GOIC to organize 'Measures to Reduce Operation Costs and Increase Productivity For SMIs' forum in Bahrain

The Forum aims to help small and medium- sized manufacturers to achieve productivity improvement, reduce operation costs and save resources in particular through reduction in water and energy consumption, waste minimization and saving material throughout the production process.

Based on the importance of continuous improvements for maintaining the competitive edge in the global market with minimal impact on the environment, all players on the market but in particular the manufacturers are required to adapt measures for efficient management of resources and to use environmentally clean technology in their system updates.

It is thus crucial for public entities to support all efforts on rationalizing energy consumption and improving efficiency especially in the industrial sector which is the third largest sector in terms of energy consumption worldwide.

Experience around the globe has shown that there is great potential to improve the efficiency of using energy in various industries, but planning for programs to apply these measures in the different industrial processes requires more than the introduction of advanced technology. A series of organizational and managerial procedures and legislation that empower established industries to identify opportunities for rationalizing their own energy consumption and that entitle them to put these measures into practice, are key ingredients for a sustainable functional system.

The Forum on the 22nd of December will focus on measures applicable for small and medium industries (SMIs), as key generators of regional growth and competitiveness and major contributors to the creation of networks and industrial relations. SMIs are also ideal targets for investments in services and technologies aiming to improve energy efficiency in various major industries.

The measures that will be presented have been identified through a series of industrial assessments that the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting has recently carried out in a number of factories in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The results of these assessments will be highlighted and participants will have the opportunity to collect information about best practices and how these can be applied in different situations. Time will also be dedicated to open discussions about the challenges and opportunities related to the sustainable and efficient development of these industries.

It should be noted that the total number of industrial installations in Bahrain is 774 businesses, out of which 93% are small and medium sized industrial enterprises (SMIs). SMIs are operating mainly in the food and beverage industry, textile and garments, leather, wood and furniture industry, paper industry and printing, publishing products, mining and mineral in addition to third-metal manufacturing industries. In 2007 investments in SMIs in Bahrain were about $464m.