RABIA ALTHANI 16, 1442 AH TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 16 Pages Max 19º Min 16º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18297 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Clock starts ticking on govt Arab Spring: The first Cher welcomes ‘loneliest Mahomes powers champions 2 plan to cap expat workers 5 smartphone revolution 13 elephant’ to Cambodia 16 Chiefs over Brady-led Bucs Kuwait completes inclusion into MSCI Emerging Markets Indices Inclusion sees values of over KD 961.6 million traded • Head of Boursa Kuwait’s executive committee Bader Al-Kharafi says inclusion • HH the PM Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled affirms inclusion a historic achievement proves private sector’s success in operating Boursa • Commerce Minister Khaled Al-Roudhan hails joint work between public and • Boursa Kuwait CEO Mohammad Al-Osaimi says Kuwait now on worldwide private sectors investment map KUWAIT: Boursa Kuwait yesterday completed the Kuwaiti capital market’s inclusion into the MSCI Emerging Markets Indices with the successful implementation of the first tranche of index inclusion. A total of seven listed companies - the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), Kuwait Finance House (KFH), Zain, Agility, Boubyan Bank, Mabanee and Gulf Bank - were included. The inclusion brought in huge inflows to the market, as the total traded value during the inclusion was over KD 961.6 million, most of which came from foreign inflows. HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah hailed Kuwait’s entry into all emerging markets and achieving a quantum leap in its rank- ing of improving the business environ- ment and enhancing competitiveness indi- cators. Minister of Commerce and Industry and Acting State Minister for Youth Affairs Khalid Al-Roudhan said HH Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Kuwait’s inclusion in international indices Al-Sabah Khalid Al-Roudhan Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi Mohammad Al-Osaimi is an important aspect of the implementa- tion of the New Kuwait 2035 vision and said this achievement proves the private Mohammad Saud Al-Osaimi said: “We foreign inflows.” tional indices, starting with the plan of the embodiment of the idea of transform- sector’s success in operating Boursa saw values of over 961.6 million Kuwaiti The Capital Markets Authority said in developing the market and overseeing its ing Kuwait into a regional financial center. Kuwait, one of the most important eco- dinars traded today, which is proof of the a statement yesterday that it played a implementation in cooperation and coor- Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi, head of the nomic facilities in the country. Boursa Kuwaiti capital market apparatus’s suc- significant role in developing the Kuwaiti dination with Boursa Kuwait and Kuwait executive committee at Boursa Kuwait, Kuwait’s Chief Executive Officer cess in absorbing these unprecedented market and promoting Kuwait in interna- Clearing Company. ( See Page 8) Dec 7, according to government spokesman Tareq Al- new cases, two deaths and the recovery of 658 News in brief Helpers to return Mazrem. He added the Cabinet set the cost of each patients. The number of cases in intensive care also returning maid at KD 270 to cover quarantine expens- dropped to only 84. The previous day, the ministry Biden fractures foot es. The amount does not include airfare, Mazrem said. reported 231 cases and three deaths, while as many as from Dec 7; cost of Health Minister Sheikh Basel Al-Sabah told the 524 patients recovered. WASHINGTON: US president-elect Joe Council of Ministers that the number of new coron- The drop in the number of coronavirus cases Biden has a foot fracture and will likely have to quarantine KD 270 avirus cases has dropped significantly over the past comes ahead of the weekend’s general elections. wear a medical boot, his team said Sunday after week and the recovery rate has soared. The minister Authorities have taken strict precautionary measures the 78-year-old was taken to the doctor By B Izzak said the recovery rate has increased to a massive 95.8 to prevent a new outbreak. The Cabinet decided dur- because he had slipped while playing with his percent as the number of patients in intensive care ing its meeting yesterday to allocate a school in every dog. — AFP KUWAIT: The Cabinet yesterday decided to allow units and deaths dived during the past week. electoral constituency for people infected with the domestic helpers to start returning to the country from The ministry of health yesterday reported just 209 coronavirus to vote. Kushner heads to Saudi, Qatar tem showed that 83.8 percent of those polled want the One-vote system system to be changed because it has harmed the coun- WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s try. The single-vote system was introduced by the gov- Kuwait condemns son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner ernment through an Amiri