A Temporary Exhibition Costs Nothing: Five Approvals, and a Ceiling of Fifteen Days

Holding a temporary exhibition in Kuwait is not one licence but a chain of approvals ending at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The fee itself is zero — neither fixed nor variable — and the whole cost is time and paper.

The condition before anything else

The applicant must already hold a licence to practise organising and managing exhibitions for others. So a first-time organiser does not start here. Foreign companies are permitted to exhibit only, not to organise.

The approvals required

• The Ministry of Interior and the General Fire Department.
• The Public Authority for Agriculture and Fish Resources — and this one covers a single case: holding circus performances.
• The General Administration of Customs — for temporary import of exhibits or display equipment, on condition they are re-exported when the show ends.
• The Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
• The municipality — specifically for the location of the exhibition.

The ceiling on duration

Fifteen days, and no more. Which explains why so many exhibitions in Kuwait end after exactly a fortnight.

Gold and jewellery exhibitions

These have their own rules under ministerial decision 20 of 2003 and decision 434 of 2002, and all documents must be submitted a week before the exhibition opens.

The documents

• A letter of authorisation from the foreign company to the organising company, attested by the official authorities.
• A list of the participating companies, and a list of the kinds of exhibits.
• Copies of the commercial licences of the participating companies.
• A letter from the applicant specifying the location and date of the exhibition.

These go to the international relations department — exhibitions section at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Photo: a large outdoor exhibition marquee. By Editor5807, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Source: Kuwait’s e-government portal, the “licence to hold a temporary exhibition inside Kuwait” service.