Kuwait to spend $15.6bn on infrastructure in 2017-18
KUWAIT, January 17, 2017
Kuwait is set to spend about KD4.74 billion ($15.6 billion) on infrastructure and other projects in fiscal year 2017-2018 with the private sector contributing 16.9 per cent of the spend, said a report in a local daily.
The projects cover housing, roads, electricity, ports, airports, telecommunications and renewable energy, reported Arabic newspaper Al Anba, quoting Dr Khaled Mahdi, the secretary general of the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development.
The government will contribute 49.3 per cent of the investments, revealed Dr Mahdi.
Around 33.8 per cent will be spent by the state-owned oil sector, while 16.9 per cent will be spent by the private sector within a public-private partnership (PPP) programme, he said.
“The 2017-2018 Development Plan, which is part of the second Five-Year Plan, includes projects intended to diversify the income sources, develop the tourism sector and increase investment flows,” he added.
He said the development plans and projects will be undertaken under the slogan "New Kuwait" and the foreign investors and the private sector will be invited to be involved in these plans.
There are programmes for complete privatisation and new opportunities in the education, tourism and commercial sectors, with a view to reducing dependence on oil, in addition to petrochemical expansion projects.
He said the infrastructure development includes the development of air, land and sea transport, power generation, information technology, environmental protection and waste management, sustainable living, renewable energies and raising the living standards of citizens.
Amongst the strategic projects outlined in the development plan for 2017-18 are the Sabah Al-Salem University City; Zour refinery; clean energy; Kuwait Airport expansion, Terminal 2; Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Bridge; South Al Mutlaa City; sewage treatment; New Sabah Hospital; new buildings at Farwaniya Hospital; a new building at Adan Hospital; Sheikh Saad Al Aballah Islamic Centre in Jahra; and Kuwait Centre for rare manuscripts and publications.
