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What happened to the good old days when no one used to care about what kind of car they drove? There was a time in our lives when using public transportation was often the only means of transport in Kuwait. I remember the stories my father used to tell me about how in the 70′s and 80′s not everyone could afford their own cars so they used public transport to get around Kuwait. Would any of you get on a bus these days? I know I wouldn’t! But honestly, it is really sad that we allow social standards and so-called prestige to shape who we are as individuals. Just because it is “unaccepted” in society to be seen with out the latest sports or fanciest cars we allow ourselves to neglect the simplicity of life. But what happens when the population in Kuwait increases more than it already is? What happens when the prices start to get higher? Where are we going to go with all our luxury cars when traffic congestion in Kuwait will get even worse? The latest feasibility study that came out about the metro project that was supposed to be built in Kuwait by 2020 states that Kuwaitis have certain social standards that will not allow them to ride public transportation; so if they go ahead with the project and build a metro, no one will ride it and a lot of money will be wasted.

So the Million Dinar question is, will we ever start using public transportation just  like the good old days or like all modern countries around the world? What do you guys think –  Will society strip us of the simplicity of life or will we overcome society and not let the typical standards get in the way?

Via [Tazmania]

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The least and most corrupt countries in the world (174 countries). Kuwait at 66, Lebanon at 128, UAE at 27, Egypt at 118, with Scandinavian countries being the cleanest, of course. Hmmm.. Did they get it right?

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Ever wondered how it feels like to be a Millionaire? I was leafing the paper and came across this recent statistical study made by British Campden Wealth suggesting that there are currently over 14320 Millionaires in Kuwait with 720 of them owning more than 30M dollars (8.5 Million Dinar roughly), interesting. If we take a closer look at uncle Wikipedia, it defines Millionaire as:

“A millionaire (originally and sometimes still millionnaire) is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire, which makes that amount of wealth a goal for some, and almost unattainable for others”

So that means if the study used American dollars as the defining currency, then the actual number of millionaires in Kuwait is way beyond that. However, Saudi Arabia came in first place with over 24,425 millionnaire of most wealthy ones, and United Arab Emirates came on the top of the list with regards to attracting millionnaires from around the World with over 53,800 millionnaires. The interesting part is that most of these millionaires stated that they made their wealth mostly through building and construction business and it makes sense since there’s an on going boom in the GCC mainly in the mega constructions. Guess it’s time for me to establish my own construction company and get rid of my irritating boss.

Read more [link]

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BBC channel had an exclusive interview with renowned Kuwaiti businessman, Fawaz Al Haswai, during their 3 days visit to Kuwait. Mr. Al Hasawi has bought the British football club Nottingham Forest 8 months ago, in addition to the interview they had an unprecedented tour inside his luxurious massive mansion (it’s more like a palace). Check out the exotic supercars at 1:21 of the video, they say he got 40 of them and that his wealth net worth is over one billion dollar, Mashallah. 

Read the full interview here [link]

Thanks [What'sUp]

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I was checking my e-mail and came across this article from CNN, and thought it would be of great interest to you guys:

Bolivia was ranked the unfriendliest country for travelers in the World Economic Forum report. The category ‘Attitude of population toward foreign visitors’ is just one of many used to rank countries in the new Travel and Tourism Competitive Index. Bolivia ranked 110th out of 140 countries in the overall index results. On the positive side, it performed well in price competitiveness due mainly to low hotel accommodation costs.

(CNN) — When traveling, some countries just don’t like you. Or at least, it can certainly feel that way.

A new report, put out earlier this month by the World Economic Forum, has ranked which countries roll out the welcome mat to travelers and which give the cold shoulder.

The “Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013″ ranked 140 countries according to attractiveness and competitiveness in the travel and tourism industries.

Unwelcoming

Among the extensive analyses, one of the most interesting rankings was how welcome tourists are in each country, under the category “Attitude of population toward foreign visitors.”

And the world’s most unfriendly country, according to the data?

Bolivia took the dubious honor, scoring a 4.1 out of seven on a scale of “very unwelcome” (0) to “very welcome” (7).

Venezuela and the Russian Federation were next.

Interestingly, despite their huge tourist arrivals, South Korea and China tied with four other countries for the eighth least friendly spot.

At the other end of the scale, Iceland and New Zealand were ranked the world’s most welcoming nations for visitors.

You can see a top 10 for friendliest and unfriendliest at the bottom of this article.

Strengths and weaknesses

The “friendly” ranking was just one aspect of the report, analyzing each country’s competitiveness in travel and tourism. That competitiveness is “based on the extent to which they are putting in place the factors and policies to make it attractive to develop the travel and tourism sector.”

In the overall Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, Europe was the top region with the first five positions all held by European countries. Switzerland, Germany and Austria were the top three in that order. Switzerland has headed the ranking since the index began five years ago.

