Kuwait intends to establish a new sovereign investment fund to accelerate development, spur the national economy, build strategic partnerships and attract investment.
The country's Ministry of Finance and the Kuwait Investment Authority will study the Ciyada Development Fund, according to the government's four-year work programme for 2023-2027.
The KIA is the oldest sovereign wealth fund in the world with about $800 billion in assets under management, according to both the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute and Global SWF that track state-owned Investors.
The proposed Ciyada fund aims to "accelerate the growth of the Kuwaiti economy, improve the quality of life and bolster transformation and progress in the various fields of development, through strategic planning and effective implementation of major development projects", according to a government document.
The 62-page document, submitted to the national assembly on Sunday, lays out a four-year programme covering the economic, social, entertainment and human resources fields through to 2027.
The new fund will seek partnerships with leaders in industry and advanced technology within the private sector domestically and globally, operating within "a framework of governance and transparency to achieve progress and prosperity".
The fund will be the government's developmental arm for managing major projects and a platform for partnership with the private sector, the document said.
It will localise technology through global partnerships, create opportunities and attract investments in high value-add sectors, lead and implement economic planning and strategy, and motivate changes in productivity culture.
The current KIA manages the state’s General Reserve Fund, the Future Generations Fund and any other funds entrusted to it by the Minister of Finance, according to its website.
Gulf sovereign wealth funds are expected to become more active and play an even bigger role in global markets this year, as they receive large capital injections derived from higher oil revenue, Global SWF said in January in its annual industry report.
The feasibility study for Ciyada, which means sovereign in Arabic, will be finished within a year. The government’s work programme is issued with the formation of a new cabinet.
The government submitted its four-year work programme on Sunday to the national assembly. This included 107 major projects covering economic, social, entertainment and human capital areas, which are scheduled to be completed by 2027.
"Since we see in the government's work programme as a document of co-operation and partnership between the executive and legislative authorities, we also present it as a partnership programme with all components of society, including the private sector, which must play its role in achieving sustainable growth and creating productive jobs," Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, Prime Minister of Kuwait, said in the document.
"The private sector must be enabled to fulfil its role under effective state regulation that can direct the sector towards sustainable development projects and remove its distortions and address its deficiencies.
"The state at the same time must establish an environment of confidence and reassurance to encourage domestic investment and attract foreign capital."
Under the work programme, the government has pledged to run several megaprojects in various sectors.
In the aviation, transport and logistics sector, it plans to open the new T2 terminal of Kuwait International Airport in the third year of the programme and increase the country's air transport volume from 240,000 flights to 650,000 by developing three runways.
It will also inaugurate part of the Gulf Railway project and prepare train stations in Nuwaiseeb And Shaddadiyah in the fourth year of the programme.
The government plans to open Kuwait Air Cargo City in partnership with a global operator in the fourth year, it said, without disclosing details.
Other projects include opening an amusement park in Doha, west of Kuwait City, scheduled for the fourth year.
It will also open Failaka Island, home to relics from the Bronze Age, Dilmun and the Hellenistic periods, as a tourist and cultural attraction.
