Industry

As Kuwait tries to curb its dependency on hydrocarbons, which accounted for over 90% of state revenues in 2017, other industries are coming into focus. Excluding refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel, manufacturing industries’ contribution to GDP rose by 6.2% in 2017 to $5.6bn, according to the central bank. Meanwhile, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel’s portion of GDP expanded by 18% to $3.3bn in 2017 from $2.8bn the year before. Much of this recent performance is due to implementation of the country’s national development plan, New Kuwait 2035, which prioritises infrastructure upgrades and economic diversification as part of 164 programmes, projects and initiatives that aim to transform the country into a centre of finance and industry. This chapter contains an interview with Faisal Awwad Al Khaldi, Deputy CEO, Kuwait Steel.