Outline of the current medium term Kuwait Development Plan 2010 – 2014 (KDP).

The overall aim of the KDP is to facilitate the development of infrastructure and organisation that will provide a platform for the longer term developments to 2035 to build on.

In section one the introductory abstracts of the aforementioned speeches reveal significant perceptions by government, giving an insight into the reasons for the KDP. HH the Emir calls for very specific foundations that need to be laid and established:

… democratic dialogue … constructive criticism … good faith … interest in the nation … seeking for the truth … objectivity … impartiality … freedom from personal interest … confidence in the constitutional system … (KDP 2010, p6).

These phrases used in HH the Emir‟s speech suggest a degree of dissatisfaction and unease with the current status quo regarding these basic notions of a democratic and trusted system of government and organisation, alluding to the possibility that these values need to be cultivated.

The Prime Minister makes reference to a need to be able to effectively respond to local, regional and global changes, and states an overall aim of developing into a post oil economy through the long term to 2035, realising Kuwait‟s transformation into a regional financial center. (KDP 2010, p8).

The Deputy Prime Minister reiterates the need for the KDP and economic and social development in the context of regional and global developments, using the phrase “… World crisis …” (KDP 2010, p11) and outlines how the KDP will

2.2 Outline of the medium term Kuwait Development Plan 2010 – 2014 (KDP)

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address the aforementioned economic fulcrums and the challenges faced by the country. Mechanisms cited include attention to re-balancing of the population constitution in terms of expatriate and national make up, interventions in the education system, and increased privatisation (KDP 2010, p11).

The strategic objectives in section one focus on living standards and a growth in the GDP through several strategies including: reducing public sector control and increased opportunity for the private sector; development and encouragement of industry and commerce in areas of finance, logistics, services industries, and commercial sectors, with a corresponding steady reduction on oil dependence; intervention in the education system to align it with the needs of employers; introduction of measures of efficiency, accountability, and transparency in government; measures of control to reduce dependency on the expatriate work force; and emphasis of the Arabic traditions and Islamic identity. (KDP 2010, pp13-16).

There is recognition in the economic assessment of section two that the dependence on oil as the main GDP generator is unsustainable, and that diversification of the economy is essential (KDP 2010, pp28-30). Depreciation in oil export revenues and foreign investments is perceived as being directly linked to world financial instability, and lack of confidence in Kuwait Stock Exchange listed companies relating to poor transparency and disclosure as well as weak performance.

Emphasis is placed on an evident lack of clearly laid down recruiting standards and relatively unregulated employer freedom. There are proposals to facilitate the protection of employee‟s interests, and to legislate in favour of Kuwaiti nationals to reduce the risk of significant Kuwaiti youth becoming unemployed. It is interesting to note an acknowledgement that in 2008 more than half of the Kuwaiti nationals seeking employment had no formal academic qualifications, and that generally the educational level of Kuwaiti nationals entering the employment market is significantly low. It is noted that there is a dearth of suitable Kuwaiti manpower to fulfill the requirements in the commercial and financial areas of the economy, and in the scientific and technical sectors. Education and training are seen as vital to the proposed economic development,

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and there are proposals to improve the quality of education generally with the intention of increasing educational achievement and reducing what is perceived as a high educational failure rate. Specific establishments in the tertiary education sector are identified by the KDP as targets for interventions that are intended to readjust their functioning, bringing them into line with the transition economy objectives. It is also recognised that there is a need to increase the work satisfaction experienced by educators in the primary, secondary, and tertiary phases, and that educational research needs to be better resourced (KDP 2010, pp36-40).

The challenges acknowledged by the second part of the KDP are addressed by the policies presented in the third section of the document.

The private sector is given a central role in the economic policies, advocating increased participation of private companies encouraged by government incentives, with an emphasis on competition, and prioritizing the non-oil sector..

Some of these projects are anticipated to involve schools under private sector management as public shareholding companies (KDP 2010, pp49-64).

Population restructuring and education are addressed by the human and community development policies, advocating a 10% annual reduction in non- professional expatriate workers; limitation of early retirement; realignment of education to provide a service fulfilling the financial and commercial requirements of the economy; and the introduction of a system of selection grounded in the principles of increased productivity and efficiency for the professional expatriate population (KDP 2010, pp70-71).