Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Economic activities are categorized into sectors. The question describes the process of taking raw materials (from the primary sector) and manufacturing them into finished or semi-finished goods. This process is known as value addition.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Let's define the economic sectors:
1. Primary activities: Involve the extraction of raw materials from the earth (e.g., agriculture, mining, fishing).
2. Secondary activities: Involve the processing, manufacturing, and construction sectors. They take raw materials from the primary sector and transform them into finished goods, thus adding value. Examples include car manufacturing, textile production, and food processing. This perfectly matches the description in the question.
3. Tertiary activities: Involve providing services rather than producing goods (e.g., retail, healthcare, transportation, entertainment).
4. Quaternary activities: A subset of the tertiary sector, involving knowledge-based services like information technology, research and development (R \& D), and education.
5. Quinary activities: The highest level of decision-making in a society or economy (e.g., government executives, top-level business leaders).
Step 3: Final Answer:
The economic activities that add value by transforming raw materials into valuable products are defined as secondary activities.