KUWAIT CITY, Oct 25, (KUNA): The General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development (SCPD) affirmed the necessity of backing the private sector to take part in the country’s development plans. Empowering the private sector is done through supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, Secretary General of SCPD Dr Khaled Mahdi said in a press statement on Monday, following a dialogue of the round table organized by UN and the secretariat.

The empowerment is represented in encouraging foreign direct investment, enhancing partnership between the public and private sectors, controlling markets, protecting consumers and combating corruption, he added. He stated that the private sector carries out 90 percent of businesses in most countries across the globe, indicating that the sector’s participation makes up 60 percent of the gross national product of those countries.

Meanwhile, Zineb Touimi-Benjelloun, UN coordinator, stressed the importance of the private sector’s participation as a main partner in achieving the goals of sustainable development. She referred to three of the 17 goals; education, enhancing the private sector and production.