decree in late 2012 and was will visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar this week in a under fire; Hashem implemented for the first time in the Dec 2012 general assassination of bid for further diplomatic deals in the region election. Its introduction led opposition groups and before leaving the White House. A senior targets 60+ expats independents to boycott the election. administration official said Kushner met at the Under the system, each Kuwaiti voter is allowed to Iran nuke scientist White House last week with Kuwaiti Foreign By B Izzak elect only one candidate in a constituency which elects Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad 10 MPs. Previously, each voter was allowed to elect up KUWAIT: Kuwait’s foreign ministry yesterday Al-Sabah. — Agencies KUWAIT: A field survey conducted on a sample of to four candidates. The system has drastically curbed condemned the assassination of Iranian nuclear Kuwaiti voters regarding the single-vote election sys- Continued on Page 2 scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Kuwait “under- lines its unwavering stance in rejection of violent Oman resumes some tourist visas acts, whatever the motive, and rejects anything that may increase tensions and affect stability in DUBAI: Oman will resume granting tourist visas the region,” the ministry said in a statement. The to people visiting on trips arranged by hotels ministry extended its condolences and commis- and travel companies, after they were suspended erations to Iran over the loss. due to the coronavirus pandemic, state media Yesterday, Iran said Israel and an exiled oppo- said yesterday. The country’s coronavirus coun- sition group used new and “complex” methods to cil also decided yesterday to restart a number of assassinate the top scientist, as it buried him in a commercial and industrial activities. — Reuters funeral befitting a top “martyr”. As it laid Fakhrizadeh - seen by Israel as the “father” of Iran’s nuclear weapons program - to rest, the First students arrive in Australia Islamic republic also vowed to redouble his work. Fakhrizadeh died Friday after his car and SYDNEY: International students have arrived bodyguards were targeted in a bomb and gun in Australia for the first time since the country attack on a major road outside the capital, shut its borders to curb coronavirus in March. A heightening tensions once more between Tehran plane chartered by Charles Darwin University and its foes. Iran’s top security official, Rear- (CDU) carrying 63 international students Admiral Ali Shamkhani of the Supreme National arrived in the northern city of Darwin. — AFP KUWAIT: Candidate Majed Mousa Al-Mutairi (center) greets people during the opening of his election headquarters (tent in background) yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat Continued on Page 2 2 Established 1961 Tuesday, December 1, 2020 Local Clock starts ticking on govt plan to cap expat workers in Kuwait Demographic imbalance has become main topic of political discussion By Ahmad Jabr 3.3 million compared to 1.4 million Kuwaitis. “The Cabinet should issue a list of regulations to KUWAIT: A law to regulate Kuwait’s demographic address the demographic imbalance within a year structure by reducing the numbers of the country’s of the law’s publishing, coming up with mechanisms expatriate community was published in Kuwait’s that include controls to set a maximum cap on official gazette ‘Kuwait Al-Youm’ this week. The expatriate workers,” Article 3 of the law states. publication of the law makes it official and starts “Meanwhile, the Cabinet is required to issue exec- the clock on the government’s plan to reduce expa- utive orders on a yearly basis and whenever neces- triate workers in the country. sary, in addition to providing the parliament with The law requires the government to present a annual reports in this regard.” plan within one year (from the date of publication The explanatory note of the law mentions the in the official gazette on Nov 29, 2020) that will “rapid spread of marginal laborers in excessive determine a formula and numbers” as a main rea- system for rebalancing the son that led to a demo- country’s demographics. graphic imbalance in The law specifically COVID-19 Kuwait and piled pressure requires the government to outbreak on public services, espe- cut the number of foreign- cially healthcare. “The ers living and working in necessitates COVID-19 crisis has Kuwait and tip the scale in exposed the terrible living favor of the Kuwaiti popu- action conditions of marginal lation, which currently laborers, which necessi- stands at only 30 percent tates legislations to con- of the total population. trol manpower percent- No specifics on how this plan should be imple- ages and regulate their presence in the country in a mented are mentioned. The law, as published, does way that does not affect the economic, social and not stipulate any details regarding the final num- service aspects,” the explanatory note adds.