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4 The Investor

Investor Briefs

The IMF view on Kuwait
GCC corporate investors Kuwait is well positioned to contain the im-
pact of lower oil prices. Large financial buffers
44% of all GCC corporate investors are based in the and low debt provide policy space to imple-
United Arab Emirates, reports Arabnet. ment the necessary fiscal consolidation grad-
ually, while increasing public investment to
******* support growth. In addition, the financial sec-
GCC Growth Forecast tor has remained sound and credit conditions
are favorable. In light of this, non-oil growth is
By 2020 the Gulf Cooperation Council population is projected to rebound to about 4 percent over
forecast to reach 53.5m, a 30% increase over the level the medium term, supported by the country’s
in 2000. Over the same period, the region’s real GDP ongoing five-year Development Plan. The fis-
is expected to grow by 56%. Nominal GDP, which cal and external positions are also projected to
was US$341.6bn in 2000, is forecast to soar to over improve as adjustment proceeds and oil prices
US$1trn in 2010 and US$2 trillion in 2020, reports the gradually recover.
Economist Intelligence Unit.

Kuwait’s explosive Creative Industries
Creative Industries (CI) are gaining recognition as wait’s CI base isn’t far behind that of other high-in-
an important generator of jobs, knowledge, and come, fast developing economies. The sector has
economic prosperity. The World Bank Group es- about 35,000 individuals and generates hundreds
timates that the creative industry contributes as of millions of Kuwaiti dinars in output and in Gross
much as 7% to global GDP, with an expected Value Added products. This makes it one of the
growth rate of about 10% a year. The consultancy largest non-oil sectors in Kuwait, equivalent to
group McKinsey sees the Middle East and North 24% of the value of the non-oil manufacturing sec-
Africa (MENA) as the region where the industry tor and 72% of the business services’ sector.
is currently growing most. Also known as “the
creative economy” or “cultural industries,” these Market research carried out by the Lattanzio Con-
are the businesses that commercialize creativity, sortium for Kuwait’s National Fund for SME de-
expression, and skills — and they include design, velopment (KNF) says the industry has already
media, and the arts. reached a considerable size — about 1.5 times
that of food and beverages manufacturing, 5 times
Despite the limited initiatives offered for working in that of machinery manufacturing, and 8 times that
the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) space, Ku- of plastics.
Fine Arts DATA Science
Art Organizations Big Data
Arts Venues Big Sensor
Interactive Arts Embedded Computing
Museums, Galleries Pervasive Computing
Music Telecommunications
Performing Arts
Visual Arts Creative Industry
Support Services
Software & Hardware Consulting
Augemented Reality Corporate R&D
Education Technology Co-Working Spaces
Health IT/ Medical Devices Government R&D
Mobile Applications Incubator / Accelerators
Responsive Environments Post Secondary Education
Robotics Professional Societies
Software Development Selected Business Services

Issue 1 October 2017