Kuwait

The government has identified private sector participation as a critical facet of its five-year, $109bn spending plan, reforming its regulatory framework in recent years to enhance the state’s attractiveness to foreign investors. Kuwait has traditionally ranked at the bottom of GCC nations in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows,...

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are set to play an increasingly important role in Kuwait’s economic diversification, following the recent government decision to roll out a multibillion-dollar SME fund aimed at reducing youth unemployment and encouraging entrepreneurship. Although SMEs comprise the majority of registered companies in...

Seven decades of expanding oil production have led Kuwait to become one of the richest nations in the world, with strong oil revenues driving years of successive budget surpluses, leading the state’s young population to boast one of the world’s highest GDPs per capita. Kuwait’s generous welfare system has guaranteed free education, health care...

With every GCC member state investing in transport, the region is currently undergoing something of a road and rail boom. In the first three quarters of 2013, about $30bn in rail construction contracts were awarded across the GCC, and while some estimates suggest as much as $200bn could be spent over the next five years on regional rail...

The Gulf region has some of the world’s highest living standards and must continue to build on its gains. To do so, it needs to address and overcome three types of challenges: the challenges of the present, which include making sure the region can continue to support stability and growth in an uncertain world; the challenges of the future, or...