History

Al-Kazemi Group’s prominence and success is due to the vision of its founder, the late Abdullatif Abdulhussain Al-Kazemi. Born on October 2nd 1927 in Sharq, Kuwait, Al-Kazemi was a very ambitious young man and was one of the very few in the country to be bilingual and very well educated at the time. After graduating from school in 1940, his ambition lured him into the business scene of Kuwait. He started working with his late brother in the early 1940s soon then to set up his first company, United Shipping Services, in 1955. This was one of the first shipping companies established in Kuwait at the time and was a partnership set up with the famous African Hull Blyth shipping company and famous British Cory Bros. shipping company. Alkazemi’s vision and entrepreneurial skills lead him to buying out the company from his partners in 1970 which proved to be a success as the shipping industry in the region was now booming, and the company was renamed to United Shipping Trading & Contracting Services (USTCS). USTCS continues to be one of the most successful shipping companies to date.

Alkazemi has established a number of companies during the course of his life time and has entered many business endeavors. He was the first Kuwaiti businessman to establish a company in the travel and tourism industry in the mid-1950s called Alkazemi Travel Agencies, which remains one of the most successful travel agencies in the country. Alkazemi Travel Agencies represents leading airline companies such as: Turkish Airlines and Korean Air, to name a few. His success was also witnessed in a number of different industries in the market. Alkazemi was the first to introduce a number of luxury brands into the market, including Jaguar Motors in the early 1970s. He was also one of the contributing players in bringing the luxury motor brand- Mercedes-Benz into Kuwait.

Abdullatif Alkazemi (standing) in a parliamentary session in 1972.
Abdullatif Alkazemi (first from the left) participating in a parliamentary delegation that took place in 1971 in Venezuela.

Apart from a successful business career, Alkazemi was also known for his success in the political scenes of Kuwait. He was a member of the Municipality Council in 1965 where he was elected as chairman of the technical/financial/economical committee. He then ran for office and succeeded in becoming a member of parliament in 1967. He withheld the position as chairman of the financial and economical affairs committee. Alkazemi’s success in Kuwait’s second parliamentary elections made him run for office again in 1971 and succeeded in becoming a member once again. This time, he was elected as chairman of the foreign affairs committee. One of his major achievements as a member of parliament was the establishment of The Public Institution for Social Security. Alkazemi was also one of the members of parliament to propose the nationalization of the production of oil from foreign oil companies. He was amongst the first to propose the establishments of Co-Ops in Kuwait and successfully did so by establishing the Kaifan Co-Op, Kuwait’s first Co-Op.