It's hard to believe it been almost 17 years since the invasion (and harder to believe it's been that long since I was at University) but I found the above poster today - we were DC-based students working with Citizens For A Free Kuwait at the time.
We fought hard for the liberation, we went to war, we had high aspirations for rebuilding an even better Kuwait. We are still waiting.
According to the World Economic Forum's "network readiness index" Kuwait dropped eight places from number 46 to 54. The UAE (29) led the way in terms of information and technology among the Gulf countries, with Qatar (36) making the most inroads this year, but Bahrain (50) and others suffered as well (LINK).
Kuwait is now the lowest ranked among the Gulf countries.
Click HERE for Country Rankings.
Click HERE for WEF's Global Information Technology Report.
An excerpt:
The Gulf Arab countries may be rich, but when it comes to exploiting technology to be more competitive, they're falling behind rivals in Asia, Europe and Africa.The Gulf countries consume a lot of technology: Internet and mobile phone penetration is high. But several factors pull down their scores, including poor educational systems. There's also a shortage of scientists and engineers. And bureaucracy is suffocating while judicial independence is lacking.
The Arab technological slide sends worrying signals about the future of the currently booming economies, which include Dubai, now considered the fastest-growing city in the world.
Adoption of the latest technology is critical for fast-developing countries like those in the Persian Gulf, where leaders are trying to diversify beyond oil and gas exports.
Gulf investors are too interested in a quick profit, and they're not building institutions that allow technology to flourish.The technological slide has allowed poorer countries to leapfrog the wealthy Gulf states. For instance, in 2006 Mexico and Jamaica jumped ahead of Kuwait and Bahrain, both of which are far wealthier on a per-capita basis.
Kuwait's poor performance stems from its handouts of government jobs to Kuwaitis. The practice has diverted money from education and infrastructure, said Kuwaiti economist Jassem al-Saadoun.
Illegally imported falcons into Kuwait may have caused the outbreak of bird flu (LINK).
An excerpt from the AFP story:
"Falcons imported into Kuwait may have been the cause of an outbreak of bird flu that has caused authorities to cull two million chickens, MP's charged on Tuesday.
During a special debate a number of lawmakers submitted official documents showing that several falcon shipments for royals and influential people were imported without the strict quarantine procedures."
The Kuwait Ministry Of Health
Anyone who has ever visited a hospital or health care institution in Kuwait knows we have serious issues that need to be dealt with as soon as possible: we don't have enough beds, efficient doctors are quitting or going into exile, pharmacies run out of medicine, the ambulances are scarce, outdated and inneficient - and so on.
I would like to highlight an excellent Kuwaiti blog: Kuwait Health, which promotes constructive dialogue about health care in Kuwait via sharp and well-researched essays.
The website is run by Nadeem Al-Duaij, MD, Bibi Al-Ameeri, MD and Raed Hashem, MD.
They should be commended for focusing on this neglected sector.
