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Vision 2035 - A Future Beyond Oil

‘New Kuwait Vision 2035’, the ambitious strategy unveiled in January to diversify the economy away from oil, aims to allow a bigger and more active role for the private sector in economic development

Like most oil-rich nations, Kuwait has suffered greatly from the impact of

the oil price crisis. As a result of the dra-matic drop in oil revenues, the Gulf state posted a budget deficit of $15.3 billion in 2015, the first budget deficit since 1999. This deficit grew to $29 billion in 2016, but is projected to fall to around $21 billion in 2017, thanks to government policies to rationalize budget spending, focusing on development projects.

With oil making up 90 percent of state revenues, the Kuwaiti government has long spoken of the need to develop a sus-tainable and diversified economy driven by the private sector. And the fact that the oil price is not expected to return to pre-2014 levels any time soon has com-pelled the government to get the wheels in motion to build a non-oil-dependent economy.

In January this year, the government launched ‘New Kuwait Vision 2035’, a comprehensive and ambitious develop-ment plan which aims to develop a pros-perous and diversified economy, upgrade national infrastructure, improve the health and education systems, reform government administration and bureau-cratic procedures, and enhance Kuwait’s presence on the international stage.

On the launch of the ‘New Kuwait Vi-sion 2035’, the country’s Head of State, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sa-bah, said the plan will “transform Kuwait into a financial and trade center, attrac-tive to investors, where the private sector leads the economy, creating competition and promoting production efficiency, un-der the umbrella of enabling government institutions, which accentuates values,

safeguards social identity, and achieves human resource development as well as balanced development, providing adequate infrastructure, advanced legislation, and an inspiring business environment.”

Other objectives include positioning Kuwait as a global hub for the petro-chemical industry, increasing foreign direct investment by 300 percent, and attracting more than $1.3 billion for in-vestment in IT services and renewable energy. Taking advantage of its strategic location, Kuwait also wants to operate as a transit hub providing significant logisti-cal support to regional trade routes.

“The New Kuwait vision translates the Emir’s outlook for activating develop-

ment, boosting the economy, diver-sifying productivity, pressing ahead with economic and financial reforms through mega-projects and the lead-ing role by the private sector,” said the country’s prime minister, Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

The government also wants Ku-waitis to represent 40 percent of the population by 2035, up from the cur-rent 32 percent. To do so will require investment in education and training so that Kuwaitis have the skills to take up the jobs currently filled by expa-triates. Reform of the education sys-tem, under Vision 2035, aims to bet-ter prepare Kuwaiti youth to become

competitive and productive members of the workforce.

The public sector in Kuwait current-ly accounts for 70 percent of GDP and employs nearly 80 percent of the to-tal Kuwaiti workforce, highlighting the need to build a thriving private sector-led economy. Kuwait intends to invest billions to increase the contribution of the private sector to the economy, from the current 26.4 percent to more than 40 percent by 2020. Government initiatives such as the public-private partnership (PPP) program, privatization law, the es-tablishment of the Kuwait National Fund for SMEs Development and the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority

are aimed at increasing the share of the private sector’s contribution to GDP.

The PPP program will be crucial for in-frastructure development, as the govern-ment looks to tap private funding to com-plete a string of mega-projects, some of which have been on hold for years.

Kuwait intends to spend $15.6 billion on infrastructure and other development-related projects in fiscal year 2017-2018. The government will contribute 49.3 per-cent of the investments, 33.8 percent will be spent by the state-owned oil sector and 16.9 percent by the private sector

in a public-private sector partnership program, according to Dr. Khaled Mahdi, Secretary General of the Supreme Coun-cil for Planning and Development.

One of the highlight mega projects, and an integral part of ‘New Kuwait Vi-sion 2035’, is the new terminal at Kuwait International Airport, which will be built by Turkish company Limak Construction at a cost of $4.2 billion. When completed in 2022, the new terminal will allow the airport to handle 25 million passengers annually, triple its current capacity.

