Kuwait Opens Commercial Licensing for Electric Vehicle Charging Businesses

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has opened the door to licensed electric vehicle charging businesses in Kuwait. Ministerial Decision No. 167 of 2026, issued on 17 August 2026 and published in Kuwait Al-Youm Issue 1805 on 23 August 2026, adds two new activities to the unified commercial activity guide and amends two others.

The first new activity is “operating and managing electric vehicle charging stations” (unified code 351006). It falls under electricity and energy supply activities and will be supervised jointly by the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy and the General Traffic Department at the Ministry of Interior. The second is “sale, installation and maintenance of electric vehicle charging devices and equipment” (code 331409), supervised by the electricity ministry alone. The additions follow a request the electricity ministry submitted in July 2026 and a supporting letter from the Interior Ministry in August.

The same decision renames two aviation activities at the request of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation: aircraft catering becomes “ground services for preparing and supplying aircraft meals” (code 562120), now supervised together with the Public Authority for Food and Nutrition, and “aviation schools” become “aviation training centres” (code 854991).

Kuwait already has technical rules for chargers, including approved specifications and permitted locations, with an implementation phase running to the end of 2030. What was missing was a commercial licence naming the activity itself. That gap is now closed.

WEFAQ's view: companies planning charging networks should add code 351006 to their licence before committing to sites, and should expect two supervising bodies, one for the electrical side and one for traffic and site layout. Suppliers, electrical contractors and car dealers already selling chargers should regularise their position under code 331409.

Read more: for the full analysis, read our companion blog article: “Kuwait's EV Charging Market Gets Its Licence: A Roadmap for Operators and Suppliers”.