Solace for Primitive Local Industries?! [Archives:2007/1059/Community]
By: Majed Thabet Al-kholidy
Shopping is interesting. It, however, makes one feel deploring for the local primitive industries which are gradually replaced by imported ones. It is not because they are bad or low in quality, but for their primitive shapes, size, and ways of selling.
Consumers may have their excuses, while investors are to be blamed. The current investors are appreciated for their investing projects. But, it is really worthy to invest the local primitive industries such as henna, coal, some kinds of sweets, etc. By that, they would improve the quality of such items and, subsequently, increase the sales, save them from extinction, improve the country's economy, and, first of all, they would make money for themselves.
The local primitive industries have their own consumers, who do go down in number with time process. That is because of the arrival of the alternative products, imported from other countries.
In spite of the other qualities of the imported products, their appearance and well packages attract consumers more. Storing and ways of selling are better in comparison with those of the primitive industries. Especially food items, they are distinct for their packages, their dates of manufacture and expiry and even the ingredients which play a positive role in the psychology of the consumers.
The number of every primitive product is less than the number of the imported ones. The modern manufactured and imported products are produced in accordance with the demands of the target markets.
The primitive industries are manufactured arbitrarily, depending on the availability of the raw materials. These limit their target markets and, at the same time, make their prices unstable. In fact, all these are not obstacles on the way of investing. Investors would be thankfully appreciated if they hold the responsibility of improving simple industries by adopting them as money-making projects to reproduce them with packages, high qualities, suitable ways of storing and selling, stable prices, and stable target markets.
Investors can exploit such industries as raw materials for new business. What they need is to start, while the idea is already there. They can take similar imported products as a reference in their manufacturing process. In case they succeed, good marketing and promotion are required too. Covering the local markets would be the first step, and then the international markets will come later.
Henna, as a primitive local product, for example, is made of henna trees planted only in specific areas to be sold in specific markets with different prices and unguaranteed qualities. The same item is imported from India and other countries to be sold even in small shops and groceries. Recently, one of the investors has taken it as a business. He has used modern machines to reproduce it with high quality, fixed prices, smart packages, and everywhere-availability. Gradually, he could supply almost all the local markets, taking into account international markets as well. It is currently exported to Gulf countries.
Frankly speaking, this is not an advertisement or a promotion, but an example that must be taken by all investors to follow this way of, I think, a successful investment. Henna is not the only item. There are many others like “raisins””
