DCCI hosts a press conference for Supply Chain and Logistics Business Group

The press conference aimed at announcing the Global Supply Chain and Logistics Conference which will be held in Dubai on February 21-23, 2006, in cooperation with the DCCI and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).

The press conference was attended by Mr. Abdul Rahman Ghanem Al Mutaiwee, Director General of the DCCI, Mr. Mohammed Hassan Al Khatib, Manager of Business Development Sector in the DCCI, Mr. Mike Lee, President of the Supply Chain and Logistics Group, and other members of the group in Dubai.

In his speech, Al Mutaiwee highlighted the importance of the Global Supply Chain and Logistics Conference, which reflects the key role played by the emirate of Dubai as an outstanding regional business hub in the Middle East, in the fields of re-export, real estate, retail business, leisure, aviation, logistics, information technology, banking and trading sectors.

"The conference provides an opportunity to listen to world-class speakers while discussing how to examine and learn to build profitable supply chains that bring immediate and sustainable bottom-line benefit to their organizations, as Dubai started establishing the Dubai Logistics City (DLC) which will be operational in 2007, to become the world's first truly integrated logistics platform with all modes of transport and logistics and value added services, including light manufacturing and assembly in a single customs bonded and free zone environment," said Al Mutaiwee.

He pointed out that the supply chain management (SCM)is a process of planning, implementing and controlling the operations of the supply chain with the purpose of satisfying customers' requirements in a market where all organizations compete to provide high quality services. He also said that the sharp increase in the volume of goods handled in the region provides a solid basis for the development of the logistics industry.

Al Mutaiwee stressed that in order to achieve overall economic integration and bring into play the competitive edge of the region as an integrated whole in the Middle East, it becomes necessary first of all to achieve the smooth flow of goods.

"The success of this conference will help provide additional support to Dubai's significant location and position as a world trade business center, as such it would help promote Dubai as an international center for supply chain and logistics, mainly after the participants are introduced to the available facilities which the Dubai Logistics City (DLC) project provides," he added.

He noted that the Supply Chain and Logistics Group, which is operating under the umbrella of the DCCI, succeeded in convincing the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) and other major American companies to visit Dubai and decide to organize this global conference here.

Mr. Mike Lee, President of the Supply Chain and Logistics Group, said that the CSCMP has chosen Dubai as the location for its Global Supply Chain and Logistics Conference, believing that the logistic professionals in Dubai do play a key role on a global level and that the conference provides a great opportunity for those individuals and organizations to mix with the best practitioners in the region.

"The conference will feature a number of lectures, presentations and discussions by over 19 speakers from more than 10 different countries around the world, and that holding the conference in Dubai reflects the importance of Dubai as a regional and international business hub, in addition to the key role played by the DCCI and its continuous support to all activities of business groups, and the supply chain and logistics group in particular," said Mr. Lee.

The DCCI's director general stressed the significant role of the Supply Chain and Logistics Group in bringing the CSCMP to hold their global conference in Dubai where more than 500 people and speakers from different countries such as the US, India, Ireland, Canada, Jordan, Germany, Bahrain, Norway and the UAE, are expected to attend.

"The supply chain and logistics organizations in Dubai contribute by 8% to the emirate's GDP, as Dubai became qualified enough to attract all business volumes compared to other known cities. Dubai has been known as a major center for re-export since the sixties, thanks to the wise vision and strategic planning of the Dubai Rulers who made Dubai an international business hub that competes with Hong Kong and Singapore and the third player in the field of shipping, export and re-export," said Al Mutaiwee.

He noted that the DCCI will benefit from this conference through promoting its commercial services provided to the local business community and the future projects and infrastructure projects which are being carried out such as the DLC and the expansion projects of the seaports, in addition to inviting some major organizations such as the Free Zone to take part in this conference to introduce its services and the investment opportunities and facilities available.