Kuwait’s successful efforts to enhance its investment environment and boost inflows for sectors with high growth potential will be explored in a report by the global research and advisory firm Oxford Business Group (OBG).

 

The Report: Kuwait 2023 will examine the reforms that have been instrumental in improving the country’s ease of doing business and increasing direct investment for the fiscal year 2021/22.

 

Focal points will be the positive impact of new legislation, including the Competition Law, which was passed in 2020, and the digitalisation of services that have expedited key processes for investors.

 

Kuwait's recovery

Elsewhere OBG will track Kuwait’s recovery, which saw the economy grow by 8.2% in 2022, according to the IMF, buoyed by higher levels of oil production and elevated global oil prices. The non-oil sectors of the economy identified as ripe for expansion, including ICT, manufacturing, infrastructure, and health care will also be looked at in detail. 

 

OBG has signed a milestone memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) to support its research. Under the agreement, which marks 10 years of partnership between KDIPA and OBG.

 

The MoU was signed by Mohammed Yousef Mulla Yacoub, KDIPA’s Assistant Director General for Business Development, and Dana Carmen Agarbicean and Maria Filippova, OBG’s Country Directors in Kuwait. 

 

Foreign investors

Filippova said she was delighted to be marking a decade of partnership with KDIPA, highting it’s successful efforts to attract foreign investors for targeted areas of the economy had undoubtedly given OBG’s reports an added dimension.

 

“Kuwait’s plans to diversify its economy and boost the private sector’s contribution to growth are gaining place, buoyed by rising investor interest and higher levels of inflows,” she agreed. 

 

“KDIPA has been instrumental in enhancing the country’s business climate and raising its profile on the international stage, helping to produce a wealth of investment opportunities that it has been a pleasure to highlight in our reports.”

 

KDIPA’s in-depth knowledge 

Agarbicean agreed that KDIPA’s in-depth knowledge and understanding of Kuwait’s changing investment landscape over the years had strengthened OBG’s research and analysis, while providing welcome insight into what to expect from the next phase of the country’s socioeconomic development.

 

“New industry players in nascent sectors will be pivotal in broadening the economic base and providing jobs for the sizeable number of younger Kuwaitis who are set to enter the labour market in the coming years,” she said. “I look forward to charting this next chapter in Kuwait’s growth story with the Authority, while also reflecting on the exciting changes we’ve documented during 10 years of fruitful partnership.”

 

The Report: Kuwait 2023 will be produced with KDIPA, the Kuwait Banking Association and ASAR Law Partners. It will contain contributions from leading personalities in the public and private sectors.

 

The Report: Kuwait 2023 will mark the culmination of several months of field research by a team of analysts from Oxford Business Group. It will be a vital guide to the many facets of the country, including its macroeconomics, infrastructure, banking, and other sectoral developments.-- TradeArabia News Service