Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on November 13th, 2016, with Oxford Business Group (OBG), a global publishing firm, for its forthcoming report on the country. Under this MOU, KDIPA will continue to collaborate with OBG to facilitate interviews and access research material for the compilation of The Report: Kuwait 2017.
The Report: Kuwait 2017 will shine a spotlight on reform roll-out and will analyze Kuwait’s plans to hand the private sector a significant role in its ambitious $155bn project pipeline. It will explore the steps that the government is taking to attract foreign investors for the projects, which include overhauling the public-private partnership framework and reducing red tape for businesses. The Report will also shine a spotlight on the growing number of firms that have set up operations under the 100%, or with a majority share, foreign ownership rules, while considering other names that could follow suit.
KDIPA’s Director General Sheikh Dr. Meshal Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, expressed his hope for the new Report to look at the key initiatives that will buttress the country’s resolve to speed up economic diversification and encourage a larger role for the private sector. He expressed the importance of how Kuwait and KDIPA can help attract further FDI within the mega-project arena, capitalizing on the convening of the recent first Kuwait Investment Forum, which took place in March 2016 under the patronage of His Highness the Amir. He clarified that “Kuwait continues to intensify its efforts to diversify the economy, guided by its national vision dubbed ‘New Kuwait 2035’ that includes extending the role of the private sector’s involvement to create more job opportunities for Kuwaiti nationals and to ensure a sustainable future for generations to come”. He added: “I look forward to OBG’s upcoming timely analysis of Kuwait’s economy that charts the many important developments taking place here”.
