The Report: Kuwait 2014


Book Description

Kuwait accounts for approximately 6.1% of the world’s proven oil reserves, with hydrocarbons revenues comprising more than 65% of the country’s GDP and 95% of total exports in 2013. Cautious budgetary decisions have resulted in large surpluses, creating a solid base for public expenditure programmes such as the National Development Plan, which is set to diversify the economy and boost employment. Although tapering the US Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing programme is likely to affect global liquidity and play a key part in growth prospects for 2014/15, the GCC economy is still forecast to expand by 4.1% for the year, and in Kuwait, where a handful of new PPP plans and deals are slated for 2014, there are promising signs that the year could be a landmark for economic growth and expansion.




The Report: Kuwait


Book Description

Kuwait is one of the biggest players in the global energy market, with its proven oil reserves currently the sixth largest in the world. Although revenues from hydrocarbons account for more than 60% of GDP and 95% of exports, the country’s low production costs and sizeable fiscal reserves mean it is well positioned to cope with lower oil prices in the short term. This is clear from the government’s ongoing commitment to delivering projects outlined in the national development strategy, Kuwait Vision 2035. In the financial services sector, Kuwait continues to perform well, as a series of regulations put in place by the Central Bank of Kuwait in recent years have served to shore up the sector’s recovery from the global economic downturn.




International Monetary Fund Annual Report 2014


Book Description

Seven years after the onset of the global financial crisis, the world still has a way to go to secure a sustainable recovery marked by strong growth that supports rapid job creation and benefits all, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde says in her foreword to the institution’s Annual Report 2014—From Stabilization to Sustainable Growth, published today. The recovery is ongoing, but it is still too slow and fragile, subject to the vagaries of financial sentiment. Millions of people are still looking for work. The level of uncertainty might be diminishing, but it is certainly not disappearing.” Ms. Lagarde said that “throughout the crisis and in the recovery period, the IMF has been, and continues to be, an indispensible agent of economic cooperation” for its membership. The report covers the work of the IMF’s Executive Board and contains financial statements for the year May 1, 2013, to April 30, 2014. It describes the IMF’s support for its 188 member countries, with an emphasis on the core areas of IMF responsibility: assessing their economic and financial policies, providing financing where needed, and building capacity in key areas of economic policy.




The Report: Kuwait 2016


Book Description

Home to the largest per capita reserves and fourth-largest total reserves of crude oil within OPEC, Kuwait’s public finances have suffered in 2016 following the rapid decline in oil prices, which drove oil revenues down from $108.6bn in 2013 to $51.8bn in 2015. Despite this Kuwait has resisted significant budgetary cutbacks: spending levels in 2016 were cut by just 1.6%, and the considerable financial buffers built up from budget surpluses in the years leading up to 2014 are expected to cushion the budget deficit. The country continues to push ahead with key public investments, with Parliament allocating $155bn to the Kuwait Development Plan 2015-20 to fund infrastructure, utilities and housing developments. The plan focuses on further integrating the private sector into areas of the economy traditionally under state control and aims to raise the non-oil sector’s GDP contribution to 64% in 2015-20, up from an average of 45.1% in 2010-13. Elsewhere promising moves are being made to cut state subsidies, with the government opting to liberalise diesel and kerosene prices and reduce subsidies on aviation fuel in January 2015, generating savings equal to 0.3% of GDP.










Economic Systems of Innovation in the Arab Region


Book Description

The Arab region has become a hotbed of economic growth in recent decades. While this growth has indisputably brought in wealth, there are still countless questions about the characteristics, constraints, and implications of the region's systems of innovation. Do these systems even exist in the Arab region? How does the current economic structure affect regional innovation? Is the presence of natural resources a help or a hindrance? Economic Systems of Innovation in the Arab Region discusses the causes, consequences, and implications of poor systems of innovation in the Middle East and North Africa. By examining the comparative weakness of innovation, the economic structure, and the diversity of the region, Nour shows that the development of Arab regional systems of innovation is contingent upon the development of adequate economic policies and incentives in the area. Her contribution is key for students and scholars of economics, innovation, and international relations.




Stateless in the Gulf


Book Description

The Kuwaiti population includes around 100,000 people - approximately 10 per cent of the Kuwaiti nationals -whose legal status is contested. Often considered `stateless', they have come to be known in Kuwait as biduns, from `bidun jinsiyya', which means literally `without nationality' in Arabic. As long-term residents with close geographical ties and intimate cultural links to the emirate, the biduns claim that they are entitled to Kuwaiti nationality because they have no other. But since 1986 the State of Kuwait, has considered them `illegal residents' on Kuwaiti territory. As a result, the biduns have been denied civil and human rights and treated as undocumented migrants, with no access to employment, health, education or official birth and death certificates. It was only after the first-ever bidun protest in 2011, that the government softened restrictions imposed upon them. Claire Beaugrand argues here that, far from being an anomaly, the position of the biduns is of central importance to the understanding of state formation processes in the Gulf countries, and the ways in which identity and the boundaries of nationality are negotiated and concretely enacted.




Media Law in Kuwait


Book Description

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this analysis of media law in Kuwait surveys the massively altered and enlarged legal landscape traditionally encompassed in laws pertaining to freedom of expression and regulation of communications. Everywhere, a shift from mass media to mass self-communication has put enormous pressure on traditional law models. An introduction describing the main actors and salient aspects of media markets is followed by in-depth analyses of print media, radio and television broadcasting, the Internet, commercial communications, political advertising, concentration in media markets, and media regulation. Among the topics that arise for discussion are privacy, cultural policy, protection of minors, competition policy, access to digital gateways, protection of journalists’ sources, standardization and interoperability, and liability of intermediaries. Relevant case law is considered throughout, as are various ethical codes. A clear, comprehensive overview of media legislation, case law, and doctrine, presented from the practitioner’s point of view, this book is a valuable time-saving resource for all concerned with media and communication freedom. Lawyers representing parties with interests in Kuwait will welcome this very useful guide, and academics and researchers will appreciate its value in the study of comparative media law.




Education in the Arab World


Book Description

Education in the Arab World is a critical reference guide to development of education in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The chapters, written by local experts, provide an overview of the education system in each country, as well as discussion of educational reforms and socio-economic and political issues. Including a comparative introduction to the issues facing education in the region as a whole, this book is an essential reference for researchers, scholars, international agencies and policy-makers.