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Google Cloud Opens New Kuwait Office To Aid Digital Transformation
The search giant is bringing its AI and data expertise to Kuwait, adding to a national upskilling initiative to help realize the country’s 2035 vision.
Google Cloud is opening new offices in Kuwait after receiving a license from the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA). The Google Cloud facility will act as a central hub for collaboration and technological innovation, bringing together a range of experts who will work closely with both customers and partners.
“Under the visionary leadership of His Highness the Amir, His Highness the Crown Prince, and the guidance of His Highness the Prime Minister, Kuwait has made great strides towards realizing its National Vision 2035,” stated His Excellency Mr. Omar Saud Al-Omar, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of State for Communication Affairs.
Eighteen months ago, Google Cloud revealed details of a national alliance framework agreement with Kuwait’s government that intended to develop an all-encompassing roadmap for digital transformation. Government entities and specific state-owned enterprises would benefit from Google Cloud’s cutting-edge data expertise and technologies — such as AI — enhancing their operations and bolstering cybersecurity.
Also Read: Top Free AI Chatbots Available In The Middle East
According to Abdul Rahman Al Thehaiban, Managing Director of Google Cloud in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa, “Opening Google Cloud offices in Kuwait is yet another step to meet the demand for our services and expertise to support the New Kuwait Vision 2035 vision […] in addition to participating in the implementation of several digital transformation initiatives in healthcare, education, disaster recovery, and smart living”.
Google has also collaborated in a national upskilling program in Kuwait to help government employees, entrepreneurs, and graduates better understand the latest digital technologies. According to a Google-commissioned study by Access Partnership, the overall annual economic impact cloud computing technologies could bring Kuwait may reach a colossal USD29.8 billion by 2030.
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Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
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