Self-Reliance is a Virtue
I was pleased, while browsing the esteemed Al-Qabas newspaper, to read a news item published in its Monday, July 27, 2026, edition, quoting the Ambassador of the friendly People’s Republic of China accredited to the country. The news stated that a factory would be established in the country in partnership with the People’s Republic of China, providing the essential industrial goods the country needs. Indeed, this news confirms the correctness of the right direction, indicating the government’s interest in providing the Kuwaiti people with necessary local industries. Thus, establishing this factory is a positive and sound step that can be leveraged to gradually reduce the country’s reliance on expensive products from other manufacturers. Our Kuwaiti folk poet says, “If only my right hand could... spare my left hand,” because complaining to anyone other than God is humiliating, and so is dependence on anyone other than God. Our poet thus urges and implores his people to rely on themselves rather than waiting for what others offer with their capabilities and resources, thereby preserving human dignity and honor, since complaining to anyone other than God is humiliating.
In the late 1960s, at the invitation of the Commercial Attaché of the Republic of Korea in Kuwait, I visited Seoul, the capital of South Korea, as part of a Kuwaiti trade delegation to attend the opening of the Korean Industries Exhibition, which Korea had invited numerous delegations from around the world to attend. The exhibition was opened by the Korean Minister of Energy and Foreign Trade, who delivered a speech highlighting the importance of Korean industries, noting that their quality is no inferior to the well-known American and European industries that preceded them. In conclusion, he wished the attending delegations success in helping Korea promote and market its products in global markets and in the countries those delegations represent. Today, Kuwait hosts a Korean car exhibition.
In the lounge, after the Korean Minister concluded his tour with the invited delegations to view the various Korean industries displayed in the exhibition halls, I met with him. I asked him: “How did South Korea, one of the Third World countries, achieve such advanced industries, from aircraft and automobile manufacturing to other important commercial goods?” He replied: “We shed the cloak of the past and donned the cloak of the present, advancing with the civilized community that led us to the industrial capacity you see today.” I posed another question to the Minister: “Do you think we in Kuwait can follow your footsteps in producing the distinctive industrial equipment and tools we saw at your exhibition?” He looked at us intently and said: “We in Korea cannot compare our capabilities with yours. You in Kuwait possess capital and raw materials suitable for industrialization, and you can easily acquire the industrial expertise you need, unlike us. We do not have the capital you possess, nor the raw materials that you have. Therefore, industrial opportunities in your country are feasible and attainable if there is someone who cares about this important platform.”
This was the Korean Minister’s response. Today, we in Kuwait, as well as in other Gulf countries, need to rely on ourselves, even through barter—meaning we should exchange our other industrial products, such as petroleum-based industries and other goods needed by countries worldwide, for manufactured goods, rather than selling our raw materials only to buy them back at exorbitant prices.
Mohammed Salem Al-Balwan
