The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Fahd Al-Shariaan, said everything in Kuwait is available for privatization, and the role of the government should be limited to regulation let the private sector take care of privatization.
Speaking during a second economic forum he said “privatization is the main goal that helps us diversify the state’s income and not depend on fluctuations in oil prices, and we hope that there will be a contribution from the private sector, as it is the ideal solution to increase income and diversify the sources of income of the state,” reports a local Arabic daily.
He stated the economic reform programs are not without initiatives to allocate a number of sectors and public services to the state in line with the laws in force in the countries. Therefore, these programs are extremely important to enhance competition and provide the best for the country and citizens, thus reducing the burden of expenditures on the state’s general budget and creating new job opportunities.
He pointed out that achieving the state’s vision of encouraging investment and transforming Kuwait into a regional commercial financial center requires a number of steps and legislation that are in line with international requirements, based on the roles to be played in future by the public and private sector institutions in order to achieve economic sustainability and the application of standards of transparency and good governance that establish the principles of justice and equality, considered one of the most important components of becoming a financial center.
He explained “you should not be afraid of what the world is going through during the current stage with a number of political and economic changes in the wake of the sharp fluctuations in global crude oil prices, which necessitated the development of strategies and measures aimed in total at strengthening the status of the economy and achieving a qualitative leap in the file of diversifying sources of national income and revenues to achieve the goal of sustainable development.”
Al-Shariaan praised the great role and efforts of the concerned government agencies in the areas of financial and economic reform, which constitute the cornerstone of sustainable development, explaining that such scientific activities bear fruit whenever they are closer to real issues and challenges facing the business environment in the region.
He stated that the second economic forum raises an important issue and a strategic objective, which is the issue of the challenges of implementing privatization programs according to the best mechanism and methodology and finding ways to overcome any obstacles facing their realization.