Business & Money | Wednesday 24 June, 2015 1:15 am |

“The Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting” (GOIC) revealed that His Excellency Mr. Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiya, Chairman of Bin Hamad Al Attiya Foundation for Energy and Sustainable Development, will be the keynote speaker at the 15th industrialists’ conference which will be held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, under the slogan: "Foreign Direct Investments in GCC and its impact on industry”. The conference will be held at the Sheraton Hotel Kuwait on the 25th and 26th of November, 2015.
The conference is organized by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in the State of Kuwait, the Public Authority for Industry (PAI) in the State of Kuwait and the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting, in collaboration with Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) and Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) the Industrial Bank of Kuwait (IBK), and the Kuwaiti Industries Union, and in coordination with the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), and the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Mr. Abdul Aziz Bin Hamad Al-Ageel Secretary General of the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting thanked His Excellency Mr. Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiya for agreeing to be the keynote speaker at the conference. Mr. Al-Ageel stressed on the vital role played by his Excellency in boosting the industrial sector in the State of Qatar and the GCC. He also praised the achievements of Mr. Al Attiya appreciated worldwide given his enormous contributions to the energy industry over several decades.
Born in Qatar in 1952, H. E. Mr. Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah has more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry and has served in a variety of senior leadership positions within the government of Qatar. In 1992, Al Attiyah was appointed Minister of Energy and Industry and Chairman and Managing Director of Qatar Petroleum, before being entrusted with the additional responsibility of Second Deputy Prime Minister in 2003. Four years later, H.E. was elevated to Deputy Prime Minister, and in 2011 was appointed Chief of the Amiri Diwan.
Al Attiyah has also served as Chairman of Qatar’s Planning Commission. He was also elected as Chairman of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in 2006, and president of the 18th session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC held in Doha in 2012 (COP18/ CMP8).
During his illustrious career, Al Attiyah has been bestowed a number of awards and honours including the Grand Cross in the Order of the Orange Nassau conferred by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Kingdom of Netherlands, and the Grand Cordon Order of the Rising Sun awarded by His Imperial Majesty Emperor of Japan, in recognition of his contribution in promoting bilateral relations between Qatar and Japan.
Al Attiyah was also conferred the Necklace of Independence award in December 2011 by HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of the state of Qatar, for his salutary contribution in towards Qatar’s commitment to transparency in business and for his efforts towards the progress of the national economy. He was also conferred the Legion of Honor in 2014 by the French president and was awarded an honorary doctorate by Texas A & M University in 2011.

It is noteworthy that the15th Industrialists’ Conference to identify clear policies to stimulate development plans in GCC countries based on a comprehensive set of elements drawing foreign investors. It also seeks to create 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. The conference will seek to strengthen the level of competitiveness of GCC countries by attracting foreign investments to promote Gulf economies.
The conference will develop 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 development goals and maximise the benefit from these investments. In addition to that, they will work on determining 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.