maritime problem with Iraq remains unsettled.