By Majd Othman

KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti Society for the Defense of Public Money, in cooperation with the Kuwaiti Economic Society, held a seminar titled "Future Legislation and the Development Plan 2035". President of the Kuwait Association for the Defense of Public Funds Abdullah Al-Bakr was the moderator. The speakers discussed the New Kuwait 2035 vision, which was issued in 2010 and approved by the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and the goals, visions and aspirations of the strategic plan to make Kuwait an economic, commercial and cultural center compatible with the past, heritage, customs and traditions of the Kuwaiti society.

Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Planning Khaled Mahdi spoke about the draft laws that resulted from this vision, according to the plan drawn up. However, poor implementation and mismanagement thwarted the work of this plan. "The main reason for this was not assigning issues and tasks to elements with competencies and experience," he said.

Member of the Board of Directors of Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority Muhannad Al-Sane said what attracts foreign investors to any country is the existence of key elements, which include a serious governmental desire to adopt an economic identity, presence of a parliament capable of drafting the required legislation, presence of a mature, aware and active civil society, and finally, presence of a private sector prepared and ready for this stage with specialized national cadres to ensure the process of economic integration to achieve the goals of the vision.

MP Abdulwahab Al-Essa clarified the government should work more seriously in implementing its vision in any economic reform process, especially as it seeks to adopt the digitization of services. On the other hand, the government has stated the number of employees in 2035 will be at least 600,000, while Kuwait's vision seeks to have only 180,000 employees.

Director of the Office of Research and Strategic Planning at the Authority for Partnership Projects between the Public and Private Sectors Nayef Al-Haddad spoke about the importance of strengthening the role of the private sector in adopting public projects and attracting investors towards partnership with the private sector, and not only investing in major government projects. He stressed the importance of having a clear vision for the government regarding the development of its entities.

Deputy President of Kuwait Lawyers Association Adnan Abul said that the current reality indicates the importance of political reform to ensure stability in the country, in addition to the importance of having appropriate and necessary laws to activate executive tools to implement Kuwait's 2035 vision.

Vice President of Kuwait Economic Society Muhammad Al-Joaan said the development plans in the country are limited to simple efforts that do not amount to being part of a development plan, indicating that economic and accountability standards must be established to measure the effectiveness of the plans that are being drawn up and what are the obstacles they face and what are the solutions for them.