Employment Creation in an Oil-Based Economy: Kuwait

Abstract

If economic adjustment to lower oil revenues and the uncertainties created by the Iran Iraq war were the main constraints to Kuwait's growth in the 1980s, reconstruction from the Iraqi invasion, economic diversification and generating productive employment opportunities for a Kuwaiti population less dependent on foreign workers are the challenges of the 1990s. Development priorities for the remainder of the 1990s will include: reconstruction, mobilizing private sector resources, economic diversification and the creation of jobs for the growing number of young nationals coming into the labor market from universities. It is anticipated that rebuilding the economy will take between five to ten years.