Download or read book The Report Kuwait 2016 written by Oxford Business Group and published by Oxford Business Group. This book was released on 2016-09-16 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Home to the largest per capita reserves and fourth-largest total reserves of crude oil within OPEC, Kuwait’s public finances have suffered in 2016 following the rapid decline in oil prices, which drove oil revenues down from $108.6bn in 2013 to $51.8bn in 2015. Despite this Kuwait has resisted significant budgetary cutbacks: spending levels in 2016 were cut by just 1.6%, and the considerable financial buffers built up from budget surpluses in the years leading up to 2014 are expected to cushion the budget deficit. The country continues to push ahead with key public investments, with Parliament allocating $155bn to the Kuwait Development Plan 2015-20 to fund infrastructure, utilities and housing developments. The plan focuses on further integrating the private sector into areas of the economy traditionally under state control and aims to raise the non-oil sector’s GDP contribution to 64% in 2015-20, up from an average of 45.1% in 2010-13. Elsewhere promising moves are being made to cut state subsidies, with the government opting to liberalise diesel and kerosene prices and reduce subsidies on aviation fuel in January 2015, generating savings equal to 0.3% of GDP.
Download or read book Kuwait written by International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2017-01-17 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 2016 Article IV Consultation highlights that the economic activity in the non-oil sector in Kuwait has continued to expand, albeit at a slower pace, reflecting the impact of lower oil prices. Nonhydrocarbon growth slowed from 5 percent to an estimated 3.5 percent in 2015, as higher uncertainty weighed on consumption. Labor market reforms and efforts to promote the role of the private sector are important to foster diversification and boost job creation for nationals. Better aligning labor market incentives is necessary to encourage nationals to take on private sector jobs and private firms to create opportunities for them.
Download or read book Kuwait 2016 Human Rights Report written by U. S. U. S. State Department and published by . This book was released on 2017-03-03 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Principal human rights problems included limitations on citizens' ability to choose their government; restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly, especially among foreign workers and a stateless population referred to as "bidoon"; and lack of enforcement of laws protecting labor rights within the foreign worker population, especially in the domestic and unskilled service sectors, resulting in higher risk of human trafficking.
Download or read book Welcome to the State of Kuwait written by Francesca Spencer and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2016-09-27 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on real-life stories from an international school in Kuwait, which chart the survival of teachers from the thrown-in-at-the-deep-end start to the I-can't-believe-we-made-it finish. Outlandish comedy abounds as the teachers laugh and lose it, through a mine field of barriers to logic, and challenges to plain common sense.The book illuminates the startling excesses of the oil-money rich as they balance a past of poverty with an extreme pot of gold from the end of the rainbow. It shows Kuwait as a microcosm reflecting the more global issues surrounding waste, ecology, using more than we need, and consumerism gone mad. The stories reveal the pros and cons of teaching on the international circuit and how the teachers adapt to an alien land of dust, sexual and racial inequality and an oppressive political regime, both inside and outside school. Resilience, fortitude and a hefty dose of humour gets the teachers through to the end with a cheer and a wave.
Download or read book Doing Business Economy Profile 2016 written by World Bank Group and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book World Development Report 2016 written by World Bank Group and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2016-01-14 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Digital technologies are spreading rapidly, but digital dividends--the broader benefits of faster growth, more jobs, and better services--are not. If more than 40 percent of adults in East Africa pay their utility bills using a mobile phone, why can’t others around the world do the same? If 8 million entrepreneurs in China--one third of them women--can use an e-commerce platform to export goods to 120 countries, why can’t entrepreneurs elsewhere achieve the same global reach? And if India can provide unique digital identification to 1 billion people in five years, and thereby reduce corruption by billions of dollars, why can’t other countries replicate its success? Indeed, what’s holding back countries from realizing the profound and transformational effects that digital technologies are supposed to deliver? Two main reasons. First, nearly 60 percent of the world’s population are still offline and can’t participate in the digital economy in any meaningful way. Second, and more important, the benefits of digital technologies can be offset by growing risks. Startups can disrupt incumbents, but not when vested interests and regulatory uncertainty obstruct competition and the entry of new firms. Employment opportunities may be greater, but not when the labor market is polarized. The internet can be a platform for universal empowerment, but not when it becomes a tool for state control and elite capture. The World Development Report 2016 shows that while the digital revolution has forged ahead, its 'analog complements'--the regulations that promote entry and competition, the skills that enable workers to access and then leverage the new economy, and the institutions that are accountable to citizens--have not kept pace. And when these analog complements to digital investments are absent, the development impact can be disappointing. What, then, should countries do? They should formulate digital development strategies that are much broader than current information and communication technology (ICT) strategies. They should create a policy and institutional environment for technology that fosters the greatest benefits. In short, they need to build a strong analog foundation to deliver digital dividends to everyone, everywhere.
