Boursa Kuwait has been named Best Exchange of the Year – Middle East, Best Exchange for ESG and Best Exchange for Financial Literacy as Kuwait expands investment products and continues a long-running enhancement of its capital market

Kuwait is pushing ahead with another round of capital market reforms, with Boursa Kuwait and other parts of the country’s financial market infrastructure introducing new investment products, upgrading trading systems and investing more in investor education.

Its reforms have helped develop a market that was still classed as ‘frontier’ by some of the world’s largest index providers less than a decade ago.

Since 2020, the country has been upgraded by all three major index providers, with FTSE Russell moving it into its Secondary Emerging category, S&P Dow Jones Indices classifying it as an emerging market and MSCI completing its move from frontier to emerging-market status.

And despite the disruption caused by neighbouring conflict in the Middle East, the latest projections from the International Monetary Fund point to economic growth of 2.8 per cent next year.

Boursa Kuwait, the country’s stock exchange, has now been named Best Exchange of the Year – Middle East, Best Exchange for ESG and Best Exchange for Financial Literacy in The European’s Global Business Awards 2026.

The accolades follow a year of sharply higher market activity, during which total traded value across Boursa Kuwait rose 79.3 per cent in 2025 to KD26.58 billion (£64 billion) and the number of trades climbed 54.6 per cent to just over six million, with gains recorded across both of the exchange’s principal segments.

The “Premier” Market, home to larger and more liquid companies, recorded KD14.97 billion (£36 billion) of traded value during 2025, up 53.1 per cent, while turnover in the “Main” Market more than doubled to KD11.60 billion (£28 billion). Market capitalisation increased by 22.1 per cent over the year to KD53.19 billion (£129 billion).

Jon Kirk, editor of The European, said: “Kuwait has done a great deal of work on its capital market in recent years, and you can see the results now.

“The progress has been sustained over a number of years and there is clearly much more to come.”

Kuwait, the Arab world’s eighth-largest economy by nominal GDP, remains heavily reliant on oil, making the development of other sources of investment and economic activity a longstanding government priority.

Its long-term national development plan, ‘Kuwait Vision 2035’, aims to reduce the country’s dependence on oil, expand the role of private business and establish the country as a regional financial and commercial centre by 2035.

As part of that push, the latest phase of its Capital Market Development Programme, launched in July 2025, introduced a central counterparty clearing (CCP) system, changes to cash settlement and a new model for qualified brokers. These reforms target the operational risks that global asset managers, custodians and index providers look at first when deciding whether to put money into a market.

Mechanisms for fixed-income products and exchange-traded funds have also been introduced, with two fixed-income issues in the pipeline and asset managers in Kuwait and overseas reportedly showing interest in ETF listings.

Single-stock futures, index futures and options are also expected from 2028 onwards, while the Emerging Companies Market is designed to give smaller firms access to public-market funding.

Boursa Kuwait has also updated its ESG Reporting Guide to reflect recent guidelines issued by the Capital Markets Authority and incorporate the latest reporting standards adopted in regional and international markets.

Its financial literacy initiatives include ‘The Bell’ and regular participation in World Investor Week, alongside wider efforts to improve financial education among students and prospective investors.

Kirk said the three awards reflected the “unprecedented volume” of change that had taken place over such a short amount of time.

He said: “Best Exchange of the Year was really about looking at everything together. Trading was very strong last year, but there have also been substantial changes to the market itself, and more products are being brought in.

“ESG was a separate consideration, and we felt Boursa Kuwait had done enough there to merit recognition in its own right, particularly around reporting and what it is asking of listed companies.

“The same was true of financial literacy. The work with students and with new and prospective investors gave us something tangible to look at, rather than just a statement about wanting to improve financial education.

“Overall, we felt Boursa Kuwait deserved all three awards and is a worthy winner.”

READ MORE: BP appoints Ian Tyler chairman after Albert Manifold ousting. Former Balfour Beatty chief executive takes the top board role after three months as interim chair, completing another stage of BP’s leadership shake-up following the removal of his predecessor over conduct and governance concerns.

Do you have news to share or expertise to contribute? The European welcomes insights from business leaders and sector specialists. Get in touch with our editorial team to find out more.

_{Main image: Boursa Kuwait, the country’s stock exchange, has received three honours in The European’s Global Business Awards 2026 following a year of strong trading activity and continued capital market reforms. Credits: (The European); Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain. Boursa Kuwait logo: Boursa Kuwait/Fair Use.}