Acting Undersecretary of the Ministry of Communications, Eng. Mishal Al-Zaid, said Fixed Telecommunications Network Project will provide new job opportunities for citizens wishing to work in the field of the digital economy with a plan to develop their skills. In June, the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects announced the list of companies and alliances of companies qualified to participate in this project, Al-Zaid added during an interview with KUNA on Monday. He noted that the project aims to develop the fixed communications network and establish a partnership between the public and private sectors to include the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of the fixed communications network in Kuwait. The project company will operate the current fixed communications network of the Ministry of Communications and will work to improve it and spread it in areas that have not yet been covered, he added. Further, he stated that according to the Public-Private Partnership Projects Authori ty Law, 50 percent of the shares in the project company will be offered to Kuwaiti citizens after the project is fully operational, noting that the size of the project will be large. Al-Zaid noted that the conclusion of the partnership contract will be between the ministry and the project company in accordance with the provisions of Law (2014/116) regarding the partnership between the public and private sectors and its executive regulations, provided that the duration of the partnership agreement between the two sectors will be 50 years. The project aims to provide a network with record speeds and to spread a high-performance fiber optic network in all areas of Kuwait, in line with the lofty vision and to support the implementation of the digital transformation strategy in Kuwait, he added. He stressed that cooperation with private sector investors would enhance investments in the telecommunications infrastructure in Kuwait, noting that the percentage of national workers in the project company would not be less than 65 percent of the total workers. Kuwait's Authority for Partnership Projects between the Public and Private Sectors, in cooperation with the Ministry of Communications, invited on October 5 companies and alliances qualified for the project to develop fixed communications networks to submit bids for the project to develop the fixed communications network in the country. Source: Kuwait News Agency