GOIC organizes an exhibition for investment and partnership next February

The exhibition aims at creating the opportunity for SMEs to benefit from the requests of the large-size companies who look for subcontractors for their works; it is also considered a great chance for creating partnerships amongst participants.

The three-day exhibition program is expected to attract 70 subcontractors. The program also includes conducting around 100 bilateral meetings, further to two seminars on the economic importance of subcontracting and partnership exchange and its relation to industrial investment and technology transfer.

The exhibition will be held on a space of 700 Square Meter, and includes 50 suites. In this exhibition, requests are exhibited not services or products to subcontractors where exhibiting companies (contractors) look for subcontractors to execute their works. The exhibition creates the opportunity for subcontractors (SMEs) to exhibit their products and is considered a good chance for promoting their products.

This exhibition comes within the Subcontracting and Partnership Exchange program which GOIC established in 2004. The program handles SMEs sector which plays an important role in increasing production and income stability due to its flexibility, something which large-scale industries lack in confronting economic fluctuations; specially in view of oil prices fluctuations, as those SMEs can adjust their capabilities in front of those fluctuations. Also, this sector plays a key role in absorbing local capitals, diversifying the production base, and covering a large part of the industrial needs and increasing added-value, further to contributing in creating job chances. Besides, this sector faces many challenges, first of which are financing and marketing.

The number of SMEs in GCC member states constituted some 83% of the total number of factories in GCC in 2006. The number of small factories which invest in less than US D 2 million is estimated to some 6486 factory, i.e. 64% of the total number of factories, which are 10431 one. On the other hand, the number of medium-sized factories, which invest between US D 2-6 millions, reached some 1981 factories, i.e. 19% of the total number of factories in the same year. Yet, the investment size in this sector does not exceed 9% of the total investment in the industrial sector in GCC.