Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah affirmed the need to enable the private sector to fulfill its role in sustainable development. According to Alrai Media’s report, he stressed that the state should create an atmosphere of confidence and reassurance to encourage local investment and attract foreign capital. The Prime Minister stated during the inauguration of the government’s action program that the program includes a number of social and economic initiatives.
These initiatives include setting up an integrated framework for reviewing public sector salaries, stimulating the trend towards working in the private sector, 30 legislative requirements for the program’s implementation, 13 projects to raise Kuwait’s educational rating, 9 projects to raise the health rating, 15 projects to improve the quality of life of citizens and enhance their well-being, and 36 projects valid for private sector participation and public subscriptions.
In addition, the action program includes measures to control government expenditures. These measures include launching a standard central platform for government procurement, linking all government agencies with it, approving ceilings for public expenditures for the medium-term period, and preparing a general framework for restructuring the subsidy model. The program also includes measures to address the foundations of the pension insurance system, aiming to eliminate the actuarial deficit and improve the financial performance of the institution.
On the other hand, part of the program will initiate measures to reform fees and taxes, which include issuing a general framework for periodically reviewing and re-pricing the state’s real estate property, launching a pricing mechanism for public services, fees, and irregularities, issuing a general framework for corporate tax, and approving the public debt law and the framework regulating it.
These measures aim to ensure that fees and taxes are fair, efficient, and in line with best international practices. Moreover, the program also sets a number of initiatives to develop the transport sector. These initiatives include opening the new Kuwait International Airport building T2, launching the joint Gulf rail link project, inaugurating the railway line between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, completing the development of Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port, and increasing the capacity for air traffic.
With regards to initiatives to develop the energy sector, economic projects, and establish companies and launch frameworks, the program include raising the production of free gas, inaugurating the Northern Economic Zone and the Abdali Special Economic Zone, allocating the Northern Shuaiba plant project, establishing the Kuwait Post Company and a company to manage fixed communications networks and optical fibers, launching the comprehensive national project for digital transformation, issuing the national strategy for privatization, developing a general framework for qualifying 6 projects for partnership between the public and private sectors on an annual basis. Furthermore, it also focuses on establishing a public authority to manage and invest state real estate, launching a national framework for Kuwaitization, and launching a comprehensive framework for the restructuring of public government agencies.
The program is divided into parts, namely stabilizing public finances, economic development and promotion, job creation and capacity building, focusing on sustainable well-being and strong human capital, and strengthening the government structure.