The Conference will start next Sunday with a large participation from the industrial sector

Next Sunday, the 14th Industrialists’ Conference “Industrial Exports: Opportunities and Challenges” will be held under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Assaad bin Tareq al Said representing His Majesty the Sultan and with the participation of ministers of industry in GCC countries and Yemen. The Conference will be held on the 30th and 31st of March, 2014 at Al-Bustan Palace, Ritz Carlton Hotel, Muscat, Oman, with the participation of a large group of Gulf industrialists and international specialists and experts in exports.

The conference is organised by Oman Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC), in collaboration with the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE), the Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development in Oman (PAIPED) and Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) 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 stated: “A large number of interested parties, stakeholders and specialists from different industrial areas in the private and public sectors will take part in this event in addition to businessmen and government officials.” He added: “This participation will boost the efforts of the conference through valuable ideas and information and constructive suggestions. It will also shed light on the challenges to industrial exports and available opportunities that will lead this sector to achieving anticipated objectives.”
Mr. Al-Ageel opined: “This conference will contribute in setting the foundation of exporting businesses in the Arabian Gulf which will boost Gulf industrial exports to international markets. It will play a key role in promoting relationships between Gulf countries and allowing industrial SMEs and businessmen to invest in industrial exports and establish companies and firms specialising in exports to international markets.”

Conference themes
The diverse themes of the 14th Industrialists’ Conference tackle the current status of industrial exports in GCC countries and Yemen and the most important challenges. The conference covers legislations and study their impact on industrial exports through an in-depth discussion of all legislative, regulatory and legal aspects influencing GCC industrial exports at all levels. It also tackles relevant agreements between GCC countries and Yemen. Moreover, participants will examine policies and mechanisms of investment, financing and support to industrial exports while focusing on the role of governmental agencies and local investment funds to support export industries and attract national and foreign capital through financial incentives and tax cuts for companies, particularly in industrial cities and zones.

In addition to that, the conference will highlight local and international case studies in developing exports; they reflect different experiences of various countries in financing industrial exports, export support institutions, infrastructure (ports, transportation and telecommunications), access to regional and international markets and criteria and standards of exports. Participants will discuss national legislations and laws, and to which extent they are in line with relevant World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement. They will benefit from lessons learned by different countries and examine the possibility of replicating success stories in GCC countries and Yemen in the areas of credit and financing policies, legislations, laws and mechanisms.

Industrialists’ Conference Background Information
The Gulf Industrialists’ Conference organised by GOIC and hosted in rotation between member states every other year is one of the Organization’s most important achievements since its foundation in 1976. The recommendations of the previous conferences that started in Doha in 1985 and the papers and studies delivered by international experts and specialists have indeed contributed in developing GCC industrial plans, particularly related to the industrial development strategy.”

Decision makers, officials, businessmen and industrialists are all interested in this conference. In its 13th version, the recommendations were to promote and develop a culture of scientific research, innovation and development. The conference also concluded that awareness should be raised regarding the important role of science and scientists within the society and among businessmen and industrialists in GCC countries. Furthermore, efforts are also to be deployed to encourage the private sector to boost investments in the area of research and development and to attract scientists and innovators and offer them appropriate financial and moral incentives.