South Abdullah Al-Mubarak housing project.

KUWAIT: The National Assembly and Cabinet have recorded several achievements, proposing, passing, executing and legislating important laws and regulations in the last decade, affirmed an official in a report yesterday. Acting Undersecretary of the State Ministry for National Assembly Affairs Dr Ahmad Al-Haifi said in his report that both the executive and legislative authorities had worked together to put out laws and projects benefiting the people of Kuwait and developing the country. He affirmed that Kuwait improved its ranking in various global indicators with the most prominent achievement being the selection of Kuwait by the UN as a ‘global humanitarian center’ and choosing His Highness the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as a ‘humanitarian leader’.

Kuwait had also improved its ranking in youth development for 2021, ranking first on the Arab level and 27th globally, he noted, adding that Kuwait was the first ranked in food security on the Arab level and second in the security and quality of life in the Arab region. On the sovereign wealth fund level, Kuwait ranked first Arab-wise and third internationally with its fund going up to $738 billion after it was at $270 billion in 2011; an unprecedented record for a fund within a decade framework.

KUWAIT: The Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Center. — KUNA

Dr Haifi noted that the State of Kuwait had embarked or finalized several major projects including the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Causeway, the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital, the Clean Fuel Project, and so on. He noted that within the housing domain, Kuwait had distributed 70,000 housing units since 2012 in ambitious housing projects in Mutla area, South Saad Al-Abdullah, South Sabah Al-Ahmad, South Abdullah Al-Mubarak, South Khaitan, Wafra, and West Mubarak Al-Abdullah. Kuwait had improved in standing within the health sector since 2019, gaining praise from international entities such as the World Health Organization (WHO), revealed Haifi. He added that economic reports had shown that the Kuwait stock exchange (Boursa Kuwait) had gained recognition from companies such Morgan Stanley, which listed the bourse in its emerging market index with about $3.3 billion following in the market.

The Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS) had achieved record income with $18.9 billion in the first nine months of 2020, the best investment performance by the institution since its inception, indicated Haifi. Within the realm of youth development and sponsorship, Haifi revealed that establishing the National Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises Development, with a capital of KD 1 billion, had succeeded in supporting over 400 youth-ran projects.

Kuwait had dedicated various awards to support the youth, said Haifi who also touched on the cultural and sports achievements in Kuwait including the establishment of the Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Center (JACC), the Jaber Al-Ahmad Stadium, the Jaber Al-Abdullah Al-Jaber international tennis complex and so on. The infrastructure also saw the opening of 10 main bridges on highways and seven main roads, said Haifi. On the foreign policy level, Kuwait played an integral role in the GCC reconciliation of 2017 and also Kuwait’s humanitarian outreach had been recognized by the UN.

The legislative level also huge developments, stated Haifi in his report, saying that a number of 837 legislations with 218 being new ones representing 26 percent of the total sum of laws issued by parliament since inception. The parliament since 2012 had issued various laws defending the welfare of the youth and their small and medium size projects and also supported laws securing retirees, families and people with special needs rights, he affirmed. — KUNA