The Cabinet and His Highness the Prime Minister should reflect on this question. Instead of hindering the livelihoods of citizens and imposing restrictions on factory owners, farmers, and investors with usufruct rights, would it not be more effective to implement a strategic incentive plan? Such a plan would encourage greater investment in all sectors and stimulate the national economy.
This question is particularly relevant at a time when Kuwait appears to be moving backward, while its Gulf counterparts and many other countries are actively supporting business. These countries grant investors and industrialists extensive facilities to boost national production, expand the domestic economy, and reduce burdens. This support encourages increased local investment by enabling the development of projects through the adoption of the latest technology and innovation in industry and other fields.
A recent health insurance regulation issued by the Ministry of Health in the past two days is expected by its drafters to generate hundreds of millions for the treasury. However, this measure is likely to be counterproductive and may further fuel inflation. The added cost will compel workers to demand higher wages, prompting manufacturers to raise product prices. Ultimately, this will negatively affect consumers, who may reduce their spending as a result. Raising fees will increase costs for businesses, such as factories and institutions, whether they employ 100 or 200 workers, as this change affects all economic sectors.
This directly impacts consumers by reducing purchasing power and increasing the cost of living. When fees on imported goods or services are raised, this typically leads to higher final prices, thereby limiting what individuals can afford to buy. The national economy is being harmed by several factors. Recently, the suspension of licenses for industrial, agricultural, and service-related land has become a major concern, often triggered when owners are only one or two months late in paying fees. These lands were initially an undeveloped desert, and the current beneficiaries are the ones who took the initiative to develop and cultivate them by establishing essential factories, farms, and service facilities. Should these individuals not be acknowledged and rewarded for their contributions rather than being penalized? Allowing these lands to revert to desert status cannot be the path to genuine economic stimulation.
Many Gulf countries actively incentivize industrialists in relation to usufruct rights. Saudi Arabia, for example, has frozen land plot fees for five years and offered numerous additional benefits to investors, successfully spurring industrial development and attracting foreign investment. The UAE, Oman, and Bahrain have adopted similar approaches. In stark contrast, Kuwait maintains strict, and even increasingly obstructive, regulations on usufruct rights. This restrictive policy negatively impacts all business sectors and can lead to serious operational challenges, such as delays in meeting monthly obligations, including salary payments. Internationally, in both developed and developing nations, fee structures are designed to encourage production, as the core objective is to diversify state revenue streams.
These fees are typically structured to facilitate, not hinder, industrialists, farmers, and service providers. Land plots are sold to investors and beneficiaries, which is fundamentally different from the situation here, where severe penalties are imposed merely for delays in rental payments. Your Highness, Your Excellencies, we must revisit the fundamental question - why not ease the burden on both investors and the general public to stimulate economic growth, in line with the practices of other Gulf nations? Your Highness, would a more effective strategy not be to incentivize productivity and profitability, allowing the state to share in success through annual taxation or revenue participation? Why pursue a demotivating approach when more constructive and effective alternatives are available? The current system for restaurants and entertainment venues operating under usufruct rights creates significant instability. Each year brings anxiety for owners, who often silently pray, “May Allah help us make it through the next year.”
This situation exists because usufruct licenses are issued strictly on an annual basis, leaving businesses constantly exposed to legal action or closure over even minor violations. The government should either sell the land to the current occupants or grant long-term extensions of usufruct rights, such as 50-year licenses, while imposing reasonable taxes. Similarly, in areas such as the Shuwaikh Industrial Area, the land should either be sold to the current beneficiaries or the commercial revenue shared with them. Current government procedures are ineffective, yielding minimal benefit and contributing little to the national economy. The government must put an end to these manipulative and counterproductive practices. Instead, the land should be sold through manageable installment plans, or the rental income should be distributed fairly.
