KUWAIT: Chairman of Kuwait Industries Union (KIU) Hussein Al-Kharafi said yesterday that Kuwait's industrial sector was capable of pushing development process and supporting the national economy by exporting to new markets and lessen import. Kharafi underlined the importance of supporting local industries because they would contribute to comprehensive development.

Supporting the industrial sector, which he considered the leader of sustainable development, will give the locally-made product the priority in development projects. "Promoting the local product has become an urgent necessity," he added.

Kharafi also called for supporting manufacturing industries because they were capable of transforming raw materials into products that meet consumers' needs. The manufacturing industries "is the real future that can achieve safe and sustainable operating profits for the state," he said.

Kuwait is depending on oil revenues as a major source of income "but this poses a risk to the budget because of fluctuation of international prices," said Kharafi. KIU, he added, submitted many proposals for the government of Kuwait to develop the working mechanism of the industrial sector.

One of the proposals, he explained, was considering decreasing how much the state was charging for electricity consumption in factories. The KIU also urged the government to purchase locally-made products in order to reactivate the economic cycle. Creating industrial zones, said Kharafi, would help in expansion of national industries. Established in 1989, KIU has around 300 industrial entities as members. - KUNA