Abu Dhabi hosts the GCC 11th Industrialists Conference

Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, with the attendance of their Excellencies the ministers of industry in the GCC member states; Abu Dhabi Emirate hosts the GCC 11th Industrialists' Conference in January 2008.

The conference targets to create a vision of petrochemicals industry in the GCC in 2020.

The two-day conference agenda includes an open discussion session with their Excellencies the ministers of industry in the GCC, alongside 4 work sessions, subsidiary workshops, further to the accompanying exhibition.

On its part, the GCC Industrialists Conferences series which GOIC is accustomed to conduct is considered a great chance for bringing together the key industrialization stakeholders in the region with the target of drafting a common vision on the important strategic issues of the industrial sector; the subject matter of this 11th conference is a key issue for decision makers in the GCC.

From a statistical perspective, statistics indicates that the average of gulf investment value growth in chemicals and petrochemicals between 2000 - 2006 was 5%; as it increased from US D 70 billions, thus constituting 59% of the total gulf investment in the processing industries which equals some US D 118.3 billions. On the other hand, workforce in this sector reached some 163,134 workers in 2006, with a growth rate of 4.9% since 2000 when there were 122,735 workers.

The petrochemicals industry is considered amongst the dynamic industries due to the multiplicity and density of its products and complexions as well as its wide rage of applications in the different fields of modern life. As such, this conference provides the opening for GCC member states to restructure their processing industries in a way that helps them achieve more integration, interrelation and balance, and thus providing it with more endurance and competitiveness in the global markets.