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Kuwait

Kuwait Vision 2035 Film

As promised, here is the video I spoke about yesterday morning on Kuwait’s vision for 2035. The video is pretty long at 23 minutes so if you want to skip to the interesting parts forward to minute 13:48. Just to give you an idea of how large Bubiyan Island is, Manhattan New York is 87 square kilometres while Bubiyan is 863 square kilometres. It’s literally ten times larger so you can imagine how wasted the space is right now.

Watching the video gives me the impression that fixing Kuwait is going to be such a difficult task that they decided it might be easier to just build a new Kuwait from scratch on Bubiyan. I’m curious to know if alcohol be legal on the islands? My guess it would have to be if they’re hoping to attract tourism. [YouTube]

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99 replies on “Kuwait Vision 2035 Film”

Mark why do you mention alcohol. Are you a chemistry teacher? Kuwait is a muslim country for Islam to be practiced and respected and alcoholic drinks are haram in the religion.
Its like no one taught you manners and etiquette only to promote double standards you find in your everyday life here in Kuwait.
Very disappointing!

im just saying, as a muslim, whether alcohol is haram or not is debatable.

Mark who is a citizen of the country, as are many others who would like to not pay 65 kd + for alcohol from a dude who comes to your house in a shady car or what not.

Also watered down alchol can be bad for your health as is the opposite binge drinking or drunk driving which cost the country and citizens millions in healthcare or ins some cases their lives, this happens in part due to the lack of education or ability to enjoy in a secure enviroment without the look or feeling of disdain.

Also as a muslim its considered the greater jihad or if you want you can get more hasanat to live your life among the things you are not allowed to have and stay true to your beliefs. right?

lol? there is a pretty big black market for alcohol in Kuwait. With VAT being implemented in 2-3 years, it would lose out on potential revenue. Not to mention tourism too

You worship and believe in something that people wrote at a time when they stoned and burned people alive for being so called heretics, written to keep the masses subservient, and you call yourself civilized? How ironic.

PREACH!!!! Only in Kuwait is calling someone a sheep a good insult. I love it.

Bring the booze. If you don’t like it don’t drink it.

The sad thing about this is that, on paper, it makes perfect sense. The islands have been wasted for decades and the country needs a change to revitalize the economy. Also, to boost morale. The past few years have been a stark contrast into Kuwait’s social problems. The people are bitter that nothing is happening to the country while everybody is at least making efforts unthinking about a life without oil, so we blame expats because it is easier than blaming the government due to living in country run by constitutional monarchy. I have a strong belief that this can be achieved. However, I also know this could just be a front to divert the attention for another few years before we forget this ever really happened. I for one am hoping for the prior.

Okay, just saw this:

Trust me Kuwait will be fine once we get rid of the likes of Mark who mooch off of it.

Forget what i said.

I for one don’t want to see this to happen. All this expansion will turn Kuwait to another Dubai but with an inefficient government. Becoming a tourist hub will just bloat the foreign population at the expense of citizens.
I am all for expats working in Kuwait, but being an even smaller minority in your own country will never be ok.
They need to invest that money in overhauling the entire education system, better teachers, better universities with actual research capabilities and purpose. And a health system with universal insurance like Qatar has to be implemented here.
The aim of development is to create more jobs for nationals not to create jobs you know they will never take, that’s Kuwait should be a research and health services.
Kuwait isn’t going anywhere without political & educational reform.

You’re not providing a valid argument. I don’t even know why I’m answering you.

Kuwait is nothing like Dubai. Kuwait is full of local people, which is actually an attracting point to expats; who want to experience a different culture than theirs. Kuwaitis fill up every social and public events, so there really isn’t any fear of them being a minority. At least, not more than they are right now. We are at a place where locals and expats contribute equally to the attractiveness of living here.

I do agree with you that we need a better educational system. However, I feel the teachers are talented and professional enough to deliver what’s needed; it’s just the problem lies with the outdated curriculum. Make it more practical and in line with economic forecast needs. That should cover our current educational deficit.

You jump from education to health. And that’s very confusing. I’ve always thought of our health system as, more or less equal to, world class. I definitely do not see the private sector as a comparable equal to the public one. Nor would I want to be treated there in case of a real medical need.

Unless you’re suggesting we be a proxy provider to other world rated health facilities, then your point is not that valid. Yes, we can provide excellent proxy medical services, filled by visiting world class doctors, and backed up with the most technologically advanced machines and teams. Yes, many people would love to be treated here than abroad. Especially, when equal standards and staff is assured.

