An insight into Kuwait

Its been 5 days since my arrival in Kuwait. I was pretty keen on this visit as it provided me an opportunity to know more about the middle east countries. In fact the visit enabled me to know more than expected. I would like to share my thoughts over here.

Kuwait is an oil rich country. The country has world’s 5th largest oil reserves which contribute close to 80% to the government revenue. They have the highest Human development index in the Arab world (31st in the world, India has a rank of 134). The per capita income is US$60,800 (Rs 28 lakhs appr) making it the 5th richest country in the world. It has a population of 30 lakhs and 60-70% population comprises of expatriates from Asia (Indian population in Kuwait is 6 lakh), other Arab countries and Palestinians.

Any gulf country whether its UAE, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Kuwait have all excellent infrastructure in terms of 6 to 8 lane roads, huge buildings, uninterrupted power supply, very good per capita income and Kuwait is no exception. We met few Indians who have worked the hard way to set up industries over here and have employed many Indians. You can find lots of Asians (Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Indonesians, Malaysians) working across different levels. But majority of them are employed by locals here for jobs which include house maids, hotel waiters, chefs, cleaners, drivers. At a lower level an employee earns some 100 KD(Kuwaiti Dinar) per month which is roughly equivalent to 16000Rs in India (1KD= 160Rs). A mid level employee earns 200-400 KD (32000 – 60000Rs). Majority of them work here for 9 to 10 months an year and take leave for few months to return to their country and come back. Very few come with their family (low and midlevel employees) to Kuwait as the cost of living is very high over here. I just went through a newspaper and got to know that a MRI scan will cost some 30000Rs which is exorbitantly high.

The country for a population of 30 lak has 10 lak vehicles. You can hardly find any bikes. Infact I just found 4 two wheelers during my stay here. Cars and SUVs dominate the roads. All are high end vehicles. Sometimes I wonder how companies like GM or Chrysler can file for bankruptcy given the number of high end cars in Gulf :-)

Kuwaitis speak Arabic. Islamic laws are in place but it is not certainly as rigid as UAE. People here say the country is liberal next only to Dubai. Kuwait gave permission for women to vote a few years back and last year a few women got elected to Parliament. On the Valentine ‘s day I read an article in a local daily conveying that its not wrong to celebrate Valentine’s day. That’s a good progress. Alcohol is banned in Kuwait.

Kuwait was completely annexed by Saddam led Iraqi forces in 1990. They also set most of the oil wells on fire before US intervened to help Kuwait. I was discussing the issue with one of the locals here and he made an interesting comparision between Kuwait and Iraq. Both are oil rich countries. When it comes to sharing of revenues with the common man Kuwait is different from Iraq. Saddam never gave it back to his citizens where as Kuwait did. Saddam had a 1 million army for a population of 3 crore which is very huge (Indians for a population of 100 plus crores have 1.5 million people serving in navy, army and air force). He gave an account on the poverty in Iraq when he said that during the invasion of Kuwait a soldier of Iraq barged into a shopping mall and was struggling to open a perfume bottle. At the end he broke the bottle and smeared it all over his body. It might be an isolated incident but it did convey a silent message.

Coming to the cost of living factor, a tea / coffee at a decent hotel cost 50 – 60 Rs. Lunch ranges from 200 Rs to 1000Rs. Phone calls are costly as well. Per minute call to India is around 35Rs. Hotels don’t serve water. We need to purchase water every time.:-)There are good number of Indian restaurants which are good and economical as well.

We visited Kuwait Towers which is a symbol of hope for the people of this region. It is stunning. One can have a spectacular view of the entire city from the top of the tower. The city sleeps late and the shopping malls will be opened till midnight.

These are my few observations on Kuwait. Thanks for the patient reading..