THERE is a fundamental question being asked among Kuwaitis in their diwaniyas - “What would happen to us if the oil prices fell to the lowest levels, stocks and foreign investments declined, and the borrowing countries asked Kuwait to extend repayment?”
This simple question reflects a case of OCD in the hearts of citizens.
The developments the world witnessed in the last three decades necessitated changing the strategy for investing sovereign money, and not relying on what has prevailed since 1953 when the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development was established.
This is especially with the severe financial crises that the world witnessed, the most recent of which was caused by the Ukrainian-Russian war, and before that the global financial crisis, the developments in the Arab region, and the consequences that cast a shadow over the Gulf states, including Kuwait.
To answer this question, there are some who say “We live in bliss and all will be well”, while there are some others who smuggled their wealth abroad and do not care.
As for the vast majority of citizens, they cast the dice, because the minimum level of luxury in which they live will not exist in that situation.
Indeed, it is not far-fetched that these people will become migrant workers in the countries that export workers to us today.
There is a popular saying - You reap what you sow. This could serve as an example in seeking to transfer sovereign money internally. The concerned authorities are working to revive the sectors of industry, strategic services, agriculture, infrastructure, entertainment, and hospitality, just like the other Gulf countries, some of which today receive more than 45 million visitors and tourists annually and have reduced their dependence on oil to about two-thirds of the national product.
In the UAE, for example, reports last year revealed that the contributions of non-oil sectors had risen to 73.5 percent, thanks to the diversification of the economic base and the strengthening of sectors with high added value. The same is the case with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman.
On the other hand, Kuwait is still dependent on oil by about 93 percent. This means a major flaw in the concept of the state’s function, especially with the decisions and laws that serve a backward class that considers openness as chaos, or a change in Kuwaiti culture, or another that will benefit from this through human trafficking. This has led to the country being put under the microscope of international organizations.
When the executive decision-maker takes his data from bureaus and not from scientific studies, he makes a mistake. This is the greatest calamity, because most of the laws issued in recent years were built on ignorance or profiteering.
Therefore, we say - “When the desert turns into resorts, factories, and modern infrastructure, as it happened in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, this serves the national economy.”
In one of the Gulf countries, its leadership discovered that its people spend billions of dollars annually on tourism abroad. It therefore worked on opening up the country. Thus its tourism income from visitors increased by about 225 percent. After that, people began turning to domestic tourism, because everything became available in the country.
There is an anecdote in Kuwait, which is - When a visitor arrived at the airport, he took a taxi and asked the driver to take him to the most beautiful areas and resorts. After about an hour in the car, he took him back to the airport and said to him, “This is the most beautiful place in Kuwait.”
We will not talk again about the roads and waste accumulated in all regions, or about the complexities in all works. However, it must be said that sovereign money was created to build the country.
The distribution of wealth can only take place through projects that benefit citizens, and not through gifts and salary increments that are eaten up by inflation, or spending abroad, while there are many people living in poverty.
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
