KUWAIT: Abdullah Boftain, who served as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Kuwait Times and Executive Director of Kuwait News, was appointed as minister of information and culture on Sunday as part of a Cabinet reshuffle that added seven new faces to the Cabinet, while three ministers were replaced. The reshuffle, announced in an Amiri decree, raises the strength of the Cabinet to 21, in addition to HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.
With an illustrious career in the media over the past two decades, Boftain last week won the Best Interviewer Award at the inaugural Kuwait Media Award (Shiraa). Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, deputy foreign minister, was appointed as foreign minister, while Osama Boodai was appointed as the new minister of commerce and industry, the decree stated.
Sheikh Jarrah Al-Sabah
Foreign Affairs
Dr Tareq Al-Jalahma
Youth & Sports
Dr Reem Al-Fulaij
Development & Sustainability
Osama Boodai
Commerce & Industry
Abdulaziz Al-Marzouq
Economy & Investment
Dr Yaqoub Al-Refai
Finance
The decree appointed Dr Yaqoub Al-Refai, secretary general of Kuwait Banking Union, as the new finance minister. The post was held on a temporary basis by Minister of Electricity and Water Sabeeh Al-Mukhaizeem. Abdulaziz Al-Marzouq, a member of the Boursa Kuwait committee, was appointed state minister for economic affairs and investment, a post also held by Mukhaizeem.
Dr Tareq Al-Jalahma, a former footballer and a prominent commentator on BeIn Sports channels, was appointed state minister for youth and sports. The decree also appointed Dr Reem Ghazi Al-Fulaij, the chairwoman and director general of the Public Authority for Food and Nutrition, as minister of state for development and sustainability affairs, a new post.
The decree also changed the title of Omar Saud Al-Omar to minister of state for communications and information technology.
