Kuwait

The Kuwaiti welfare state’s two sacrosanct pillars are health care and education. Since 1962, the state has been obliged by law to provide health care to all citizens under article 15 of the constitution. Free health care remains much prized by Kuwaitis and is now widely regarded as a civic privilege to be closely guarded.

A complete overhaul is planned for Kuwait’s education sector to prepare for future economic challenges. The government has been under increasing pressure to meet the rising expectations of its citizens, who want a quality education and the tools they need to contend in a competitive regional and global environment. Educational reform is thus at the...

The introduction of health insurance and broader reform may radically alter the health care landscape in Kuwait – and the wider GCC – over the next 5-10 years. The development of the Kuwait Health Assurance Company (KHAC) is expected to meet some of the future demographic challenges and rising costs that Kuwait will confront in its health care...

Since the year 2000, when the internet penetration rate was just 5%, the local IT market has come a long way. Nearly 40% of Kuwaitis are now online, with recent growth driven by mobile internet subscriptions. In 2004 the government released the National Strategy for Building an Information Society, which visualises ramping up the IT sector as a...

Driven by a large youth demographic, Kuwait’s uptake of mobile internet and new technological innovations has been substantial. While broadband internet prices remain comparatively high, mobile operators have managed to make Blackberries and iPhones ubiquitous. Social media, meanwhile, appears well ensconced locally. Still, the lack of Arabic...