Other mega projects to be undertaken to achieve the goals set out in the ‘New Kuwait Vision 2035’ include: Sabah Al-Salem University City, one of the leading educational projects in the region; the Al Zour refinery, which will produce 615,000 barrels of oil per day when completed in 2019; Jaber Hospital, which will be the largest hospital in the Middle East, with 1,166 beds; and the Jaber Causeway, a $3 billion bridge that will connect Kuwait City to the new $100 billion Silk City pro-jected urban area.

This special supplement is written and produced by Haddock Media International and did not involve the reporting or editorial staff of The New York Times

New Kuwait #KuwaitSee this report at

www.haddockmedia.com

“[Vision 2035] will transform Kuwait into a financial and trade center, attractive to investors, where the private sector leads the economy, creating competition and promoting production efficiency”

Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait

“The New Kuwait vision translates the Emir’s outlook for activating development, boosting the economy, diversifying productivity, pressing ahead with economic and financial reforms through mega-projects and the leading role by the private sector”

Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Prime Minister of Kuwait

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Nurturing a culture of innovation and building a digital economy key to Vision 2035 goals

One of the main goals of the ‘New Kuwait Vision 2035’ is to create

a sustainable, diversified and non-oil-dependent economy driven by the private sector.

Currently, the private sector contributes around 26 percent of GDP, and the government aims to increase that figure to 40 percent by 2020. This will entail creating a more favorable environment for private businesses to thrive, boosting foreign direct investment, encouraging risk-averse Kuwaitis to take up positions in the private sector or set up their own companies, and fostering a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation among its young people.

The government has established a number of institutions to support development of the private sector, including the Public Private Partnership Authority, the Direct Investment Promotion Authority, the Capital Markets Authority, and the National Fund for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development. Privatization of state-owned enterprises also forms a major part of the government’s agenda, with Kuwaiti media reporting that around 60 percent of public companies will be sold off to private investors over the coming years.

Many of Kuwait’s leading private multinational companies are supporting the government in its ‘Vision 2035’ goals for the private sector – one of which is Zain Group, a leading telecoms operator with a commercial footprint in eight countries in the Middle East and Africa and a workforce of over 7,000. As an ICT firm, Zain is a strong advocate for the establishment of a knowledge-based, digital economy and a prime example of a Kuwaiti company investing in youth development, innovation and entrepreneurialism.

“I believe that to diversify the economy and strengthen the role of the private sector, three urgent reforms are re-quired: policy formulation; moderniza-tion of the ICT Regulatory Framework to encourage broadband investments and to stimulate the digital economy; and talent development,” says Zain Group’s Vice-Chairman and CEO, Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi.

“Typically, most of the countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council have put in place a National Broadband Plan, a National Digital Economy Policy, a national cyber-security strategy, an e-Government policy and a national smart cities policy – all designed to set out very clear strategic directions to foster the development of a knowledge-based, digital economy.”

In terms of talent development, Mr. Al-Kharafi says there are two areas which would need to be developed further to realize the full potential of a digital economy.

“Firstly, entrepreneurship develop-ment through the encouragement of ven-ture capital investment, establishment of accelerators and incubators, deployment of smart capital and an acceleration of the process of company formation. And secondly, educational reforms to address deficits in digital skills and knowledge – to ensure that graduates and others entering into the workforce are very well equipped to meet the challenges brought about by the significant transformational changes prevalent today.”

Zain has introduced a number of initiatives aimed at developing young talent within the organization. By investing in the potential of Kuwaiti youth, Zain hopes to find the entrepreneurially minded leaders that will drive the company forward in the future, both at home and abroad.

“Utilizing the youth of our country will inject a fresh approach into how we conduct business,” says Mr. Al-Kharafi. “We have introduced a graduate scheme with a focus on high GPAs to support delivery of our strategic direction. We have also enhanced our graduate program to identify students with an entrepreneurial mindset – creativity and risk takers who will work on producing commercially viable value propositions for Zain.

“Understanding that fear and risk aversion is rife within the organization, we accept the root cause stems from a younger age before university and so we are working towards establishing a program which focuses on creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and communication for children aged

between 6—11. This is a long-term vision which, once realized, will be visible through the workforce. The aim is to create future leaders who possess these traits to lead our organizations with mindsets akin to those entrepreneurs whom we hear and read about.

