Kuwait ushers in new dawn

20 February 2014

Projects market has under-performed compared with Kuwait’s neighbours. Government has a rare opportunity to move forward with its plans

With more than $92bn-worth of projects in the planning or bidding stage, Kuwait should be offering significant opportunities for the region’s contractors, but has so far failed to live up to expectations.

The under-performance of Kuwait’s projects market becomes clear when compared with its neighbours. Between 2009 and 2013, Kuwait awarded $31bn-worth of major contracts across all sectors, less than half the value of contracts in the UAE and a quarter of the $130bn awarded in Saudi Arabia. Qatar too edges Kuwait into fourth place in the GCC’s projects market.

But there are signs that Kuwait is starting to turn things around. The award of $12bn-worth of contracts for the Clean Fuels Project is welcome news to anyone working in Kuwait’s engineering and construction sectors.

The scheme has faced considerable delays since its inception, so the speed of the award, announced just over a month after receiving bids, is a sign that Kuwait is moving in the right direction. Contractors are now waiting for tenders for the New Refinery Project, another giant refining scheme, worth an estimated $14bn.

But the confidence in Kuwait’s project market should not be overstated. Contractors continue to view the country with guarded optimism and they have reason to be sceptical, following the state’s high-profile false starts. Examples abound of giant schemes that have stalled for years, some even after being awarded and construction begun.

It would be easy to blame Kuwait’s problems on its raucous National Assembly, which takes every opportunity to block what it sees as wasteful public spending. But the government must also share some of the responsibility. Ministers now have a rare opportunity to push ahead with their plans unhindered by the opposition, which boycotted the last elections and lost some of its voice. Whether this lasts long enough to translate into real progress on Kuwait’s infrastructure schemes will be

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