Kuwait's ruler asks House to help diversify

Kuwait: Kuwait's ruler urged parliament and the government on Tuesday to cooperate to install further reforms and diversify the economy away from heavy reliance on oil amid a global financial crisis.

In a speech to the House coming back from a summer recess, Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, said the economy of Kuwait was strong but not insulated from global woes.

"We have to diversify our income and give the private sector a bigger role," Shaikh Sabah said, adding that budget surpluses were only temporary and should be used to diversify the economy.

"We need to combine efforts to avoid any negative impact of this [global] crisis," the emir said, referring to the global credit crisis.

Opec member Kuwait wants to reduce its reliance on oil income to emulate the success of Gulf neighbours Dubai and Bahrain, which have become regional financial centres and popular tourist destinations.

But key plans such as a law to set up a financial regulator and another to allow help foreign firms to help develop oil fields have been stalled due to a political stalemate.

The emir had dissolved the previous parliament in March after a standoff with the government paralysed legislation.