VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Kuwait is one of the highest income countries on the planet. Nine Kuwaiti national companies, according to Forbes Middle East 2023, are included in the Top 100 companies with the best financial performance, namely Kuwait Finance House, National Bank of Kuwait, Zain corp., Agility, Boubyan Bank, Burgan Bank Group, Gulf Bank, Al- Tijari and Kuwait Projects Company (Holding).

Kuwait is currently striving to achieve the vision of New Kuwait 2035 as a finance and trade power in the Middle East. Quoted from Antara, there are 107 mega projects being developed throughout the 2023-2024 period. Kuwait seeks to achieve the vision of New Kuwait 2035 through collaboration and cooperation with friendly countries, one of which is Indonesia. “All countries are currently working based on long-term planning. Kuwait seeks to achieve the New Kuwait Vision 2035 through collaboration and cooperation between the two countries (Kuwait and Indonesia), including through investment, political and economic cooperation," said Abdullah Alfadhli, Chargé d'Affaires of the Kuwaiti Embassy to Voice of Indonesia in Jakarta (15/02).

Behind Kuwait's big plans to become the centre of economic power in the Middle East, Kuwait needs the presence of foreign workers considering that the number of Kuwaiti citizens is not large. According to data from the Kuwait Public Authority for Civil Information as of June 2022, the population of Kuwait is 4,464,427 people consisting of 1,502,138 Kuwaiti citizens (33.65%) and 2,962,289 foreign citizens (66.35%). "Another important aspect is coordination in human resource development between the two countries. Kuwait needs skilled and trained migrant workers from the Republic of Indonesia," continued Abdullah Alfadhli.

Quoting data from medcom.id, as of October 2023, 68 percent of the population in Kuwait are expatriates from various countries including India, Egypt, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Syria. Meanwhile, Indonesian workers, based on 2023 data, are still low, around 6,164 people out of a total of 2.9 million foreign workers in Kuwait.