Excellent tourism infrastructure and facilities, business travel appeal, sustainable development of natural resources and rich cultural resources were among the key factors in landing the highest positions in the rankings.

Safety/security, underdeveloped infrastructure and concerns about sustainable development were among the factors bringing down countries’ competitiveness.

Haiti scored the lowest on the competitiveness index.

The United States (6th) topped the combined Americas, Singapore (10th) just pushed out Australia and New Zealand to lead the Asia Pacific region, the United Arab Emirates (28th) was the highest performer in the Middle East and the Seychelles (38th) overtook Mauritius to head Africa.

The report emphasized the need for continued development in the travel and tourism sector particularly for its role in job creation in a relatively stagnant global economy. The industry currently accounts for one in 11 jobs in the world.

The report used data compiled from the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey and hard data from private sources and national and international agencies and organizations such as the ICAO, IATA, UNWTO, World Bank/International Finance Corporation, IUCN, WHO and UNESCO.

Attitude of population toward foreign visitors

(1 = very unwelcome; 7 = very welcome)

Friendliest

1. Iceland  6.8
2. New Zealand  6.8
3. Morocco  6.7
4. Macedonia, FYR  6.7
5. Austria  6.7
6. Senegal  6.7
7. Portugal  6.6
8. Bosnia and Herzegovina  6.6
9. Ireland  6.6
10. Burkina Faso  6.6

Unfriendliest

1. Bolivia  4.1
2. Venezuela  4.5
3. Russian Federation  5.0
4. Kuwait  5.2
5. Latvia  5.2
6. Iran  5.2
7. Pakistan  5.3
8. Slovak Republic  5.5
9. Bulgaria  5.5
10. Mongolia  5.5

Kuwait is ranked #4th Unfriendliest country in the world? Really CNN? Is that all you got? This article outraged me. What do you guys think? If Kuwait was to be rated, where would it fall? Waiting for your feedback.

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A friend of mine is intending to buy a new Porsche 911 Carrera 2013 and was checking the prices of all GCC countries to decide whether he should buy it from Kuwait or ship it from another GCC country in case the warranty will be valid (new car). Interestingly, Porsche website provide the prices of all their car models for all GCC countries so we decided to make a table to compare the prices for Porsche Boxter S, Cayman S, 911 Carrera, 911 Carrera S, 911 Carrera 4S, Panamera and Cayenne. I remember I’ve done this before but my friend wanted to re-check the prices to see if things have changed.

What we did is that we used the latest conversion rates to convert the other GCC currencies and we found that Kuwait has the highest prices for all models, the average prices difference was around KD800. This makes me ask the questions; Why Kuwait has the highest prices compared to all other GCC countries? Does Kuwait Porsche Center provide better service? Longer warranty? Cheaper maintenance? And most importantly are the prices of other cars makers(Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Toyota, BMW, Ferrari, Nissan, Honda, Lexus, Ford…etc.) are also more expensive in Kuwait?

The conversion rates below were obtained from NBK online and Porsche prices were obtained from official Porsche website, also bear in mind that I’m not sure if these prices were updated from Porsche. Check below links.

[link1][link2][link3][link4][link5][link6]

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I went for dinner last night at Syrian restaurant Naranj at Olympia Mall in Salmiya then decided to take a quick stroll around the mall to see if there’s anything new opening. The mall was almost empty and quiet, well way too quiet to be more precise, I could almost hear if someone whispers and everytime I walk across any shop the salesmen gave me that kind of look that literally says “Please do come in”. This is when I started wondering if these shops make any money? Are they even affording the lease and overheads? I’m seeing more and more malls being totally empty (I better call them ghost malls) in Kuwait these days, especially after Avenues Phase III was opened. Despite being architecturally attractive these malls failed to attract shoppers and strollers; Is it because of the unattractive location? Improper marketing? Absence of high-end brands?

I don’t know if this means that local market has already reached saturation level with regards to malls and shopping, and I think things will get even worse because there are several new malls opening pretty shortly. Anyway back to Olympia Mall, the new stores opening include Cavaraty for customized mobile phone covers and accessories, Rotana Cafe, Geddes & Gillmore which is a Dutch clothing store, Mama Noga (Don’t ask me what’s that?) among others.

[Show as slideshow]

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I was checking Kuwait news online this early morning and read that Wataniya Telecom will be changing it’s brand name to ooredoo which I don’t yet know what it stands for? My first wild guess is that it means “I want” which is the Arabic translation of ooredoo but I think there’s more to it than just a new brand name. Seemingly Qtel (the well-known Qatari telecom that owns lion’s share of Wataniya Telecom) that was behind this new change, they say they will be adopting this brand name during the course of 2013 and 2014. Does anyone have an idea what’s the story behind ooreedoo?

Read more [link]

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