Business & Money | Sunday 19 April, 2015 4:37 pm |

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, and with the participation of GCC ministers of industry, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in the State of Kuwait, the Public Authority for Industry (PAI) and the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) organise the 15th Industrialists’ Conference “Foreign Direct Investments: their impact on Gulf industries” on the 25th and 26th of November, 2015. The event is held in collaboration with Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) and Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and in coordination with the Secretariat-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Federation of GCC Chambers (FGCCC).

GOIC Secretary General Mr. Abdulaziz Bin Hamad Al-Ageel praised His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, for his decision to sponsor the conference. Mr. Al-Ageel stressed that His Highness is particularly interested in promoting joint Gulf activities in order to achieve economic development and boost GCC industrial sector for the best of Gulf nations and people.

Mr. Al-Ageel stated: “The desired foreign investments are not only in the form of financial capital, but they also encompass foreign capital as advanced technology, research and development, knowledge-based industries, marketing, organisation and innovative administration in various production and services fields. The objective is to promote high-tech Gulf industries to achieve acceptable levels of competitiveness and reinforce global networking at the levels of value chains and demand.”

The Conference aims at putting together clear policies to stimulate development plans in GCC countries based on a comprehensive set of elements drawing foreign investors. It also seeks to build an ambitious strategy to develop and promote the industrial sector in order to attract more foreign investments. Furthermore, it aims at enacting legislations and laws and offering facilitations and incentives to foreign investors in order to create a promising investment environment. Among its objectives is to strengthen the level of competitiveness of GCC countries by attracting foreign investments to promote Gulf economies and to deliver a number of recommendations and suggestions to improve the investment environment and overcome obstacles hindering foreign investments and directing foreign investments in accordance with GCC strategic plans to achieve their objectives and maximise the benefit from these investments. In addition to that, it will endeavour to determine key pillars of GCC investment plans in the industrial sector.

The Gulf Industrialists’ Conference hosted by GOIC member states in rotation every other year is one of GOIC’s most important achievements since its foundation in 1976. Since the first conference held in Doha in 1985, they have been contributing in developing private and public industrial sectors in GCC countries. Each conference tackles a specific topic influencing the development of industries in the region through a series of papers delivered by international experts and specialists. In fact, previous conferences resulted in recommendations that helped in developing industrial plans in GCC countries, notably in the area of the industrial development strategy.

Decision makers, officials, businessmen and industrialists are all interested in this conference. In its 14th version “Industrial Exports: Opportunities and Challenges”, the recommendations were to actively work on adopting policies and procedures aiming at facilitating the flow of Gulf exports to strengthen trade activities between Gulf countries and to benefit from GCC and Yemen seaports in addition to the existing land border points in support of Gulf industrial exports.