I don’t know if you intentionally meant to add the research jobs, especially in the health sector. But come on, that will never ever be possible with the limited number of people we have here. It’s just a matter of relative percentage to people. We don’t have a high enough percentage,

That doesn’t mean we can’t contribute in other industries. Especially the financial services, human services, and the like.

All aid, your point in Kuwait being a minority repressed people is not possible. In addition, expats do and continue to provide excellent and necessary additions to us locals; without overtaking us local people.

I am talking about what will happen if they try to build a tourist industry here, not about the present situation. And I’m just giving the broad strokes on alternatives to tourism, I do not want to get into details because I’m not an expert.
As for our health system, it’s far from world class as I witnessed firsthand. Look into what Qatar is trying to accomplish; I think it might be a very good system. It encourages private hospitals.
And Kuwaitis don’t need to be the majority in the health or research sector, they can augment the workforce. That’s after they overhaul the education system, and the results of that effort start to show, I think there will no shortage of qualified Kuwaitis to take up those jobs. And those jobs will seem decent enough for them, unlike working in a tourism industry. The goal of development is provide adequate employment for citizens, and not end up over-employing them because they don’t want to other jobs which they deem unacceptable and then bring in more expats.
As for the state of the education system, the curriculum is adequate. But the number of students who retain any knowledge going into university indicates a problem with teaching methods. And I think poor parenting and lack of pressure to perform well play a big role in many students’ underwhelming performance as well.

I really have no problem with the current number of expats but to see it grow is not the right decision.

How is he mooching off of it ? He pays for his residency + health insurance + house rent + car loan and pays for his own food believe it or not!
BY THE WAY, salaries here in kuwait ain’t shit, compared to other gulf countries, so expats aren’t really benefiting as much as people like you think.
If anything, they’ve made this piece of desert to be the semi-decent-livable place that it is today, otherwise you and your people wouldn’t have been reaping off the benefits.

seriously, the balls on this guy and every other entitled local who think that we should be kissing their asses and feet for “allowing” us to live here!!!

Do you mean the likes of who registers in private companies to get the labour benefits and sits home doing f***all?

Or the ones who get married then divorced again just to receive the divorcee governmental benefits?

Or the ones who go abroad on a scholarships and end up working abroad for good and never came back here to build this country?

Foreigners don’t do this type of s***. We do.

Now, get over yourself

Well in that case then Mark should stay, and we should get rid of many others who are mooching off the country (Kuwaitis and expats).

This is never gonna happen, not as long as the vast majority of citizens elect religious MPs who will not allow alcohol. The only MP who was honest about the issue died recently.
Anyone remember when a popular religious figure on twitter called for a religious protest on Kubbar Island over all the partying that went on there.
Nothing will change as long as Kuwaitis remain in the mindset of religious conservatism fueled by dependency on the government and it’s shrinking oil revenues.

Only the video mentions that the islands will be free zones with independent laws, so that obstacle is at least removed.

Most MPs in parliament aren’t โ€œreligiousโ€. the Islamists boycotted the elections and they’re outside the parliament. I think you’ve got it mixed up.

Alcohol is a taboo in our society. Culturally we are Muslims. MPs oppose legalizing it because they’re typical Kuwaitis. No matter where you are in the world, average ordinary Muslims don’t drink alcohol or support its legalization.

I think you’re conflating โ€œcultural Muslimsโ€ with โ€œIslamistsโ€. Religious MPs are Islamists, who are the people that espouse religiosity and actively promote it. While most MPs in parliament are simply typical Kuwaitis. No one wants to break the taboo.

Well they are conservative at various degrees, however their stances on alcohol are costing this country serious tourism income.

What income? At the cost of making Kuwaitis less than 10% of the population? cos that’s how tourism operates in the GCC. And what about the cost of sustaining all those new expats? There are other sources of income.

These expats you hate bring more to the economy than take from it.Hell a lot of the redundant jobs Kuwaitis have are available due to the increase in size this economy has thanks to the number of expats.

The Gulf needs expats, we live in a desert that has for hundreds of years been an underpopulated backwater of the Middle East. The Gulf and expats are wedded for life deal with it.

Expats arent refugees or migrants, they are professionals who provide to society and the economy and can sustain themselves.