“The main ambitions I wish to accomplish regarding the New Kuwait Vision 2035 is to change the suppressing culture itself. We have a rigid culture that we need to come out of in order to breed innovation, creativity and autonomy. By focusing on developing and empowering our youth, which we have accomplished through several initiatives, we are paving

the way for a brighter, more secure and heavily diversified Kuwait of the future.”

It is not just domestic firms like Zain that are investing in innovation and youth development and supporting the development of a digital economy. IBM and Huawei are world-class organizations who have been able to bring expertise in the areas of enterprise cloud solutions, big data analytics and cyber-security to the state of Kuwait. Several strategic collaborations are already in place with the mobile network operators, internet service providers and systems integrators in the market.

Leading Kuwaiti telecoms firm Zain Group is supporting the development of a knowledge-based, digital economy and investing in Kuwaiti youth, in a bid to find the entrepreneurially minded leaders that will take the company forward in the future

“The main ambitions I wish to accomplish regarding the New Kuwait Vision 2035 is to change the suppressing culture itself. We have a rigid culture that we need to come out of in order to breed innovation, creativity and autonomy. By focusing on developing and empowering our youth, which we have accomplished through several initiatives, we are paving the way for a brighter, more secure and heavily diversified Kuwait of the future”

Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi,Vice-Chairman & Group CEO, Zain Group

Bureaucratic red tape and govern-ment inefficiency have long stifled

foreign investment and the prolifera-tion of local companies in Kuwait. If the country is to build a thriving private sector driven by foreign and domestic business – as envisioned in the ‘New Kuwait Vision 2035’ – these issues must be addressed urgently to improve the business and investment climate. That is why the government has set the first pillar of ‘Vision 2035’ to target reform of administrative and bureau-cratic practices to reinforce transpar-ency, accountability, and efficiency.

Comparing Kuwait’s ranking with the other member states in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) in the World Bank’s Doing Business Index high-lights the urgent need for bureaucratic reform. In the 2017 ranking, Kuwait dropped four places to 102nd (out of 190 countries surveyed), putting it in last place in the Gulf region. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) placed at 26th, Bahrain – 63rd, Oman – 66th, Qatar – 83rd, and Saudi Arabi – 94th.

Twenty key global indicators, and addi-tional sub-indicators, will track and mea-sure Kuwait’s progress with the ‘Vision 2035’ plan and its performance compared to other countries. Kuwait is aiming for a position within the top 35 percent of all countries by 2035. Some of these indica-tors will be related to the government efforts to improve the business climate.

‘New Kuwait Vision 2035’ is not Ku-wait’s first attempt at an ambitious roadmap for development, but where it differs is through its focus on legisla-tion and improving the business envi-ronment, something that was lacking in previous plans, according to Nemr Kanafani, a senior economist at the National Bank of Kuwait.

“In recent years, authorities un-derstood that for Kuwait’s economy

to be transformed, we need to focus on rethinking the economic laws and streamlining regulations in the pri-vate sector. Indeed, a new company law and efforts to simplify the rules for businesses are key to this new initia-tive, and those changes have already begun,” said Mr. Kanafani in a recent interview with Forbes Asia.

Approved by parliament in April, the amendment to the New Compa-nies Law will ease procedures for es-tablishing companies. Under the new law, investors are no longer required

to deposit capital before establishing a company. This will help to attract in-vestments from young entrepreneurs and support the growth of the small and medium-sized enterprises sec-tor. This latest amendment will also shorten the time required to establish a company from four days to one day – a remarkable achievement consider-ing that it used to take 63 days before the law was enacted.

In May, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry launched the new ‘One-Window Transaction’ at the Kuwait

Business Center, in line with the im-plementation of the ‘paperless gov-ernment’ initiative – another measure which will significantly reduce bureau-cracy and streamline the administra-tive process for new investors.

Other recent initiatives are aimed at tackling corruption, again an area in which Kuwait ranks behind its GCC neighbors in global indexes. In Trans-parency International’s latest Corrup-tions Perceptions Index, Kuwait placed at 75th. By comparison, the UAE and Qatar ranked 24th and 31st respectively, while Saudi Arabia sits at 62nd, Oman at 64th and Bahrain in 70th position.

