Press release
1 January 2008

NBK to hold Inaugural International Advisory Board Meeting in January 2008

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the largest bank in Kuwait and most highly rated in the Middle East, is to hold its inaugural International Advisory Board meeting in January, bringing together an impressive array of distinguished world figures in the fields of politics, economics and business.  Several major international financial and banking organizations such as Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have established similar advisory boards, however, the NBK International Advisory Board sets a precedent for banks and financial institutions in the Middle East.

NBK Chief Executive Officer, Ibrahim Dabdoub, said he was delighted that the new International Advisory Board would be chaired by The Rt Hon Sir John Major, KG, CH who, for nearly a decade during his years as Prime Minister of the UK, played a vital role in devising regional policies in the Middle East, and that the Board counted among its members some of the most prominent figures from the Middle East, United States, Britain, India and the Far East

Mr Dabdoub added, "International interest in the Advisory Board has far exceeded my expectations and reinforces the view that National Bank of Kuwait is indeed a world class bank".

Sir John Major	Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Mukesh Ambani	Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited, India
Matthew Barrett	Former Chairman and CEO, Barclays Bank, UK
John Chipman	Director General and Chief Executive,
	International Institute for Strategic Studies, UK
Anthony Cordesman	Chairman, Center for Strategic and International Studies, US
Peter Davies	Special Economic Advisor  to BP PLC, UK
Ged Davis	Co-President Global Energy Assessment, Austria
Mohamed A. El-Erian	Co-CEO and Co-CIO, PIMCO, US
HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal	Chairman King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies, Saudi Arabia
Martin Feldstein	President and CEO, National Bureau of Economic Research, US
Toyoo Gyohten	President, Institute for International Monetary Affairs Japan
Steve H. Hanke	Professor of Applied Economics, The Johns Hopkins University, US
Abdullatif Al-Hamad	Chairman and Director General,
	Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development, Kuwait
Mustafa V. Koc	Chairman, KOC Holding A.S., Turkey
Cees Maas	Former Vice-Chairman and CFO of ING Group NV, Netherlands
Moises Naim	Editor-in-Chief, Foreign Policy, US
Naguib Sawiris	Chairman and CEO, Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E., Egypt
Klaus Schwab	Executive Chairman and Founder, World Economic Forum, Switzerland
Tom de Swaan	Advisor to Managing Board ABN-AMRO, Netherlands
Tony Tan Keng Yam	Deputy Chairman and Executive Director,
	Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, Singapore
Sir David Walker John Waterbury	Senior Advisor, Morgan Stanley, UK
	President, American University of Beirut, Lebanon