I don’t hate expats. In fact I’m all for giving a great number of them permanent residency. What I don’t want is for expats to be 90% of the population. Tourism is not the only way to provide jobs. All the jobs it will provide for Kuwaitis are more of the same government service jobs. Kuwait can be a center for scientific research and health treatment. It’s easily done with the money they will use on those islands.
All we need is competent people in charge.

Yes, blame everything on “religious” MPs! Do you understand that most Kuwaitis are religious and don’t want to see alcohol freely sold here? Democracy is a bitch when it doesn’t work for you. So just pick one, democracy (paraplegic Kuwaiti flavor) or booze.

Just how “religious” are they? Is it only regarding the banning of alcohol? or do they also want to impose Sharia Law like, in Saudi Arabia?

If you ask me, pseudo-liberals have done as much damage to the politics of this country as Islamists. They forever tarnished the image of true liberalism in Kuwait. All they care about is how women dress and that people can party, just like Islamists. When it comes to defend actual civil liberties, they are nowhere to be found.

How people dress and whether they can party is called their lifestyle choice and its a part of a grand ideal called individual liberty.

Something this country needs to learn about sorely.

I have two thoughts about the video:

1. The most important thing mentioned in the video is that the island will be a FREE ZONE with INDEPENDENT AND SEPARATE laws. This alone gives the project a chance of success.
2. If only 5% – 10% of what’s in the video is actually implement it, I would consider it a great success.

I always thought the land on Boubyan was not suitable for any construction because it was too muddy

That said, this film is waaaaaay too ambitious. I’ll be happy with 10% of it but if our leadership is serious and all the right players are in place it could happen and who knows it could finally be a rallying point for everyone who lives here.

A guy can dream ๐Ÿ™‚

I read few comments talking about how the island should be its own country kind of thing and have its own laws and rules. well, if that’s the case, most of “those” citizens will just move there so they practice all the haram they want with no restrains (I’m totally aware that’s the amount of corruption in the country is already enough for them to still do all the haram and get away with it)

And yeah, who made the video? if anyone knows please tell me!

How is drinking, an effectively victimless crime, considered corruption. Corruption is all the various sources of wasta that plague this country not someone minding their own business and enjoying a drink.

It is a crime to your own body and state of mind. How many crimes and accidents occurred as a results of drinking in Kuwait (just Kuwait)? Anyways, and by corruption yes I meant exactly what you said and that’s by the fact that people with tittles and power are the ones who allowing this corruption to increase.

Legislate laws to prevent others from harm like harsh drinking and driving laws. But banning something outright especially something as wide spread as alcohol is stupid and counter productive.

Yet time and time again I have seen these laws (in other countries) broken and many people killed from others who were drunk.

So the aftermath is okay? I don’t see any logic at letting others killing them selves and harming everyone around them just because I have no control over them I can at least be effective as possible not to ignore the issue. Okay they have a choice but that’s why there is educational ads and campaigns. Anyways, to each their own I guess

What makes you their god, who are you to decide what people do with their lives. Many countries now are legalizing assisted suicide. Its called individual liberty, no one has the right to tell you what to do with your body, as long as it doesn’t harm others.

You talk about all of that as if it’s the right thing. In our religion Allah (god) never said it’s okay for these people to do whatever they want and abuse their bodies and lives.. At least for our religion we believe in that we are responsible for the safety of our bodies and sanity of our minds so we never harm others and ourselves, where the new world bs is just trying to legalize everything even suicide as you mentioned which is beyond comprehending. Anyways, if you’re not aware yet Kuwait is a Muslim country but still as corrupted and f’ed up as any other since corruption is spread in the entire world. At least there is people who try.

Kindly keep your religion to yourself, you dont wanna ‘corrupt’ your body and mind then go right ahead. I would like to have the freedom of drinking a glass of corruption once in a while, prefrebally with a lime wedge on the side.

No development in this country will happen till you realise that the rest of the world won’t flock to Kuwait, while your narrow zealous mindset is in the majority. We will all be stuck in an economy that is heavily dependent on a dwindling fossil fuel.

You must be so happy in your life to depend on a glass of whatever you drink so it makes you feel better about your life. I mean, you are in Kuwait aren’t you? Pathetic.

@fantailfan
“Its called individual liberty, no one has the right to tell you what to do with your body, as long as it doesnโ€™t harm others.”
That is true, but alcohol usage has a huge potential in harming others.

