The State of Kuwait is brainstorming strategies to abolish, create, and merge ministries as a part of the biggest restructuring in the country’s history over the next 4 years, according to a recent Al Qabas report.
Kuwait will add, merge, and remove ministries as a part of its restructuring strategy
From the commencement of 2022, the ministries of electricity, oil, and water will be amalgamated under the single wing of the ‘Ministry of Energy’. A new ‘Ministry of Economy and Trade’ will also be created in the restructuring of Kuwait’s ministries.
This facet will be accountable for the responsibility of national strategy for privatization, the economic development of Kuwait, and the management of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Authority.
The restructuring strategy is also inclusive of transferring the association of the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA), at the beginning of 2023, to the Ministry of Economy and Trade. Strategies for export promotion and a free economic zone are also being strategized at present.
Kuwait’s novel restructuring program comprises revising foreign ownership, bankruptcy & public-private partnership, reforms, evaluations, investment laws, the digitization and simplification of the commercial registration procedure, and the facilitation of processes for receiving credit.
The restructuring roadmap also consists of an expansion strategy of the capabilities of the Competition Protection Office by including more individuals of valid expertise in it. The restructuring will also facilitate an expansion of the scope of the National Fund for the Development of SMEs to incorporate modernization and innovation.
The State of Kuwait is also planning to change the executive management of the State to regulator, from operator. This will be enabled by establishing a new government center in the dawn of 2022.
The roadmap also involves the dissolution of the Ministry of Services. In its place, a new Ministry of Communications and Information Technology will be created to enhance the Information Technology Strategy (ICT). The creation of this new Ministry and the added benefits that come along with it will allow the country to build its national strategy – ‘Towards a Smart Kuwait’, which resonates with Vision 2023.
In Q4 of 2024, Kuwait will dissolve the Ministry of Information. A new Media Authority will be created to infuse media regulations in the dawn of 2023.
Six new local municipalities will be established, in the country, to cover all of Kuwait’s governorates. The Ministry of State for Housing Affairs will be abolished and its powers and duties will be transferred to the Ministry of Social Affairs.
The country also plans to establish a new-fangled authority which is independent – The Public Authority for Social and Housing Support, in the dawn of 2022.