The Kuwait government is set to establish a $200 million fund for technology investments according to comments from its deputy prime minister and foreign minister.
Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah told an Arab Economic Summit that the fund was part of an initiative to “embrace the digital economy”.
The minister also said that Kuwait would contribute $50 million with the remaining capital to come from the private sector.
News of the tech fund comes after rating agency Standard & Poor’s affirmed Kuwait’s AA/A-1+ long and short term foreign and local currency sovereign credit rating and issued a stable outlook.
“The stable outlook reflects our expectation that Kuwait’s public and external balance sheets will remain strong over the next two years, primarily underpinned by sizeable foreign assets accumulated in the country’s sovereign wealth fund,” the report said.
“This should partially mitigate risks related to Kuwait’s undiversified oil-dependent economy and rising geopolitical tensions in the region.”
©2019 funds global mena