Kuwait is seeking investors for its multi-billion-dollar Failaka Island project as part of a drive to bring more tourists to the region.

The project aims to turn the island off the Kuwaiti coast into a major tourist attraction, said Jassem Al Oun, head of Kuwait Islands and Mega Projects Development Agency.
Nine consortia have already been chosen to bid for the project to develop Failaka Island, which lies 20 km east of Kuwait City.
Last month, the agency distributed documents containing the ‘Terms of Reference’ to the consortia which consist of more than 120 companies, most of them Kuwaiti, Oun said.
The consortia must submit their bids within three months and the winner will be picked between April and June, said Oun, who expected the deal to be signed in September.
Failaka, which is 43 sq km in size, boasts 38 km of coastline and is almost completely flat. A new harbour with a capacity for 300 boats will be built on the island to link it with the mainland, Oun said.
The 26-sq-km project calls for the construction of a holiday resort complete with hotels, chalets and entertainment facilities on the basis of build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreements.
BOT agreements will last for 30 years and can be renewed for a fresh term.
Construction is expected to take up to 10 years to complete and investments required range from $2 billion to $3 billion, Oun said.