Expedited system to help trigger business ‘boom’ in the country

Al-Hajraf meets Kuwaitis working at the World Bank

KUWAIT CITY, April 22, (Agencies): Kuwait has introduced a spate of measures to ensure a fair and conducive business environment that allows transactions to be completed in a timely manner, a pair of policymakers said on Sunday.

The expedited system has resulted in timely business procedures that had once been dogged by delays, Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Hussam Al-Roumi, flanked by the Kuwaiti Municipality’s Director General Ahmad AlManfouhi, pointed out in a meeting with His Highness the Amir.

With the changes in effect, the minister looked forward to large-scale development projects ultimately coming to fruition, naming Kuwait International Airport’s new terminal and a pedestrian promenade known as “Barayeh Salem” as examples.

Meanwhile, Al-Manfouhi said that Highness the Amir’s support serves as an incentive for more progress, citing key achievements the municipality has made in the last year.

In another development, Kuwait’s Minister of Finance Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf met on Sunday with citizens serving at the World Bank Group, examining their experience of working at this international high-profile level.

The minister, currently in Washington for partaking in the spring meetings of the group and the International Monetary Fund, expressed desire, in a statement to journalists, to broaden the cooperation further with the group to enhance the Kuwaiti human resources’ capacities.

The Kuwaitis have been working with the group, according to an agreement, inked in 2004.

The WB employs five Kuwaitis per year.

The government is working on a study to increase the salaries of employees working in certain state institutions in order to deal with the trend of employees resigning in the last three years, reports Al-Anba daily quoting ministerial sources.

According to an official document, a copy of which the daily managed to obtain, the number of resigned employees including senior officials in one state institution reached 350 during the period from 2015 to 2017. Almost 90 percent of them had resigned due to the low salaries compared to their counterparts in other state institutions.

Meanwhile, recent statistics issued by Central Statistical Bureau revealed that the average salary of Kuwaiti employees in the public sector is KD 1,475.

The average salary of female Kuwaiti employees is lower than that of male Kuwaiti employees. The average salary of Kuwaiti women is KD 1,264 and of Kuwaiti men is KD 1,758.

On the other hand, the average salary of expatriate employees of both genders in the public sector is KD 681. The average salary of male expatriate employees is KD 708 and of their female counterparts is KD 652.

In the private sector, the average salary of expatriate employees is KD 264, which is 60 percent lesser than the average salary offered in the public sector.

The average salary of Kuwaiti employees in the private sector is KD 1,093, which is 26 percent lesser than their counterparts in the public sector.