Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words: One way to organize interdisciplinary thematic study is around big ideas and essential questions. Big ideas can be applied across disciplines, pro

Kuwait Trade with the World

Introduction:

Before the discovery of Oil in Kuwait, the economy thrived on exporting pearls to be used for luxury jewelry and other items of aesthetic value. The success of exporting pearls did not last indefinitely however, as the reduction in demand, as well as the increasing competition in the industry reduced the effectiveness of pearl exports as a primary source of income (Kpc, 2019). Demand for pearls kept decreasing even until the discovery of Oil in 1938, which changed the country and how it came to operate economically. The discovery of Oil gave Kuwait a completely different and far more valuable resource to harvest and export. Today, Kuwait’s primary export is Oil, with the latter being non-oil goods and materials. The newfound Oil and the wealth it brought to the country allowed the economy in Kuwait to boom, which subsequently allowed the country to import more goods and services from abroad, increasing the overall diversity of trade between Kuwait and the rest of the world.

Kuwait’s Exports:

“Kuwait is an oil-based economy that adopts an export promotion policy as the fundamental strategy for economic growth” (Merza, 2007). Kuwait exports oil and non-oil products to many of its export partners around the world, with the largest percentages of exports going to India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates respectively. The products themselves are numerous and varied, however products like Crude Petroleum, are traded in much larger volumes than most of the other exported goods. To understand and analyze the nature of exports leaving Kuwait, three points in time within this decade will be selected, and data related to the components and volume of the exports will be charted. For the purpose of consistency, seven components of the total exports will be selected and compared for each of the chosen years. These components are: Crude Petroleum, Refined Petroleum, Petroleum Gas, Cyclic Hydrocarbons, Cars, Jewelry, and Scrap Copper.

Fig.1 (Atlas.media.MIT.EDU,2019).

The first selected year is 2012, where total exports measured up to $92.4 Billion. Crude Petroleum was responsible for 71% of all exports that year, followed by Refined Petroleum (20%), Petroleum Gas (3.9%), Cyclic Hydrocarbons (1.6%), Cars (0%), Jewelry (0.011%), and Scrap Copper (0.066%). Fig.1 displays these percentages in a pie chart for clarity (Atlas.media.MIT.EDU,2019).

In terms of export destinations, the countries receiving most of Kuwait’s exports were: South Korea, India, and Japan. Exports to South Korea Totaled $16.1B, and included products like: Crude Petroleum, Refined Petroleum, Petroleum Gas, Cyclic Hydrocarbons, Scrap Copper, and more. Similar materials were also exported to India, totaling $15.9B. Exports to Japan were slightly different, as they only included 3 materials: Crude petroleum, Refined Petroleum, and Petroleum Gas, which sold for a total of $13.4B.

In 2014, exports totaled $87.4B, with a slight change in components overall. In this year, export of crude petroleum went down to 66% of total exports, Refined Petroleum remained at 20%, and similarly, Petroleum gas stayed at 3.9%. Cyclic Hydrocarbons increased to 1.9%, and Kuwait begun to export Cars, making up 0.62% of overall exports. The export of Jewelry increased substantially, to 0.27% (from 0.011% in 2012), and finally, export of scrap copper increased slightly to 0.075% (Atlas.media.MIT.EDU,2019).

Citations

"Information Center Kuwait Oil History". Kpc.Com.Kw, 2019, https://www.kpc.com.kw/InformationCenter/Pages/Kuwait-Oil-History.aspx.

Merza, Ebrahim. "OIL EXPORTS, NON-OIL EXPORTS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: TIME SERIES ANALYSIS FOR KUWAIT (1970-2004)". Krex.K-State.Edu, 2007, https://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/293/EbrahimMerza2007.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. Accessed 29 Apr 2019.

"OEC - Kuwait (KWT) Exports, Imports, And Trade Partners". Atlas.Media.Mit.Edu, 2019, https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/kwt/.