Kuwait is stepping up efforts to diversify its economy and modernize key sectors, allocating nearly $6 billion for infrastructure and services in its 2025-2026 budget. The ambitious plan focuses on critical areas such as transportation, water, electricity, and, notably, the development of the strategic Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port.

According to the Arabic daily Alqabas, the budget earmarks approximately $5.7 billion in capital expenditure across more than 90 projects. The spending aims to boost economic growth, expand the private sector’s role, and strengthen non-oil revenues. It is part of a broader push to position Kuwait as a regional hub for trade and logistics.

Earlier this month, Kuwait signed a key agreement with China to advance the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port project. The deal, signed between Kuwait’s Ministry of Public Works and the China State Construction and Communications Corporation — a subsidiary of China’s Ministry of Transport — covers studies, design plans, and pre-implementation services for the port’s completion, according to state news agency KUNA.

Kuwait’s Minister of Public Works, Noura Al-Mashaan, and the company’s Vice Chairman, Chen Zhong, formalized the contract. Al-Mashaan stated that the project will create a major commercial port, helping to transform northern Kuwait into an integrated economic and urban center under the country’s New Kuwait 2035 vision.

According to Alqabas, the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port project is estimated to cost $3.2 billion and will feature an industrial zone, tourist facilities, roads, parking areas, residential spaces, and commercial offices. Designed to handle over 8 million containers, the port is a key component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Despite the heavy infrastructure investment, Kuwait’s budget for 2025-2026 forecasts a deficit of approximately $20.43 billion, with total revenues projected at $60.2 billion, highlighting the ongoing fiscal challenges facing the Gulf state as it pursues economic diversification.