Kuwait is set to spend about KD4.74 billion ($15.6 billion) on infrastructure and other projects in fiscal year 2017-2018 with the private sector contributing 16.9 per cent of the spend, said a report in a local daily.

The projects cover housing, roads, electricity, ports, airports, telecommunications and renewable energy, the Arabic newspaper Al Anba reported, quoting Dr Khaled Mahdi, the secretary general of the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development.

The government will contribute 49.3 per cent of the investments, revealed Dr Mahdi.

Around 33.8 per cent will be spent by the state-owned oil sector, while 16.9 per cent will be spent by the private sector within a public-private partnership (PPP) programme, he said.

“The 2017-2018 Development Plan, which is part of the second Five-Year Plan, includes projects intended to diversify the income sources, develop the tourism sector and increase investment flows,” he added.

He said the development plans and projects will be undertaken under the motto “New Kuwait” and foreign investors and the private sector will be invited to be involved in these plans.

Among the strategic projects outlined in the 2017-18 plan are the Sabah Al-Salem University City; Zour refinery; clean energy; Kuwait Airport expansion, Terminal 2; Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Bridge; South Al Mutlaa City; New Sabah Hospital; new buildings at Farwaniya Hospital; a new building at Adan Hospital; Sheikh Saad Al Aballah Islamic Centre in Jahra; and the Kuwait Centre for Rare Manuscripts and Publications.