Download or read book Kuwait written by Kenneth Katzman and published by . This book was released on 2019-08-03 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kuwait has been pivotal to the decades-long U.S. effort to secure the Persian Gulf region because of its consistent cooperation with U.S. military operations in the region and its key location in the northern Gulf. Kuwait and the United States have a formal Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA), under which the United States maintains over 13,000 military personnel in country and prepositions military equipment to project power in the region. Only Germany, Japan, and South Korea host more U.S. troops than does Kuwait, which has hosted the operational command center for U.S.-led Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) that has combatted the Islamic State since 2014. Kuwait is a partner not only of the United States but also of the other hereditary monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman). Kuwait is participating militarily in the Saudi-led coalition that is trying to defeat the Shia "Houthi" rebel movement in Yemen, but Kuwait tends to favor mediation of regional issues over the use of military force. Kuwait has sought to resolve the intra-GCC rift that erupted in June 2017 when Saudi Arabia and the UAE moved to isolate Qatar. Kuwait has refrained from intervening in Syria's civil war, instead hosting donor conferences for victims of the Syrian civil conflict, Iraq's recovery from the Islamic State challenge, and the effects of regional conflict on Jordan's economy. Kuwait has not followed some of the other GCC states in building quiet ties to the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. Kuwait generally supports U.S. efforts to counter Iran and has periodically arrested Kuwaiti Shias that the government says are spying for Iran, but it also engages Iran at high levels. U.S. government reports have praised steps by Kuwait to counter the financing of terrorism, but reports persist that wealthy Kuwaitis are still able to donate to extreme Islamist factions in the region. Kuwait has consistently engaged the post-Saddam governments in Baghdad in part to prevent any repeat of the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Experts have long assessed Kuwait's political system as a potential regional model for its successful incorporation of secular and Islamist political factions, both Shia and Sunni. However, since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, Kuwait has followed other GCC states in incarcerating and revoking the citizenship of social media and other critics. Kuwait's political stability has not been in question but long-standing parliamentary opposition to the ruling Sabah family's political dominance has in recent years included visible public pressure for political and economic reform. Parliamentary elections in July 2013 produced a National Assembly amenable to working with the ruling family, but the subsequent elections held in November 2016 returned to the body Islamist and liberal opponents of the Sabah family who held sway in earlier assemblies. Kuwait has increased its efforts to curb trafficking in persons over the past few years. Years of political paralysis contributed to economic stagnation relative to Kuwait's more economically vibrant Gulf neighbors such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Like the other GCC states, Kuwait has struggled with reduced income from oil exports during 20142018. Kuwait receives negligible amounts of U.S. foreign assistance, and has offset some of the costs of U.S. operations in the region since Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Download or read book Doing Business Economy Profile 2017 written by Weltbankgruppe and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Kuwait. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. Doing Business 2017 is the 14th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business; for 2016 Kuwait ranks 98. Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency, and labor market regulation. Doing Business 2017 presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where, and why. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2016 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January-December 2015).
Download or read book The Institutional Context of Public Private Partnerships written by Biygautane, Mhamed and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2022-09-15 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on original empirical data collected from three Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, this engaging book offers comprehensive insights into the institutional environment of public–private partnership (PPP) from a unique and under-explored context.
Download or read book Entrepreneurship In The Gulf Cooperation Council Region Evolution And Future Perspectives written by Leo-paul Dana and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2021-01-19 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book looks at the current state of entrepreneurship development in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, consisting of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. It is a comprehensive state-of-the-art coverage of entrepreneurship and small business management issues, supported with theoretical discussion and empirical evidence. The book covers current processes in each country, paving the ways for potential investors, researchers, academics and professionals to better understand this region. An outcome of long-lasting endeavour, this book includes contributions from experts across the Gulf region.
Download or read book Handbook of Research on Sociopolitical Factors Impacting Economic Growth in Islamic Nations written by Ozdemir, Suleyman and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2017-07-12 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the years, the dissemination of technology across society has increased exponentially. As technology continues to improve worldwide connectivity, positive relations between countries is paramount to achieving cultural and economic progression. The Handbook of Research on Sociopolitical Factors Impacting Economic Growth in Islamic Nations is a pivotal scholarly resource on the current factors impacting international relations between Islamic countries. Featuring extensive coverage on sociopolitical structures, economic sector analysis, sociocultural properties, and political policies, this publication is ideal for academicians, students, and researchers interested in discovering more about the current trends and techniques in the economic infrastructures of Islamic nations.
Download or read book Governance and Sustainability written by David Crowther and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-08-19 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the concepts of sustainability and governance in relation to the governance of corporations – hence the ubiquity of the term corporate governance – and other bodies. It examines how these concepts are regularly used by politicians and by the media. The two concepts are however largely treated as being separate and discrete, and given equal coverage. The argument in this book is that the two concepts are inter-related and that good governance is a prerequisite for sustainability. The focus of the book therefore is different from most, as it seeks to integrate these two important issues. The approach used in this book is based on the tradition of the Social Responsibility Research Network – a worldwide body of scholars that, over its 20-year history, has sought to broaden the discourse and to treat all research as inter-related and business-relevant. The book examines diverse aspects of the changes to corporate and institutional behaviour that have recently manifested by focusing on these two aspects of sustainable development. Thus, the authors explore engagement and partnership between organisations, in order to consider the extent to which the focus has changed so much that we need to think about new approaches to our understanding of sustainability and differing effects in practice. The international mix of authors makes this an original contribution, sharing some of the best ideas from around the world.
