Where the Money Is

Kuwait, a hot and dusty Arab sheikdom, last week became the 111th member of the United Nations--but did not enter, as so many others do, as an underprivileged nation. With $480 million pouring into their coffers each year from Kuwait's gushing oil wells, the 322,000 residents of the Connecticut-sized country on the Persian Gulf have a per capita income of $2,200, one of the world's highest. Kuwait collects almost no taxes, spends ten times more per capita than Britain on such welfare state services as medical care and education for its citizens. It has been transformed by oil from a barren land of mud huts into a booming oasis of commerce, where trees are planted as casually as corn and once-desert land on its capital's outskirts goes for $500 a square yard. Kuwait has a peculiar kind of problem: it has so much money stashed away that it does not quite know what to do with it all.

Rich Beyond Dreams. To solve that problem, Kuwaiti businessmen, advised by such notable figures as former World Bank President Eugene Black, have set up a private investment fund that will use Kuwait's plentiful capital to finance industrial development in the Arab world. Together with the government-sponsored Arab Development Fund, the new Kuwait International Consultants Ltd. (Kinteco) will make Kuwait's potential investment in Arab progress about $1.34 billion. For all his vast experience with big money, even Eugene Black was awed. Said he: "This is going to be one of the world's greatest financial forces."

A board member and mover of the new development fund is a handsome, curly-haired young man who symbolizes a new breed of Arab businessman. His name is Bader Almulla, 26, and he is the untraditional scion of Kuwait's traditional fam ily of hereditary wazirs (ministers of state). Bader believes that "the Arab world is rich beyond present dreams. Here in Kuwait alone we have the means to achieve miracles for the whole Arab world." Schooled in England, he spent seven prodigious years as Kuwait's Secretary of State before resigning 18 months ago to take over a decrepit family business. Along with his diplomatic skills, Bader has also proved to be a shrewd businessman.

Twisting All Night. With a flurry of restless, driving energy, Bader has expanded his three family companies into 130 agencies representing the world's major manufacturers, now deals in 40,000 items from abattoirs to X-ray equipment. He has boosted sales from $3,000,000 to $30 million yearly, quadrupled net profits against stiffening competition from other ambitious Arab businessmen. He tripled his total staff to 500, is converting his business from handwritten, single-entry ledgers to computers, has trained a corps of crack salesmen and sent his technicians off to Beirut, England and the U.S. for training. Handling dealerships for such companies as Chrysler, Kaiser Jeep, Gulf Oil, Philco, Whirlpool and National Cash Register, Bader has ridden on Kuwait's boom. Last year his sales included 1,000 cars, 4,000 air conditioners (the Kuwait temperature goes up to 125DEG), three jet planes, and $600,000 worth of N.C.R. equipment. He is building two apartment projects and starting Kuwait's first quarry, has set up an insurance firm and a travel agency that has already booked $2,000,000 worth of business.

In Arab fashion, Bader is related to half of Kuwait's merchant fortunes and by marriage to the ruling family. He supports a family of nine brothers and sisters in addition to his beauteous wife Badriya (both his and her name mean full moon in Arabic). Badriya was the first Kuwait woman to appear unveiled in public; following her example, most girls in Kuwait now go unveiled. In a land without bars, nightclubs or public dancing, Bader and Badriya still manage to have fun. Bader likes to twist all night at private parties, then water-ski or ride full-blooded Arab stallions seven miles before breakfast. He owns a whole fleet of sports cars, a 75-ft. yacht, and homes in London and Beirut. In Kuwait, such conspicuous wealth is no longer unusual. One sheik bought 63 new American cars at a whack, and another recently departed for a European holiday armed with a cool $800,000 in traveler's checks. The check charges alone came to $8,000.

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