Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association opens its head quarters in Dubai

The new office on Sheikh Zayed Road, at the commercial heart of Dubai, will be the main administrative centre for the association as it builds its membership ranks and develops common positions on industry issues. These common positions will then form the basis of the association's work in representing the interests of members in the region and beyond.

The GPCA was founded in March 2006 by eight founding members, and already has a burgeoning list of companies wishing to become members or affiliates. Its mission is to offer its members networking opportunities through various platforms to meet and share knowledge; exchange opinions and experiences, promote free and fair trade and competition; and advocate the development, growth and prosperity of the petrochemicals and chemicals industry and related businesses in the Gulf.

The new office will play host to several staff as the work of the association grows. The initial focus will be on building the database of members and partner organisations and creating an identity for the GPCA. As part of this the GPCA website (www.gulf-pca.org) is due to go live in the coming weeks.

Mr. Mohamed Al-Mady, Vice Chairman and CEO of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), and the first Chairman of the GPCA, said at the opening, "The petrochemical and chemical industry is a major contributor to the wealth of the region and is one of the region's largest employers. The GPCA was established to ensure that the industry finds a common purpose and realises common ambitions in the region and on the international stage and to build a greater awareness of the importance of the industry among our many stakeholders. The opening of this office today is a small but symbolically significant step in achieving this purpose."

Mr Hamad Al-Terkait, President and CEO of EQUATE and Vice Chairman of GPCA, added, "Once we get the GPCA activities underway, one of our main priorities will be to establish certain specialist sub-committees allocated to tasks such as safety, health, the environment and quality. Human resources and technical committees will also be set up. In doing so, we hope to provide best practice solutions to some of the concerns facing the industry. For example, the enormous growth in the industry is placing unmanageable demands upon regional logistics and by developing cross-industry working groups we hope to provide solutions for our members."

The office will be managed by Secretary General of the GPCA, Mr Abdullah Bin Zaid Alhagbani. At the launch he said, "Interest in the GPCA and what our plans are has been increasing since our launch in March and this office opening will be the first of many initiatives that we will undertake to build awareness and understanding of the petrochemicals and chemicals industries in the Gulf. In the coming months, we will establish an information website and be attending various events throughout the region to build our profile. We are looking forward to having a tangible base from which we can now set about achieving the stated aims of the association."

In addition to acting as the industry's spokesperson in all matters of public interest and general concern, the GPCA aims to encourage research related to the industry and provide solutions to scientific and technical issues, promote human resource development within the industry and organize industrial conferences and seminars. Through all this, it will promote the relationship and mutual co-operation among companies, institutions, research centres, organisations dedicated to the industry's safety and environmental matters, products standardisation authorities and committees, and other organisations and non-profit bodies related to the industry.