Souq Sharq, Shopping complex in Sharq district, Kuwait

Souq Sharq is a two-story shopping complex on the waterfront in Sharq, Kuwait City, with around 70 shops and 20 restaurants. It runs along Gulf Street, and most areas inside offer an open view of the sea.

Construction of Souq Sharq began in 1994 under a build-operate-transfer contract and cost about 32 million Kuwaiti dinars; Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah inaugurated it on 30 September 1998 after two and a half years of work. On 29 March 2003 the Kuwaiti government announced that an Iraqi rocket had struck the complex during the Iraq war, causing major material damage but no casualties. In 2023 a lease dispute between the Ministry of Finance and operator National Real Estate Company led to an evacuation order for 31 January 2026, by which time nearly all stores had closed and the property was awarded to a new investor.

The name Souq Sharq comes from the Sharq district where the mall stands. Its ground floor holds a 5.5 m water clock built by French professor Bernard Gitton, a timepiece visitors stop to watch. The complex also has three cinema screens and a waterfront quay with 365 berths.

The complex sits directly on the waterfront and is easy to reach on foot, by car, or by public transport, with parking nearby. Mornings and early afternoons tend to be quieter, making it easier to walk around and browse at a relaxed pace.

The ground floor holds a 5.5-metre water clock built by French physicist Bernard Gitton, whose ball-and-liquid mechanisms keep time without electricity. It is a detail many shoppers walk past. The mall opened in 1998 under a build-operate-transfer contract and was hit by an Iraqi rocket on 29 March 2003, which caused material damage but no casualties.