Kuwait announces a detailed long-term development strategy

According to Article 98 of the Constitution, the administration would hold a presentation on its plan, Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah confirmed. He added that this was the first time the government had a program with precise projects, costs, and deadlines. He stated that the government is hoping that the success of its program will bring wealth to the people. Abdulwahab Al-Rashead, the minister of finance, was subsequently given the responsibility of representing the government by delivering the program. Al-Rashead affirmed that the agenda embodies the government’s goals for the 17th parliamentary term. He revealed that the program has many different components, including the political axis, which is crucial for the implementation of reforms.
In addition, the Secretary General of the Higher Council for Planning and Development, Dr. Khalid Mahdi stressed that the program is in line with the Kuwait 2035 vision of transforming the country into an international financial and commercial center. He added that the objectives include protecting public institutions and the legislative structure; covering the rising demand for housing, health care, and education; inflation rate; and generating job opportunities. He went on to say that the perception of corruption remains below expectations, while the business environment is not attractive enough for investors.
He revealed the goals are to address 40 percent of housing demands, provide a fair salary scale, develop health services, allocate more land for housing projects, improve non-oil revenues, provide 30,000 jobs in the next four years, stop the overlapping of functions among public institutions, empower women such that 30 percent of public positions are occupied by women, switch from paper-based to digital transactions, implement partnership projects, increase the use of renewable energy, establish railways and completion of Abdullah Port.
Factors: He believes the factors of success include wise governance, cooperation between the executive and legislative authorities, preventing a conflict of interests, and ensuring transparency. He added the program consists of 10 main points covering various fields — political reform, governance, security and justice, society, education, health care, economy, youth and sport, entertainment, and infrastructure. He said four objectives would be realized in the first 100 days of the government, affirming that by the end of the year, 17 out of 84 goals will be achieved and then 80 by the beginning of the fourth year.
Following are details of the main points of the government’s program: Political reform: development of democracy, addressing residency and nationality issues, the establishment of an independent institution to manage elections and solve the problems of Bedouns;
Governance: establishment of a council for public strategies, monitoring the performance of public institutions and specifying standards for evaluating services; Security and justice: curbing the spread of drugs, developing the skills of female police, solving the traffic problem, combating visa trading and establishment of the national council for disasters and crises;
society: racial harmony, amnesty, bolstering the fabric of the nation, activating the National Council for Human Rights’ duty, and enhancing the cooperative sector; Housing: Establishing a body that will coordinate the distribution of land for housing projects, enhance the welfare system for housing to meet the growing demand, finance sustainable real estate, prevent the conversion of private homes into investment residences, stop fraudulent mortgages, and specify the national model for distributing subsidies are all necessary to meet the growing demand for housing.