The second edition of the Kuwait Investment Forum (KIF 2018), held under the patronage and presence of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in March this year, has contributed to a spurt in global investor confidence in the nation’s economy stemming from a serious commitment to advancing Kuwait's development agenda and offering a plethora of investment opportunities.
At the Forum, an exclusive session was held where Kuwaiti ministers interacted dynamically to showcase the progress achieved under the seven pillars of the national vision 2035 - "New Kuwait" - comprising: Effective Government, Diverse & Sustainable Economy, Quality Infrastructure, Sustainable Living Communities, Quality Healthcare, Innovative Human Capital, and Prominent International Position.
This entailed several milestones achieved by the country that include:
During KIF 2018 Timothy Keating, Executive Vice President of Government Operations for The Boeing Company, announced that the company intends to open a permanent office in Kuwait this year that aims to train national cadres and implement other activities of the company.
The forum’s outcomes supported several other positive signs that have contributed to enhancing the confidence of international investors, including the satisfactory overall economic performance of Kuwait. As per the IMF report of January 2018, Kuwait’s non-oil growth for the medium term is set to increase 3 to 4 per cent, accompanied by curtailing inflation to around 2.5%. The report commended the government's efforts to reduce spending, diversify income sources and improve the business environment, as well as acknowledging the efforts to shift from a public-led growth model to a private sector-led model, while consolidating the fiscal and current account balances.
Further developments that contributed to enhance the confidence of international investors include the announcement by FTSE Russell, which cited an improvement in Kuwait’s stock market and re-classified Kuwait to the emerging market status. This also reflected the increased government’s focus on guaranteeing investors their rights and providing the private sector a stronger role in operations and project implementation. It coincided with Kuwait maintaining sovereign rating investment grade with stable outlook by the world’s leading international rating agencies such as Moody's (Aa2) and Fitch and Standard & Poor's (AA).
Kuwait has also witness improvement in its position in many key international indicators, notably the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business index, ranking 102 from 190 countries in 2017 to 96 from 190 countries in 2018. In addition, Kuwait has improved in its ranking on the Global Competitiveness Index by World Economic Forum on several aspects covering: efficiency of government spending (from 90 out of 138 countries in the 2016-2017 index to 59 out of 137 countries in the 2017-2018 index); in the regulation of securities exchanges (from 75 to 62); and in the burden of government regulation (from 108 to 90).
Investment in the technology sector in Kuwait is reported to have nearly doubled over a five-year period from of US$939 million in 2012 to US$1.87 billion in 2017, according to CyFy Africa 2018, a technology focused conference held early May.
To date, Kuwait has 32 foreign companies in the country, attracting around KD 806 million, and creating 1,000 jobs for Nationals in 11 different business sectors. Among these leading global businesses include IBM, GE, McKinsey & Company, Huawei, Limak and others. This reiterates the boost in global investor confidence supported by the vast opportunities available in Kuwait