ALRAQABA . ISSUE 16
11
of origin markets. This difference in price
represents unjust trading and causes
damage to local product.
3. Develop effective marketing policy by either
manufacturers or government entities that
contribute to propagating local products
and encourage buying them, in addition to
providing outlets to sell local products in
local markets.
4. Enhance trust between local products and
consumers and change the traditional
negative idea about this trust through
a group of procedures that aim at
enabling Local products to keep pace
with production process progress and
development. In addition, local products
should be varied and have a good quality to
match consumer desire and market current
consumption patterns.
5. Reduce local product costs of production
in several ways. The most important of them
are providing soft loans with low-interest
rates and facilities for payment, and tax
exemption. This is to enable the product to
compete with imported products.
The most exerted efforts by the SAB to
protect and support local products:
The state of Kuwait’s policy is not different from
other countries’ policies on providing protection
and support to its products due to its great effect
on both political and social levels.
Accordingly, the State of Kuwait constituted
legislations and issued decisions that seek
to protect local products. The most exerted
legislation is law No: 49 for the year 2016,
amended by law No: 74 for the year 2019
concerning public tenders, whereas law defined
the local product as «each product produced in
the State of Kuwait». It is worth mentioning that
the local product concept, according to that law,
is different from the national product concept.
National product, according to public tenders
law, is « each product of a national origin based
on article No: 3 of law No: 58 for the year 1982
concerning approval on the unified economic
agreement of the GCC No: 5 for the year 2003
and law No: 81 for the year 1995 referred to
The product of a national origin, according to
article three of the unified economic agreement
of the GCC, is the product that at least 46% of
this product is made in GCC and the percent of
ownership for the GCC citizens is not less than
51%.
Article No: 62 of public tenders law deals with
giving priority to the local product where it states
that:
«Under theprovisions of international agreements
concluded with the state of Kuwait and as an
application to reciprocity , priority in purchasing
is given to public entities as follows:
1- The council or decision-maker of the supply
tenders-or the similar- should award the tender
on the local product if it meets specifications and
terms and the price is not exceeding more than
20% of the imported product.
2- The products referred to in the previous
paragraph should meet the specifications stated
by the concerned Gulf entity that develops and
approves specifications and measurements. If
they are not available, the products must meet
international specifications.
It is not allowed, after the tender is awarded,
to replace a local product without the council
approval.
The law included these provisions in order to
give priority to local products in public entities
procurements, whereas tenderers, practitioners,
and participants in tenders and practices: who
present local products are given a privilege of
20% over the price offered by those who present
