GPCA Forum to focus on achieving sustainable growth beyond global crisis

The premier petrochemical and chemical industry networking event is expected to attract more than 1,000 delegates from around the world.

Dr. Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, Secretary General of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), said:

"Industry leaders and experts will assess the impact of the economic crisis on the Middle East and look at the industry's future beyond the current downturn."

GPCA recently announced that Saudi Arabia's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources H.E. Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, who is also the Chairman of Saudi Aramco, will deliver the opening keynote address. On the second day of the Forum, Central Bank of Bahrain Gover-nor H.E. Rasheed M. Al-Maraj will deliver the opening address on "Financing Opportunities and Risks for Mideast Petrochemical and energy Projects in a Global Crisis".

Al-Sadoun said today that the Fourth Annual Forum will feature nine business leaders at 11 major sessions that will focus on key industry topics. These will include:

• The impact of the economic crisis on the Middle East.
• Driving growth in the Middle East chemical industry with competitively priced feeds-tock.
• Succeeding during a downturn.
• Cost cutting as a way to create value in an economic crisis.
• How to build a viable Middle East position to sustain growth.
• Looking beyond the downturn.
• Building a global presence from the Middle East.

Other speakers presenting at this year's event include: Stephen Pryor, President, ExxonMobil Chemical; Klaus Engel, Chairman, Evonik Industries; Brad Bourland, Chief Economist and Man-aging Director, Proprietary Investment, Jadwa Investments; Greg Garland, President and CEO, Chevron Phillips Chemical; Paul A. Laudicina, Chairman and Managing Director, A.T. Kearney; and Mark Garrett, CEO, Borealis.

"We have a great line-up of speakers headed by H.E. Al-Naimi whose insights on the indus-try and current regional and global trends will be invaluable. This year's Forum will also continue on the path that we have travelled over the past years by discussing not just the is-sues and challenges of petrochemicals, but also our support sectors including the supply chain," Al-Sadoun said.

The GPCA Forum brings together CEOs and senior leaders from petrochemicals, chemicals, engineering, construction, shipping and logistics companies from around the world, as well as private equity executives, bankers, financiers and consultants.

The Forum this year features two breakout sessions: Human Resources and Sustainability. As the industry's representative body, one of GPCA's key focus areas is to enable members to benefit from the pool of regional industry knowledge and best practices. As an efficient net-working platform for the industry, the Annual Forum offers the best opportunity to achieve that goal.

This year's Forum will be held at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City, a new landmark hotel on the historic Dubai Creek. The Third GPCA Annual Forum was held at Atlantis Du-bai in December 2008.

The GPCA Forum is held in partnership with Chemical Week, the leading publication that reaches industry executives around the world. Lyn Tattum, Publisher and Group Vice Presi-dent, Chemical Week, said, "Petrochemical and chemical company CEOs today face a very challenging environment and tough decisions. This highly-focused conference provides an unmatched forum for senior executives in the petrochemical and chemical industry to talk with their peers about the latest strategies and best practices for today's turbulent economy. We are confident participants will walk away with valuable insights and information they can use immediately."

Attendance at the Forum has jumped 48% since the inception of the event in 2006. Based on this pattern of continual growth, as well as an expanded marketing plan, GPCA ex-pects over 1,000 executives from more than 40 countries at this year's Forum. Companies who have attended the event in the past include regional and global majors such as SABIC, TASNEE, EQUATE, Borouge, BASF, ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell, Dow Chemical, Sino-pec, Reliance, Shell, Evonik, Borealis, Chevron Phillips and more.