A recent government report revealed that the number of projects included in the development plan 2022/2023 amounted to about 129, while the value of their financial appropriations amounted to about 1.3 billion dinars, compared to 138 projects included in the development plan 2021/2022, with financial appropriations amounting to 1.6 billion dinars.
According to the follow-up report to the annual plan 2022/2023 for the first quarter issued by the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development, the total spending on development projects during the first quarter of the current fiscal year (the period from April 1 to the end of June 2022) was about 31.7 million dinars, compared to 98.8 million dinars for the same period last year 2021/2022.
The report concluded that the projects of the annual plan 2022/2023 are concentrated in the implementation phase by 46% at the end of the first quarter, not to mention that there are 17 new projects in the annual plan, and that 47% of them are in the preparatory phase by the end of the first quarter.
The report’s findings showed that 22% of the projects comply with the implementation schedule, compared to 32% for the same period in 2021/2022 and 26% in 2020/2021, while the percentage of spending on annual plan projects 2022/2023 by the end of the first quarter was 2.5% less by 3.9% compared to the previous year and 3% lower compared to the plan year 2020/2021.
The percentage of spending on projects of an effective participation program in the global community is the highest among the plan’s programs, reaching 17% at the end of the first quarter, followed by projects of a dynamic private sector promotion program at 5%, and administrative challenges represent 37% of the total challenges, which is the largest percentage among the classifications Others, the most prominent of these challenges are the delay in the necessary licensing and approval procedures, the multiplicity of donors, the slow documentary cycle of contracting procedures and the delay in the delivery of utilities (electricity and water) to projects, while 80% of the total project implementation challenges were overcome.
The report showed the presence of about 665 challenges facing the authorities in implementing their projects, while 80% or 534 of them have been overcome.
The legislative program includes 62 draft laws distributed over the 9 development programs, 37% of which were actually issued by 23 laws, while there are 11 laws that the entity still has 5 laws related to a dynamic private sector promotion program, and 5 laws for developing a coherent and transparent government and effective participation in the global community.
The Fatwa and Legislation Department has two bills related to the development of a coherent and transparent government, not to mention four bills at the Council of Ministers, including a law to enhance the capabilities of citizens and institutions, a law to develop a coherent and transparent government, and the construction of a coherent infrastructure with two laws.
As for the laws of the National Assembly, they account for 35.5% of the total laws by 22 bills, including a bill to build a special economic zone, two laws to promote a dynamic private sector, a law to enhance the capabilities of citizens and institutions, 14 laws to develop a coherent and transparent government, a law to build a coherent infrastructure and a law to strengthen The health and well-being of all and the law of effective participation in civil society.
The General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development, headed by the Secretary-General, Dr. Khaled Mahdi, has proven time and time again its competence in carrying out its tasks, as it monitors very carefully the data and variables of development in Kuwait, leading to providing focused and effective advice that will make a leap in government achievement. In its tasks, the secretariat constitutes the “compass of achievement and development” on which it relied with confidence in explaining what measures Kuwait needs to achieve its goals with all credibility and impartiality.
The General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development recommended 6 recommendations at the end of its report, which were as follows:
1 – The need for the authorities to expedite the completion of the draft laws in the plan, as there are still 11 draft laws with the concerned authorities for long periods, which requires a new impetus to complete the legislative program of the development plan.
2 – The necessity of the Cabinet’s cooperation with the National Assembly to expedite the discussion and approval of the draft laws that are listed on the Assembly’s agenda or under study by the Assembly’s 22 specific committees, as many development programs and projects are linked to them.
3 – The need to put an end to the stumbling in spending in some of the plan projects as a result of budget delays or approval of spending.
4 – The need to exert more effort to advance the projects that stimulate the private bottom, as the return on them still does not meet the ambition, especially the partnership projects between the public and private sectors, and it is necessary to increase the momentum in order to finish the preparatory work for these projects in order to put them forward and start implementation with Defining mechanisms to facilitate the approvals of the regulatory authorities.
5 – Requiring the executive bodies participating in the plan to quickly complete their planning structures, which allow them to seamlessly communicate between them and the preparation and follow-up systems, as the secretariat is making great efforts in developing the systems for preparing and following up the development plan, which is reflected in the improvement of completion rates as a result of solving many obstacles early.
6 – The need to develop radical solutions to the challenges facing the projects mentioned in the plan, as there are projects that suffer from significant delays in their schedules, despite the fact that the entity has not registered any obstacles facing these projects.
