KUWAIT CITY: Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak invited foreign investors to invest in Kuwait, noting that Kuwait has taken the necessary measures to facilitate business by reducing customs fees and taxes, simplifying banking and financial transactions as well as creating the most suitable atmosphere for foreign investors to do business.
First Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah said preliminary studies indicate that a national plan to develop Kuwaiti islands could help provide more than 200,000 jobs and generate annual revenue of more than $35 billion. He cited an ongoing feasibility study over a plan to merge the islands project with Kuwait’s Silk City enterprise, saying the proposition was highly likely at this point.
Meanwhile, Boeing announced yesterday a plan to open a permanent office in Kuwait this year. Recent studies by the giant US aircraft manufacturer have shown that by 2035, Kuwait needs 36,000 pilots and around 100,000 crewmembers, Timothy Keating, Executive Vice President of Government Operations for Boeing, said in his speech at KIF. Omar Al-Ghanem, CEO of Alghanim Industries and Chairman of Gulf Bank, said Kuwait has several factors to attract capital, notably the country’s geographic location and its new and enhanced infrastructure.
Later yesterday, various ministers spoke about the outlook of Kuwait’s “Vision 2035: New Kuwait” and shed light on the progress to date on each of the program’s seven pillars. Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Al-Sabeeh detailed various plans that are in the works, including an anti-corruption project that is part of a national anti-corruption strategy, an integrated strategic plan for e-government and a study on the fourth structural plan of Kuwait. Sabeeh added a human capital project will provide innovative curricula and new jobs, elderly care units will be set up in Hawally and Ishbilya, and general design specifications for buildings will be developed to facilitate the lives of people with disabilities.
Kuwait is rolling out investment partnerships and strategic investment opportunities valued at more than $100 billion in key economic and social sectors for investors that include information and communications technology, oil and gas, renewable energy, electricity and water, urban development and housing, healthcare, education, transport, tourism and the North Zone development.
