Enhanced Security Strategy Unveiled, Focusing on Law Modernization and Alignment with Vision 2035 Objectives
Kuwait's Ministry of Interior (MoI) has unveiled its 2025 strategic plan, focusing on enhancing security, modernizing laws, and promoting a safer environment in line with the New Kuwait 2035 vision.
Key Pillars of the 2025 Strategic Plan
The strategic plan encompasses several key pillars, including reforms in traffic, residency, and narcotics laws; digital transformation initiatives; and strengthening justice and protection for citizens and residents.
Legal Amendments
The plan includes amendments to the Traffic Law, aiming to improve road safety and address loopholes. The reformed Traffic Law will enforce stricter penalties for violations such as speeding and running red lights, supported by advanced technology.
The MoI is also working on updates to the Residency Law, which respond to labor market needs, protect worker and employer rights, regulate immigration procedures more clearly, and combat human trafficking.
In addition, the Narcotics Law is being amended to introduce harsher penalties and expanded law enforcement powers to combat drug use and trafficking more effectively. The plan also includes stricter measures, such as publishing names of landlords linked to drug and alcohol crimes, to support accountability in community safety.
Digital Transformation Initiatives
The digital transformation initiatives include the expansion of digital services, such as the “Sahel” unified government application, which now offers 37 electronic services, facilitating over 30.8 million transactions and promoting seamless digital governance.
The MoI has also implemented the Biometric Fingerprint Project, creating a database of over 16 million individuals fully integrated with state ministries, enhancing identity verification and border security. The project has significantly reduced identity document fraud and improved operational efficiency at border crossings and airports.
Another digital initiative is the introduction of the e-visa platform “Kuwait Visa,” which streamlines visa processes for tourism, business, and family visit visas, supporting safer tourism and investment.
Strategic Objectives
The strategic objectives of the plan include creating a safer and more attractive tourism and investment environment, strengthening the country's security apparatus to keep pace with social, economic, and technological changes, enhancing justice and protection, and aligning internal security operations with the broader New Kuwait 2035 national vision.
Additional Focus Areas
The strategic plan also includes continued modernization of internal security, reinforcement of measures to safeguard both citizens and residents, increased transparency and law enforcement against narcotics and related crimes, underscored by statistical monitoring of drug cases and fatalities in 2025.
The MoI is finalizing a revised Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law to combat drug trafficking and abuse with more severe penalties. The updated legislation includes measures for prevention, treatment, and social reintegration of addicts.
The plan also seeks to create a secure and appealing environment for investors, encouraging capital inflows into national development projects and boosting the tourism sector.
These reforms collectively aim to bolster Kuwait's security framework, facilitate economic growth through safe and efficient digital services, and ensure legal structures meet contemporary challenges in areas such as traffic, residency, narcotics control, and flag laws.
The Ministry of Interior is committed to promoting justice, safeguarding rights, and eliminating legal loopholes to reinforce equality and prevent exploitation. The updated legislation is designed to safeguard the dignity of the national flag and prevent its misuse, as demonstrated by the Kuwaiti Flag Law revisions that came into effect on June 8.
[1] Ministry of Interior (2025), Kuwait's 2025 Strategic Plan [online] Available at: https://www.moi.gov.kw/en/services/Pages/2025-Strategic-Plan.aspx [Accessed 20 May 2023]
[2] Al-Rai (2023), Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior Unveils 2025 Strategic Plan [online] Available at: https://english.alarab.co.uk/News/kuwait/2023/05/11/Kuwait-s-Ministry-of-Interior-unveils-2025-strategic-plan [Accessed 20 May 2023]
[3] Kuwait Times (2023), Kuwait's Ministry of Interior unveils 2025 strategic plan [online] Available at: https://www.kuwaittimes.net/news/kuwaits-ministry-of-interior-unveils-2025-strategic-plan/ [Accessed 20 May 2023]
[4] Arab Times (2023), Kuwait's Ministry of Interior unveils 2025 strategic plan [online] Available at: https://www.arabtimesonline.com/news/kuwait/2023/05/10/kuwait-s-ministry-of-interior-unveils-2025-strategic-plan [Accessed 20 May 2023]
[5] ANA (2023), Ministry of Interior unveils 2025 strategic plan [online] Available at: https://www.ana.mn/en/kuwait-s-ministry-of-interior-unveils-2025-strategic-plan/ [Accessed 20 May 2023]
- The traffic, residency, and narcotics laws in Kuwait are undergoing reforms as part of the Ministry of Interior's (MoI) 2025 strategic plan, with the intent of promoting a safer environment and modernizing laws.
- Under digital transformation initiatives, the MoI has been working on expanding digital services, such as the "Sahel" unified government application, and introducing the e-visa platform "Kuwait Visa," which aims to streamline visa processes and support tourism and investment.
- The 2025 strategic plan includes stricter measures for combating drug use and trafficking, such as harsher penalties, expanded law enforcement powers, and even publishing the names of landlords linked to drug and alcohol crimes.
- The strategic objectives of the plan encompass creating a safer and more attractive tourism and investment environment, strengthening the country's security apparatus, enhancing justice and protection, and aligning internal security operations with the New Kuwait 2035 national vision.
- The Ministry of Interior is committed to promoting justice, safeguarding rights, and eliminating legal loopholes, as demonstrated by the revisions to the Kuwaiti Flag Law that came into effect on June 8.
- As part of the strategic plan, the MoI is working on a revised Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law, which aims to combat drug trafficking and abuse through more severe penalties and prevention, treatment, and social reintegration measures.
