The Middle East

To leverage its location and proximity to major Gulf markets, Kuwait plans to develop economic zones to attract investment, and support trade and industry clustering. While trade was temporarily disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, exports rebounded significantly in 2021. The Middle East currently accounts for a large portion of Kuwait’s external trade, with the UAE and Saudi...

In the first high-level meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since 2017, representatives from member countries met in Geneva in June 2022 for the 12th Ministerial Conference, where they signed a landmark series of agreements on food exports, illegal fishing, intellectual property (IP) rights for Covid-19 vaccines and Customs duties on electronic transactions.

While small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have historically made a relatively small contribution to Kuwait’s GDP, policymakers are eyeing ways to stimulate their expansion to foster a more dynamic private sector under the Kuwait National Development Plan (KNDP) 2020-25. By doing so, they hope to generate diverse new engines of growth and job creation, and reduce the...

In a year of global economic uncertainty fuelled by inflation, geopolitical crises and supply chain insecurity, the Middle East witnessed a second consecutive year of economic growth, with countries in the region investing in new technologies and projects that could herald greater integration in the years ahead.

Kuwait’s economy has long been underpinned by the production and export of crude oil. Although the rise in oil prices in 2021-22 boosted government revenue and macroeconomic stability, the Covid-19 pandemic – which preceded the commodity price boom – also underscored the risks of overreliance on an industry subject to fluctuating global demand. This has created a fresh impetus...