Hmmm! If you don’t like it then don’t have it. Alcohol is legal at ‘N’ number of places including Qatar/Bahrain/UAE/Egypt/Oman. Talking only about alcohol here, not drugs such as cannabis/hashish/cocaine (Sorry! my vocabulary is limited). My 2 cents … plz continue.

The thing that no one ever seem to care about or understand that the law of prohibiting alcohol and drugs or whatever.. is derived from the Islamic Sharia law.. Because our Shaikh and all of the previous ones believe and care about never legalizing alcohol, drugs and prostitution so they are at a clean slate in front of Allah. But oh well, as I mentioned before .. these things unfortunately happen anyways but in fact they are prohibited if we look at the laws of the country. It’s just out of hand..

“never legalizing alcohol” it was legal earlier. You stand to loose on your share of tourism for that and added discrimination on visit visas.

Making something illegal doesn’t mean people refrain from doing it. Kuwait, all Islamic and whatnot, is filled with alcohol, drugs, prostitution, corruption, and a variety of other ‘forbidden’ activities.

Muslimms, like all other religious people, have a choice. Legalizing alcohol doesn’t mean it’s going to be poured down your throats. Haram? Don’t do it.

So you’re pretty much saying that if someone wanna kill themselves, I bring him a knife? And that how I perceive it if we ever actually legalize alcohol and such ..
Yes there is alcohol and drugs and all kind of illegal stuff.. but they are slid under the table which is just another issue.

No. I’m saying if someone wants to kill himself and knives are illegal, he’s going to find one anyway. Calling something ‘forbidden’ and making it illegal often only creates a stronger desire to obtain it. Perhaps one that wasn’t there to begin with.

This is a good point. the highest elevation on Bubyan island is 3 meters above sea level. Projections say that sea level will raise by 1 meter by the end of the century. This means that a large chunk of the island will become submerged.

People still believe in global warming? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Noooooooooooooooooooo comment! I’m glad I got educated ๐Ÿ™‚

Just build the new airport !…. that is going to take at least 7 years to complete after the first spade is moved !!!

YES! This. The airport here is abysmal, and easily 25% the size it needs to be. The parking system alone is tragic. All three levels of the garage with cars in a slow twist until one person leaves and you get lucky. Not to mention no designated rental car return…it’s just…so bad. Maybe good in the 90’s…or 80’s…but so bad.

It better have its own administration, away from the Parlamint and Kuwait’s municipality bureaucracy.

Laws should be more open, allowing alcohol, night life,and more freedom for music and art concerts.

Otherwise it won’t stand a chance in competing with Qatar, Dubai, Abu-Dhabi or even Bahrain.

This video just proves in what a hypocrite of a country we’re living in.

1- when mentioning countries such as Luxembourg, Singapore, Hong Kong all of them are independent. I highly doubt Kuwait will ever let this so called project thrive on its own. An example of this the fifa scandal they won’t even let sports alone so do you expect them not to meddle with such a project without any influence?!

2- they say we are in an economic crises with no money to spare, so how will such a huge project be funded? I mean look at Dubai, they were indebted by building just one tower burj khalifa, so how will Kuwait build 5 islands?!

3- they mention that in the past 13 years the government had huge ‘expenses’ and so the island will be mainly run by private companies: so my question is: is this a subtle way of admitting our government is corrupt?

This is not a solution for our economic crises burying our problem with more problems!

Dream on kuwait.

1- FIFA scandal is done by corrupt current KFA, everyone wants to remove this cancer from office not only the government.

2- Kuwait has almost trillion in funds ready for investments (Kuwait Investment Authority), they can build 5 versions of Dubai if they want.

3- Nah its the parliament that has been holding back everything in this country from going forward.

*almost $600 Billion* But yeah I get your point. The fact is we need The government to work TOGETHER not just with each other but to work with the private sector in order to pull this together.

The ~ $600 billion number rending on the web, is highly underestimated, as KIA never revealed their real numbers. I’ve seen economics discussing the accumulative surplus of the past 20 years, and the number is close if not exceed 1 trillion dollar . Anyway that’s not the issue.

Really cool looking video. It would be great to see even just Failaka get a modern sweep. As for the alcohol – it’s got to give sooner or later. They need it here legally. Regulate it like in Dubai, put it just in hotels, or something like that. It works in other Muslim countries, it can and will work here.

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