December 27, 2007	Thursday	Zilhaj 16, 1428

KUWAIT, Dec 26: Kuwait’s parliament approved on Wednesday a much-delayed government plan to slash tax on foreign firms to a flat 15 per cent from up to 55 per cent, removing a five-decade old obstacle to foreign investment.

The taxation bill would also exempt profits made by foreign companies from trading in stocks listed on the Kuwait bourse, the second largest in the Arab world, to help to turn the Opec oil producer into a regional financial centre like Dubai or Bahrain.

The bill was the first key economic reform that the cabinet has been able to get through parliament, with which it has been locked in a standoff that has dominated political life most of this year and led to the resignation of several ministers.—Reuters