WASHINGTON: The
World Bank hosted a presentation on the New Kuwait Vision 2035 in collaboration
with Kuwait's General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development
(GSSCPD). In an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the presentation,
GSSCPD Secretary General Dr Khaled Mahdi shed light on the General
Secretariat's participation in the World Bank meetings, saying it included many
components, such as the project recently signed with the World Bank on the
labor market and creation of the national jobs strategy for the country.

He added that
they also discussed the launch of the human capital plan, saying "Kuwait
is one of the early adopters of the human capital index that came from our
interest to look at the quality of investment in the human capital in the
country and how it can be reflected in the global competitiveness of
Kuwait."

Mahdi further
noted that the Women Business and Law (WBL) index was also discussed "with
regard to the gender balance," as well as the "country engagement
frame" (program of the World Bank), in which "we emphasized that this
coming engagement of the World Bank in Kuwait for the cycle 2020-2024 should be
aligned with the Kuwait Vision 2035 and should be also aligned with the Kuwait
National Development Plan (KNDP) III 2020-2025."

"We agreed
on the importance of the alliance of all the World Bank activities with the
national plan which to us is considered a crucial and very important
step," he affirmed. Meanwhile, World Bank's Regional Director of GCC
Countries Issam Abousleiman said that the 2035 vision is "a very credible
ambitious vision that will be a big game changer for Kuwait." He indicated
that the KNDP III presented today took the lessons from KNDP I and II and put
in a very practical term "taking into consideration the political economy,
as now it is about implementation on the ground." He stressed the
importance of "perseverance and patience" that are the foundations of
development and reform, saying the vision would change what Kuwait would look
like by 2035.

Three Cs

In the meantime,
Kuwait's Ambassador to the US Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah shed light during the
presentation on Kuwait's 'three Cs', affirming "we have a Committed
leadership, we have a Clear vision and we have Capable people," voicing
confidence that these three Cs' will ensure that "we will get this over
the finish line and Vision 2035 will be a very big success."

During the
presentation, Dr Mahdi discussed the Kuwait Vision 2035 of His Highness the
Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah that aims to "transform Kuwait into a
financial and trade hub, attractive to investors, where the private sector
leads the economy, creating competition and promoting production efficiency,
under the umbrella of enabling government institutions, which accentuates
values, safeguards social identify, and achieves human resource development, as
well as balanced development, providing adequate infrastructure, advanced legislation
and inspiring business environment."

Dr Mahdi
indicated that the Vision was translated into the seven pillars of the New
Kuwait, which are Creative Human Capital, Effective Civil Service, Developed
Infrastructure, High Quality Health Care, Sustainable Living Environment,
Sustainable Diversified Economy and Global Positioning. He noted that
"each pillar has a number of strategic programs and projects that are
designed to have the most impact on achieving the vision of a New Kuwait 2035,"
implemented through the KNDP under the General Secretariat of the Supreme
Council for Planning and Development. - KUNA