KUWAIT: The supervisory board of Daimler has proposed the election of Bader Mohammad Al-Saad, managing director of the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), to its board at the group's annual shareholders' meeting, sources said. Bader Mohammad Al-Saad is being nominated for election as a member representing the shareholders and a meeting to consider his nomination will be held in Berlin on 29 March, 2017.

"Kuwait has been a shareholder of Daimler for more than 40 years, is our biggest shareholder, and has become our most dependable partner [in spite of] all of the highs and lows in the company's history over the past four decades," the sources said quoting Manfred Bischoff, chairman of the supervisory board.

"We are grateful to have Kuwait as a shareholder at our side who supports the strategy of the company and, together with us, aims to secure a successful future for Daimler, while Al Saad is familiar with capital markets and various industrial companies thanks to his long-standing experience as MD of KIA," sources said quoting Bischoff.

Through the Kuwait Investment Authority, Kuwait holds a 6.8 percent stake in Daimler AG. The Kuwait Investment Authority was established in 1953 and is the world's oldest sovereign wealth fund.

Bader Mohammad Al-Saad would replace Dr Bernd Bohr, who has agreed that it is "in the interests of the company" for him to step down from the supervisory board at the end of the 2017 annual shareholders' meeting.

Al-Saad has previously served on the boards of both domestic and international companies, including the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. He is currently a member of the Global Advisory Council of the Bank of America and a member of the Advisory Board of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

He is a founding member of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF) and was its Chairman and Deputy Chairman from its inception in 2009 until October 2015.