The Anti-Corruption Law passed in 2016 paved the way for the recent es-tablishment of the Kuwait Anti-Cor-ruption Authority, which is a seen as a very positive step in the fight against corruption. The Authority is empow-ered to enforce financial and asset disclosures, and has already referred six senior civil servants and ministers – once seen as untouchable – to pros-ecution for failure to disclose financial assets. The Anti-Corruption Law also aims to create a protection program

for whistleblowers, and to raise aware-ness and knowledge of corruption and its effects.

Further mitigation of corruption, as well as increased government ef-ficiency, will be supported by the im-provement of e-government services. It is an area in which Kuwait has made great strides under the ‘e-Kuwait’ ini-tiative. In the UN’s E-Government Sur-vey 2016, Kuwait ranked at 40th out of all countries surveyed, and is among the top 10 countries in Asia, ahead of all its GCC neighbors except Bahrain, which placed at 24th.

“Our goal is to build a more trans-parent government that in turn helps achieve the ultimate strategic goal rep-resented by e-Kuwait, where all can en-joy quality e-services at all times wher-ever they are,” says Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs.

“The government plan is to acquire and develop their human resource pro-fessionals and at the same time up-grade the technologies in accordance with the e-government plans”.

Along with streamlined procedures, investors will also be able to take ad-vantage of the new proposed free trade zones that will be built on the Kuwaiti islands of Boubyan, Failaka, Warba, Miskan and Auha.

Located in close proximity to the pro-posed $100 billion Silk City project, these five free trade zones will turn these barren islands into a commercial and investment hub, offering investors a range of legal and investment in-centives. According to Sheikh Nasser Sabah, Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs: “The Vision 2035 aims to transform the north of the Gulf area into an exceptional free trade zone; a fertile environment to attract investments.”

Reforms to reinforce transparency, accountability and efficiency in government

The first pillar of the ‘New Kuwait Vision 2035’ aims to reduce bureaucracy, improve efficiency and extend e-government services

“The New Kuwait Vision 2035 will transform our economy, create jobs, attract foreign direct investments and facilitate knowledge transfer in the fields of renewable energy, information technology and the services sector”

Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah,Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs

New Kuwait / P3

What can Kuwait offer to foreign partners in the oil and gas upstream segment? KOC has a cumulative experience of almost 80 years in Exploration & Production in the oil sector in Kuwait. We have been able to main-tain for many years a growth strategy for our production capacity from fields across Kuwait, including Burgan field, the second largest in the world, and we are continuously overcom-ing the increasing challenges, such as the application of secondary recovery methods to optimize oil and gas production.

We are able to maintain our operations at a very low cost, among the lowest in the world. Regarding technology applications, KOC is implementing state-of-the-art technologies that have been adopted to support achieving our strategic objectives, such as the Kuwait Integrated Digital Fields, Real-Time Drillings

Decision Centers and Inflow Control Devices. Yet, KOC confronts great challenges to

continue implementing its production growth strategy for the years to come through the fol-lowing initiatives: the need to develop large heavy-oil resources; the implementation of secondary and tertiary recovery projects in our existing reservoirs; the potential development of offshore resources; and the implementation of advanced drilling technologies. All these initiatives are becoming opportunities for the participation of top-quality oilfield service companies as well as international oil com-panies (IOCs), and we are continuously looking forward to establishing strategic partnerships with those industry players.

What should be the role of international part-nerships in the efforts to boost value-added

oil production but also in starting new off-shore operations?We are already engaged with IOCs in the devel-opment of several projects, aimed at increas-ing the oil and gas recovery from our reservoirs through the application of the most suitable technologies. The participation of those IOCs is through Enhanced Technology Service Agree-ments (ETSAs), where remuneration is based on performance and includes the training of Kuwaiti staff. Currently, we have ETSAs in place with Shell for the development of con-ventional oil, heavy oil, and non-associated gas, and with BP to increase oil recovery in the Burgan field. Certainly, as we progress our future plans towards the development of offshore resources, the implementation of additional ETSAs with reputable IOCs is being considered to achieve our production targets.

