Kuwait City: Sustainable economic growth is largely dependent upon the rapport between the public and private sectors, Kuwait’s finance minister said on Sunday, citing such a partnership as an urgent need. Propelling the national economy to greater levels is among the Kuwaiti political leadership’s “core concerns,” Nora Al-Fassam, who doubles as state minister for economic and investment affairs, told a press conference over the partnership between the national public and private sectors, which shines light on “promising” joint endeavors planned for the near future, the minister said.
According to Kuwait News Agency, the government is determined to set in motion a spate of economic reforms that include efforts to “diversify” the national economy through bolstering the rapport between the public and private sectors, which in turn, leads to financial stability, the minister underlined, saying that the matter was not an option but a “dire necessity.” The minister went on to say that Kuwait was among the first nations in the Gulf Arab region to actively engage the private sector in national development plans, having established the proper “legal framework” to regulate private and public sector ties, she added.
The partnership between Kuwait’s public and private sectors has yielded some notable success stories, chief among them the northern Al-Zour oil refinery project, which churns out some 10 percent of the country’s total energy output, hailing it as a paradigm example of an effective rapport between the public and private sectors.
On what the future holds for joint endeavors linking Kuwait’s public and private sectors, the minister revealed that some 10 projects are currently in the works, all of which cover crucial sectors running the gamut from energy and communications to healthcare, expecting these initiatives to contribute towards keeping economic growth on an upward trajectory.
Addressing the gathering, the acting general manager of the Kuwaiti Authority for Partnerships Projects Asma Al-Mousa hoped that the event would be instrumental in shaping the roadmap for future development projects, saying that the public and private partnership aspires to dabble into new and unexplored territories.
Reiterating the importance of the public and private sector partnership, National Bank of Kuwait deputy chief executive Sheikha Al-Bahar said it represented a pillar of the national development vision for the year 2035, which serves as a launchpad towards mega projects across numerous fields.
Similarly, Kuwait Finance House’s deputy chief executive for Transformation, Technology and Operations Haitham Al-Terkait emphasized that strengthening the rapport between the public and private sector is a major step towards bringing Kuwait’s vision 2035 to fruition, which can only occur through greater engagement with the private sector, he said.