Download or read book The Ocean Economy in 2030 written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2016-04-27 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report explores the growth prospects for the ocean economy, its capacity for future employment creation and innovation, and its role in addressing global challenges. Special attention is devoted to the emerging ocean-based industries.
Download or read book World Economic Outlook April 2016 written by International Monetary Fund. Research Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2016-04-12 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Major macroeconomic realignments are affecting prospects differentially across the world’s countries and regions. The April 2016 WEO examines the causes and implications of these realignments—including the slowdown and rebalancing in China, a further decline in commodity prices, a related slowdown in investment and trade, and declining capital flows to emerging market and developing economies—which are generating substantial uncertainty and affecting the outlook for the global economy. Additionally, analytical chapters examine the slowdown in capital flows to emerging market economies since their 2010 peak—its main characteristics, how it compares with past slowdowns, the factors that are driving it, and whether exchange rate flexibility has changed the dynamics of the capital inflow cycle—and assess whether product and labor market reforms can improve the economic outlook in advanced economies, looking at the recent evolution and scope for further reform, the channels through which reforms affect economic activity under strong versus weak economic conditions, reforms’ short- to medium-term macroeconomic effects, and sequencing of reforms and coordination with other policies to maximize their potential quantitative economic benefits. A special feature analyzes in depth the energy transition in an era of low fossil fuel prices.
Download or read book Online Activism in the Middle East written by Jon Nordenson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-03-17 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does the internet facilitate social and political change, or even democratization, in the Middle East? Despite existing research on this subject, there is still no consensus on the importance of social media and online platforms, or on how we are to understand their influence. This book provides empirical analysis of the day-to-day use of online platforms by activists in Egypt and Kuwait. The research evaluates the importance of online platforms for effecting change and establishes a specific framework for doing so. Egypt and Kuwait were chosen because, since the mid-2000s, they have been the most prominent Arab countries in terms of online and offline activism. In the context of Kuwait, Jon Nordenson examines the oppositional youth groups who fought for a constitutional, democratic monarchy in the emirate. In Egypt, focus surrounds the groups and organizations working against sexual violence and sexual harassment. Online Activism in the Middle East shows how and why online platforms are used by activists and identifies the crucial features of successful online campaigns. Egypt and Kuwait are revealed to be authoritarian contexts but where the challenges and possibilities faced by activists are quite different. The comparative nature of this research therefore exposes the context-specific usage of online platforms, separating this from the more general features of online activism. Nordenson demonstrates the power of online activism to create an essential 'counterpublic' that can challenge an authoritarian state and enable excluded groups to fight in ways that are far more difficult to suppress than a demonstration.
Download or read book Keeping the Faith in Exile Kuwait Coptic Orthodox Diasporic Spirituality written by Benjamin Daniel Crace and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2023-11-13 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few churches today can trace their lineage as far back as the Copts. Their ancient traditions and rituals go back as far as the very beginnings of Christianity. For centuries, they have withstood many trials and martyrdoms. But in the twentieth century, many Copts left their homeland and scattered all over the Earth, seeking prosperity and security. Many went to the West, but many others went to the heart of the Islamic world: the Arabian Gulf. They took their faith with them into this new and challenging environment. In this context, hybrid forms of spirituality emerged, anchored in the ancient practices but sharpened by contact with globalisation. This migrant spirituality characterises their stories and touches the heart of what it means to be a Christian sojourner today.
Download or read book Oil and the political economy in the Middle East written by Martin Beck and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2021-08-17 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The downhill slide in the global price of crude oil, which started mid-2014, had major repercussions across the Middle East for net oil exporters, as well as importers closely connected to the oil-producing countries from the Gulf. Following the Arab uprisings of 2010 and 2011, the oil price decline represented a second major shock for the region in the early twenty-first century – one that has continued to impose constraints, but also provided opportunities. Offering the first comprehensive analysis of the Middle Eastern political economy in response to the 2014 oil price decline, this book connects oil market dynamics with an understanding of socio-political changes. Inspired by rentierism, the contributors present original studies on Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The studies reveal a large diversity of country-specific policy adjustment strategies: from the migrant workers in the Arab Gulf, who lost out in the post-2014 period but were incapable of repelling burdensome adjustment policies, to Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon, who have never been able to fulfil the expectation that they could benefit from the 2014 oil price decline. With timely contributions on the COVID-19-induced oil price crash in 2020, this collection signifies that rentierism still prevails with regard to both empirical dynamics in the Middle East and academic discussions on its political economy.
