Kuwait

The Kuwaiti government has approved a four-year economic development plan that, if successfully implemented, could boost public and private spending and lessen the economy’s dependence on oil.

Investor confidence in Kuwait’s energy industry should get a welcome fillip from reports that the state-owned oil company is set to increase domestic oil refining capacity by more than 50% over the next five years.

The health care industry has moved front and centre of the development agenda throughout the Gulf and wider Middle Eastern region. The industry’s resilience to the effects of the global economic crisis over the past two years has whetted the appetite of private investors, while governments are concerned about growing demographic pressure on social services.

Once again signalling the government’s intent to realign the local labour market, officials announced on February 8 that the Kuwaiti Manpower Restructuring Programme has targeted the placement of 20,000 citizens in private sector jobs over the next two years. The announcement comes at a time of growth, when the country and wider region are beginning to shrug off the effects of the global economic crisis.

Taking stock of the latest spending on infrastructure, the Ministry of Public Works gave a boost to Kuwait’s construction sector in December 2010 when it announced that billions of dollars worth of projects were currently under way, with even more set to follow in the new year.

This year Kuwait’s economy has stabilised, allowing the country to look forward to a period of renewed growth and dynamism. Following a 4.6% contraction in GDP in 2009, the picture for 2010 and beyond looks significantly brighter. In September the ratings agency Moody’s Investors Services predicted that the economy would grow by 2.1% and 4.5% in 2011. Much of this is attributable to a rebound in demand, and consequently prices, for oil.