Overall, what are the key drivers behind the region’s highest capital expenditure on hy-drocarbons projects?The combination of an important market op-portunity, together with the existence of large oil reserves that can be produced at one of the lowest development costs, are certainly the drivers behind the region’s highest capital expenditure in recent and upcoming years. Ku-wait is committed to continuing to be a reliable supplier of oil to its customers, and we are foreseeing additional opportunities in growing markets such as the Far East, Asia, China and India. We continue to develop a large resource base, which is blessed with having one of the lowest development costs in the world. Our capital expenditures are focused on an intense drilling campaign and the development of ad-ditional surface facilities that will provide the

capacity to manage the increased oil and gas production from the reservoirs in Kuwait.

It all began with a handshake. In 1954, Ab-dulatif F. Al Thuwainy and Nagib Ibrahim

Najjar, two ambitious entrepreneurs with a strong conviction for building projects, shook hands in front of HH the Emir of Ku-wait, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, then-foreign minister – a gesture which led to the establishment of Ahmadiah.

It was at this time that Kuwait was expe-riencing its first oil boom. The newfound oil wealth that followed brought about a wave of large-scale construction projects, many of which were undertaken by Ahmadiah. “As Kuwait grew, Ahmadiah grew, by working with both the government and the private sector, taking part in building the nation,” says Ayad Abdul Mohsin Al Thuwainy, Vice Chairman of Ahmadiah Contracting & Trad-ing Company.

Over its history of more than six decades, Ahmadiah has built everything from sky-

scrapers, palaces and hotels to government buildings, shopping malls, and industrial complexes. Some of the more prestigious projects in its portfolio include the Bayan Palace, the headquarters of Kuwait Airways and the Arab Organization and the 75-story Al Hamra Tower, which is Kuwait’s tallest building and also the world’s tallest building with a cladded stone facade.

The company has also been behind sev-eral critical national infrastructure projects, including airport terminals, hospitals, pow-er stations, housing projects, bridges and highways, as well as contributing to mega-projects such as Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City.

“Generations later, the two families that started the business, the Al Thuwainy fam-ily and the Lebanese Najjar family, remain strong partners to this day,” affirms Mr. Al Thuwainy. During the seven-month-long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in 1990, construc-

tion, like much else in the country, ground to a halt. During this time, Ahmadiah’s activi-ties ceased indefinitely, but it continued to look after its employees. Following libera-tion, despite having suffered huge losses, the company began operating again and helped to rebuild the country.

With the events of the Iraqi occupation long behind it, a new vision for Kuwait was unveiled in January. The ‘New Ku-wait’ development plan aims to transform the country into a regional financial and cultural hub by 2035 through numerous strategic development programs. Among the seven pillars of the plan is one devoted to infrastructure, which aims to develop and modernize the national infrastructure to improve the quality of life for all citi-zens. As the country’s leading construction company, Ahmadiah will be integral to the success of this plan.

“We are looking very positively on our future within the New Kuwait Vision 2035,” says Mr. Al Thuwainy, who is a strong ad-vocate of deeper partnership between the public and private sector to bring new proj-ects to completion in the lead up to 2035.

“There are many opportunities to see greater international partnership in the cur-rent investment climate in Kuwait. This is really an opportunity for more public-private partnerships (PPPs), which already started successfully in Kuwait a few years ago.”

Delivering high-quality projects on time and on budget is something that the 63-year-old construction firm knows all about. Some of Ahmadiah’s current and future projects include: a 300-meter tower that will be the headquarters of the National Bank of Kuwait; Kuwait Interna-tional Tennis Complex, which will become a venue for regional and international ten-nis tournaments; the 58-story Al Assima Tower; and the expansion of the Avenues Mall, which will add around 500,000 square meters to the existing facilities.

