Company appreciative of the media in highlighting Zain's success story over the years in shareholder value creation and in bringing dynamic telecommunication services

Kuwait, 1 May 2013

Zain, the leading telecommunications company in Kuwait, held a celebratory ceremony at the Sahara Golf Club resort on 30 April 2013 to honor all Kuwaiti based media for their continuous support and role in strengthening social and economic development within Kuwait and across the region.

During the ceremony, Zain highlighted the unwritten partnership between decision-makers and those responsible for broadcasting media messages, to achieve sustainable development. The company also recognized the tremendous support it has received from media in covering its fascinating journey over the years across the region in attaining enormous value creation for shareholders and for bringing world class and pioneering telecommunication services, not only in Kuwait but across two continents.

Commenting during the event, Mr. Omar Al Omar, Zain Kuwait's CEO said: "Media are Zain's thrust that drives the company to provide dynamic telecommunication services to our customers. We consider media and press a key partner to the success we have achieved so far and we look forward for further cooperation in the future." Al Omar took the opportunity to explain that the company will continue its pledge towards being the first and preferred provider in the mobile communications sector within Kuwait.

It is worth mentioning that Zain was the first telecommunications company founded in the region in the field of mobile communications services in 1983, and in 1994 the company achieved a historic achievement then when it became the first operator to launch the GSM service on a commercial scale in the region. Since Zain Kuwait is considered the main driver of the Zain Group in Middle East and North Africa, the company in Kuwait still holds leadership in the market through its advanced network, which currently operates with the fourth-generation technology.

Furthermore, the company stated that due to decisive marketing plans that have been conducted in Kuwait, Zain was able to enhance its competitiveness and enhance the growth of its customer base, by expanding its customer base by 7% during the year 2012 to reach 2.3 million customers. The company attributed the growth of its customer base to the launch of a range of new smartphone devices like: iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S generations, Sony, and HTC.

Also contributing to the growth in customer base was the recent launch of 4G technology (LTE) and promoting devices with 4G LTE compatible operations, as well as other

promotional offers such as Wiyana Gate, Zain Teen, Premier League, BlackBerry in the box, hybrids virtual private networks ("Hybrid VPN") and 8 gigabytes. The company considered that the launch of the 4G LTE network is a significant benchmark in the journey of the company in the fourth quarter of 2012, whereby Zain's network managed to cover 1765 stations.

It is worth noting that Zain customers enjoy an advanced call center service through the company's dedicated call center on (107). The call center gathers professional call agents who respond to customer calls within 3 to 4 seconds and responds to customers enquiries or requests in only two minutes.

Moving forward, Zain Kuwait seeks to achieve two key strategic objectives, namely:  consistently exceed customer expectations in all points of contact, and the enhancement of the company's data network through its recently launched 4G LTE technology, that will enhance the user experience.

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© Press Release 2013