Kuwait is set to witness high economic growth driven by continuing high oil prices and the returns from the capital investments. Speakers at MEED's Kuwait Conference 2008 discussed the business environment in Kuwait and the various potentials and challenges it faces. Growth in Kuwait will be mainly led by the financial (with Islamic banking towards outperforming traditional markets), real estate and construction sectors.

"Every dollar spent in Kuwait will generate $60, Faisal Hassan, Head of Research at Global Investment House, indicated."

Kuwait's real GDP remains one of the highest in the world, with numbers showing steady growth, rising from 3% in 2002 to 11.3 % in 2006. Kuwait enjoys also a per capita GDP that is considered high by global standards ($32.015 in 2006).

We have seen Dubai grab attention with a number of large mega projects, but Kuwait is in the early stages of its own. Being one of the gulf's richest countries, Kuwait has opportunities to diversify away from being oil dependent. With its political situation now stable, there is a general feeling in Kuwait that its time is now coming.

Property growth in Kuwait is getting better and the outlook for the future is extremely positive. At the same time, Kuwait is investing money into the construction of a city that it hopes will become a world centre of finance and trade. Kuwait's market has moved from being a momentary boom to a long term viable investment.

At the same time that the property market is maturing and getting healthier, the government plans to take a lot of its oil money and use it in the construction of the City of Silk. The city is going to cost the government of Kuwait a cool $77 billion and will be built between 2008 and 2030. At the current moment in time, it is projected that the city will be occupied by 750,000 people upon completion. The main goal for the City of Silk in the eyes of the Kuwaiti government is to make the city into one of the world's leading trade centers, although they wouldn't mind getting a fair bit of secondary income from tourism as well.

The Kuwaiti cabinet approved the state budget for the next fiscal year, projecting record revenues and government spending as well as a sizeable deficit. Based on particularly conservative oil price forecasts, the budget illustrates the state of the economy and the government's mindset. Projected revenues for fiscal year 2008, which begins April 1, are estimated at $46.4bn, up 52.8% on the 2007 year's projections.

Kuwait plans to spend 51 billion dollars over the next five years to upgrade its vital energy sector which generates 95 percent of its revenue, a top oil executive said Monday.

"We plan projects worth 51 billion dollars for upstream and downstream projects in the oil sector... up until early 2013," said Saad al-Shuwaib, Chief Executive Officer of national conglomerate Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC).

Major upcoming projects in Kuwait include: Zamil Glass, a business unit of Zamil Industrial and the prominent processor of architectural glass serving contractors and end users in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the GCC region, has been awarded several prestigious projects in Kuwait with a combined value of SAR 20 million (USD 5.3 million). Agility began executing the Dining Facilities (DFAC) contract, awarded by the U.S. Army Contracting Command Southwest Asia - Kuwait.  The potential three year contract, with a one-year base period and two one-year options, is worth up to US$ 127 million over the total term of service. Al Fajer Retakaful Insurance Company KSCC (Al Fajer Re), announced their launch with a paid up capital KD 50million (US$178.5 million) the first retakaful company licensed in Kuwait and the largest global Retakaful company. With confusion reigning supreme over some aspects of the build operate transfer (BOT) law in Kuwait, the government has made few changes. The law will increase the number of years that the development could be run by the building company from 20 years to 25 to 40 years depending on the type of project that was constructed, amongst other things. 3M Telecommunication division have won a series of major structured cabling projects in Kuwait through its integrators Siemens and Al Diwan. 3M have recently won projects to implement its pioneering systems throughout numerous Kuwaiti projects, including: The American University of Kuwait, the Mazaya Tower, the Kuwait Center of Research, the Ameery and National Guard Headquarters, the Kuwait National Library and the Al Khiran Resort. Harris has been awarded an order from Gulf Media Company, a leading systems integrator in the Middle East, for the build-out of a new archive facility for Kuwait Television in Kuwait City, Kuwait. The Kuwait Television archive project will be the first facility of its kind in the region. Al-Madina Real Estate Development Company is marketing 58 residences as part of the second and third phases of Al-Madina Marine Villas in Al-Khairan city, Kuwait. In a press statement, the firm's Chairman and Managing-Director Abdulziz Al-Binali said those villas will be offered during the Real Estate World Exhibition organized by Kuwait Expo in Salwa Al-Sabah Ballroom at Marina Hotel in March. Sheikha Hessa Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, Deputy Chairperson of Woman Affairs Committee of the Kuwaiti Cabinet, announced the launch of a women's empowerment program in Kuwait and called on the private sector to contribute to this national project.