“We see opportunities in both government and private investment in construction. We are looking very positively on our future within the New Kuwait Vision 2035”

Ayad Abdul Mohsin Al Thuwainy, Vice Chairman of Ahmadiah Contracting & Trading Company

As Kuwait has grown, Ahmadiah has grown with itBehind many of Kuwait’s landmark construction projects is Ahmadiah, which since its establishment in 1954 has helped to build the country

While other oil-rich Gulf states have curbed spending due to the impact of

lower oil prices, Kuwait is still investing heav-ily in a backlog of much-needed infrastruc-ture projects. And high government spending is expected to continue, under the five-year Kuwait Development Plan (KDP) unveiled in 2015. The KDP will see around $115 billion invested in 500 projects, including a string of infrastructure mega-projects, many of which will be funded by the local banks.

The high level of government expenditure on infrastructure projects is one of the main reasons that Kuwaiti banks enjoy the highest banking profitability on average in the Gulf region. The banking system’s net profits increased 6.1 percent in 2016, compared to the 5.1 percent net profit increase in 2015. Profitability is expected to remain strong due to sustained levels of government spending.

“The main drivers behind the high profit-ability of the Kuwaiti banks are the financing of the construction of the current mega-projects, the stable financial environment

created by the Central Bank of Kuwait and the increase in efficiency of Kuwaiti banks, which have put a focus on rationalizing costs,” says Shaikha Al-Bahar, Deputy Group CEO of NBK, the largest and first established bank in Kuwait, and one of the leading financiers of the nation’s mega projects.

“NBK is a dominant player in the project finance market and controls more than a 75-percent market share of foreign com-panies doing business in Kuwait,” says Ms. Al-Bahar. “We have led most of the busi-ness activity related to the government’s infrastructure development plan, and have outperformed domestically when real bank-ing business is the driver of profitability.”

Strong business activity has recently fueled balance sheet growth mainly on the back of the project finance business, leading NBK to record a healthy net profit increase of 8.1 percent in the first quarter of 2017, well above the 6.1 percent average of the Kuwaiti bank-ing sector.

Ms. Al-Bahar says international opera-tions and regional growth markets (Egypt and the GCC) have been a key driver of NBK’s performance. The bank is currently present in 15 countries, with branches in the interna-tional financial centers of New York, Geneva, Paris, Singapore and London. It also became the first bank from the Gulf to enter China.

Diversification has always been a key ele-ment in NBK’s strategy over the years, both geographically and by business sector.

“Geographically, our presence in some markets outside the GCC, in non-oil-depen-dent economies, is a strong demonstration of our diversified business model. By business segments, we focus on offering a diversified range of products targeting different markets and segments,” says Ms. Al-Bahar.

In 2005 NBK entered the investment bank-ing sector by establishing its subsidiary NBK Capital, which offers asset management, advisory, brokerage and investment bank-ing services. It is also active in the Islamic banking market as the major shareholder

of Boubyan Bank, which is the only bank in Kuwait offering both conventional and Is-lamic banking.

In May, NBK successfully issued $750 mil-lion of five-year Senior Unsecured securities, in a bid to further boost liquidity, diversify funding sources and increase liability dura-tions. This debut issuance falls under NBK’s new $3.0 billion Global Medium-Term Note (GMTN) Program. The issued notes came at a re-offer yield of 2.860% (mid-swap plus 100 bps).

This is the first issue since 2009 from a Middle East bank to target the U.S. market under the U.S. Securities Act. The transaction was very well received by both regional and international investors, with the order book closing at $2.2 billion, translating to around 2.9 times oversubscription for the deal.

U.S.-based investors dominated the deal with a 57 percent share of the issuance, fol-lowed by MENA investors at 26 percent, Eu-ropean investors at 13 percent and 4 percent from Asia. The strong demand along with

the diversified, high-quality investor base are testimony to NBK’s superior name in international markets and how it is perceived as being a top-quality bank by international investors.

Shaikha Al-Bahar, Deputy Group CEO of the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK)

Jamal Abdulaziz Jaafar, CEO, Kuwait Oil Company

Kuwait investing heavily in backlog of much-needed infrastructure projectsAs the nation’s largest and first established bank, NBK is one of the leading financiers of Kuwait’s

mega projects, and will play a pivotal role in supporting the New Kuwait Vision 2035 plan

An interview with the CEO of Kuwait Oil Company, Jamal Abdulaziz Jaafar

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