KUWAIT CITY, July 31, 2008 (AFP) - One of Kuwait's most high-profile businessmen and global investors, Jassim Mohammad al-Bahar, has died in Portugal aged 66, the Kuwaiti press reported on Thursday.

Bahar, who died on Wednesday, held billion-dollar investments in Europe, the Arab world and elsewhere, notably South Africa, Al-Jarida and Al-Qabas newspapers said, without detailing the cause of his death.

He was a board member of the Kingdom Hotel Investments company of Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, and held shares in a palm-shaped artificial island being built off the coast of Dubai.

Since 2002, Bahar worked as chairman of International Financial Advisors (IFA), which has investments in a wide range of sectors.

He also chaired affiliates of IFA Hotels and Resorts in Lebanon and South Africa, and United Investments Portugal.

His group has many subsidiaries, most of which are listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange and which have an estimated market value of four billion dollars (2.5 billion euros), Al-Qabas added.

Bahar was married with four children and his father, Mohammad Abdurrahman al-Bahar, chairs the National Bank of Kuwait, the largest bank in the oil-rich Gulf emirate.