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Kuwait is eyeing major investment in its domestic market, with plans to launch a sovereign investment fund, to accelerate the growth of its own economy
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 17 Jul 2023
Kuwait is launching a sovereign investment fund to stimulate economic growth Credit: Canva
Kuwait is planning to launch its own sovereign investment fund, with the move designed to emulate the success of other countries in the Middle East by using major investments to stimulate economic growth in the domestic market.
Called the Ciyada Development Fund (CDF), the body aims to accelerate the growth of the Kuwaiti economy domestically, improve the quality of life for citizens, and promote advancements in various fields of development through strategic planning and effective execution of a series of ‘mega development’ projects.
Managed by the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the fund will complement an existing US$700bn (€623.2bn, £535.4bn) sovereign wealth fund, called the Future Generations Fund (FGF), which focuses on investments abroad and acts as a savings fund for the country.
According to the Kuwait government, the CDF will collaborate with both local and international private sector entities, with the goal of achieving progress and prosperity.
While nothing has specifically been named as investments for Kuwait. Tourism and attractions developments will be high on the list of mega projects as the country aims to reduce its dependency on the oil industry.
Other countries in the region have used sovereign wealth funds to great success.
Abu Dhabi in 2002 created the Mubadala Development Co to diversify the emirate's economy and accelerate development, which in the preceding years has seen tourism in particularly grow exponentially.
Saudi Arabia famously has the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has been used to fund a multitude of projects in the kingdom, tourism and major attractions among them.
For Saudi, these grand investments seem to be paying off. Under its 2030 Vision plan, the kingdom has set a target to hit 100 million visitors annually by 2030. In 2022 the country welcomed 77 million domestic travellers and 16.5 million international travellers – 93.5 million in total. As a result, the country’s tourism authority is planning to extend that figure beyond its original target.
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