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WB, Kuwait's GSSCPD, host New Kuwait Vision 2035 presentation

Secretary General Khaled Mahdi During the presentation
Secretary General Khaled Mahdi During the presentation

By Sherouq Sadeqi

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (KUNA) -- The World Bank hosted a presentation on the New Kuwait Vision 2035 in collaboration with Kuwait's General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development (GSSCPD).
In an exclusive interview with KUNA on the sidelines of the presentation, Dr. GSSCPD Secretary General Khaled Mahdi shed light on the General Secretariat's participation in the World Bank meetings, saying it included many components, such as the project recently signed with the WB on the labor market and creation of the national jobs strategy for the country.
He added that they also discussed the launch of the human capital plan, saying "Kuwait is one of the early adopters of the human capital index that came from our interest to look at the quality of investment in the human capital in the country and how it can be reflected in the global competitiveness of Kuwait." Mahdi further noted that the Women Business and Law (WBL) index was also discussed "with regard to the gender balance," as well as the "country engagement frame (program of the WB), in which "we emphasized that this coming engagement of the World Bank in Kuwait for the cycle 2020-2024 should be aligned with the Kuwait Vision 2035 and should be also aligned with the Kuwait National Development Plan (KNDP) III 2020-2025.
"We agreed on the importance of the alliance of all the WB activities with the national plan which to us is considered a crucial and very important step," he affirmed.
For his part, World Bank's Regional Director of GCC Countries Issam Abousleiman told KUNA that the 2035 vision is "a very credible ambitious vision that will be a big game changer for Kuwait." He indicated that the KNDP III presented today took the lessons from KNDP I and II and put in a very practical term "taking into consideration the political economy, as now it is about implementation on the ground." He stressed the importance of "perseverance and patience" that are the foundations of development and reform, saying the vision would change what Kuwait would look like by 2035.
For his part, Kuwait's Ambassador to the US Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah shed light during the presentation on Kuwait's 'three Cs', affirming "we have a Committed leadership, we have a Clear vision and we have Capable people," voicing confidence that these three Cs' will ensure that "we will get this over the finish line and Vision 2035 will be a very big success." During the presentation, Dr. Mahdi discussed the Kuwait Vision 2035 of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah that aims to "transform Kuwait into a financial and trade hub, attractive to investors, where the private sector leads the economy, creating competition and promoting production efficiency, under the umbrella of enabling government institutions, which accentuates values, safeguards social identify, and achieves human resource development, as well as balanced development, providing adequate infrastructure, advanced legislation and inspiring business environment." Dr. Mahdi indicated that the Vision was translated into the seven pillars of the New Kuwait, which are Creative Human Capital, Effective Civil Service, Developed Infrastructure, High Quality Health Care, Sustainable Living Environment, Sustainable Diversified Economy and Global Positioning.
He noted that "each pillar has a number of strategic programs and projects that are designed to have the most impact on achieving the vision of a New Kuwait 2035," implemented through the KNDP under the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development. (end) si.hb