3 PPP projects to be launched in 2018, says KAPP director-general
Authority working on host of infrastructural projects
KUWAIT CITY, Sept 26, (KUNA): Three publicprivate partnership (PPP) projects on the state development plan are expected to be launched next year, it was announced Tuesday..
The Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) I in the process if launching several projects as part of the National Master Plan for 2017/2018, KAPP Director General Mutlaq Al-Sanea told the “Euromoney Kuwait Conference 2017.”
These projects have been in the works for the past 18 months.
The KAPP is in the final stages of the financial closure for three of these projects and is preparing to launch others soon, Al-Sanea told the international event.
In addition, the authority is now working on a host of infrastructure projects to be launched as PPP in line with law 116/2014, he said, pointing to the KAPP efforts to disseminate awareness of the PPP benefits.
The KAPP has opened huge opportunities for the local and international investors to take part in financial development in Kuwait through mega projects, Al-Sanea said.
Another main goal of the PPP is to provide new jobs for Kuwaiti citizens in the private sector as well as increasing the sector’s contribution to the state’s GDP, he noted.
He referred to “strong indicators” that the local banking and the legal consultancy sectors have taken much interest in the KAPP’s projects as a result of the serious approach from the government to support the PPP program.
According to Al-Sanea, the KAPP targets the launch of the projects of the Labor City, Kabd Municipal Solid Waste Project and Umm Al-Hayman Wastewater Projects.
He boasted the fact that the construction of the KAPP’s first project, Azzour North One Power and Water Plant, was completed and started full commercial operation in November 2016.
For his part, Khaled Al-Khaled, CEO of Boursa Kuwait, told the Euromoney Kuwait conference 2017, said that following the latest meeting of the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) Russell Governance Board, the FTSE could announce the upgrade of Boursa Kuwait from a Frontier Market to a Secondary Emerging Market.
The impact of being classified within this index for Kuwait can mean a significant increase in turnover and foreign investments in the market, he noted.
The new FTSE status has been a key objective of Boursa since the inception in April last year, he said.
It highlights its mission to enhance the current level of performance in Kuwait, and enables Boursa Kuwait to compete with regional peers and build a market reflecting the strength, depth and flexibility of the Kuwaiti private sector.
Al-Khaled said that Boursa Kuwait is introducing Market Segmentation for the first time in Kuwait and in the region as a whole.
This approach to manage the market, which is an internationally recognized practice undertaken by some of the world’s largest markets, will allow Boursa Kuwait to achieve major changes and improvements in the operations of the exchange. He noted that the market will be segmented into three main categories: Premier, Main and Auction. Each category has been designed based on certain criteria and more importantly, in a means to cater to and accommodate the current Kuwait market status.
cal readiness and promote innovation.
India (40th) remains the most competitive country in South Asia, as most countries in the region improve their performance. The two Himalayan countries of Bhutan (82nd, up 15) and Nepal (88th, up ten) are among the most improved countries globally while Pakistan (115th, up seven) and Bangladesh (99th, up seven) have both improved their scores across all pillars of competitiveness. Improving ICT infrastructure and use remain among the biggest challenges for the region: in the past decade, technological readiness stagnated the most in South Asia.
Latin America and the Caribbean have seen 10 years of continued improvement in competitiveness. Chile continues to lead the region at placing 33, followed by Costa Rica ranked 47 and improving seven positions. Panama comes next, ranking 50 and falling eight positions. Argentina showed most improvement, placing 92 and going up 12 positions. Brazil stabilizes at 80, improving one position, as well as Mexico ranked 51st. Colombia and Peru each fall five positions, ranking 66 and 72 respectively. Last in the region comes Haiti and Venezuela.
On average, sub-Saharan Africa’s competitiveness has not changed significantly over the past decade and only a handful of countries (Ethiopia 108, Senegal 106, Tanzania 113, Uganda 114) are continuing to improve this year. Leading the ranking in the region come Mauritius (45), Rwanda (58), South Africa (61) and Botswana (63). In general, Africa is still being penalized by its macroeconomic environment. Average inflation grew to double digits last year while public finances are still being affected by relatively low commodity prices, which curbed public revenues and hence government investments. At the same time, Africa’s financial markets and infrastructures remain underdeveloped, and institutions’ improvement process hit a setback this year as political uncertainty is growing in key countries.
“Countries must establish an environment that enables citizens and businesses to create, develop and implement new ideas that will allow them to progress and grow. The Global Competitiveness Report helps us understand the drivers of innovation and growth and this edition comes at a time when increasing the ability of countries to adopt innovations is critical to achieving broad-based growth and economic progress,” said Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Professor of Economics at Columbia University.