The opening of the 14th Industrialists’ Conference with the participation of a large number of decision makers, industrialists and investors

Sayyid Asaad bin Tareq Al Said: “Gulf industrial integration will be gradually achieved, and knowledge is the weapon to guarantee competitiveness.”

His Highness Sayyid Asaad bin Tareq Al Said, representative of His Majesty the Sultan stated: “Gulf industrial integration will be gradually achieved and the Sultanate of Oman is witnessing a huge development of the basic infrastructure (seaports and airports).” He added: “Knowledge is the key weapon to achieve competitiveness at the regional and international levels.”
His Highness delivered his speech inaugurating the 14th Industrialists’ Conference “Industrial Exports: Opportunities and Challenges” on Sunday at Al-Bustan Palace Hotel, Muscat, Oman. Ministers of industry in GCC countries and Yemen in addition to several industrialists, private and public sectors specialised experts, businessmen and government officials are attending this conference.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by a large number of ministers and economists from GCC countries and Yemen, in addition to economists, industrialists and diplomats from GCC, Yemen and several other countries.
His Highness Sayyid Asaad bin Tareq Al Said, representative of His Majesty the Sultan, patron of this conference opined that the conference is held in an adequate timing while some Arab countries are witnessing major changes. His Highness stressed the importance of GCC cooperation to face major challenges.
Speaking to reporters, His Highness commended Turkey for its success in the area of exports which is considered a living example of a developed industrial sector. He highlighted the importance of supporting the youth and industrial zones and stated: “I am confident that the conference will have positive results and participants will benefit from the expertise of the esteemed speakers.”

Al-Sunaidy
The conference started with recitation from the Holy Quran, followed by the speech of Dr. Ali bin Masoud bin Ali Al-Sunaidy, Omani minister of commerce and industry in which he said: “Several countries are increasingly focusing on the industrial sector in light of its key role in developing national economies. Indeed, the industrial sector is key to provide job opportunities for the youth and boost in-country value. Thus, it is of utmost importance to develop industrial exports to regional and international markets, since local markets’ capacity is limited when it comes to demand of local factories’ products.”
Al-Sunaidy added: “The establishment of export-oriented industrial projects reinforces the Balance of Payments, spurs growth in other benefits from resettlement of technologies and attracts foreign investments. Furthermore, this conference is a platform allowing businessmen to meet their counterparts, exchange expertise and make deals. Gulf gas-based industries had to deal with several anti-dumping cases that required spending a lot of time and money. Some of the factories have lost their competitiveness because our markets are flooded with international products that are exempt or subject to no more than 5% customs fees. Therefore, these regulations need to be revisited in line with GCC goals and strategies related to boosting exports, notably of petrochemical and mining products.

Al-Zayani
Dr. Abdul-Latif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council stressed the importance of deploying continuous efforts to develop Gulf industries by adopting strategic programs and plans aiming at laying the foundation of an integrated Gulf industrial system. Additional measures should include building modern industrial cities backed by large development projects, facilitating the flow of exports to the markets, reinforcing private sector’s role, implementing the decisions of GCC Customs Union and the principles of GCC common market and promoting Gulf economic citizenship.
Al-Zayani stated: “I am very pleased to know that the conference dedicated one of the sessions to study the current status of export industries in GCC countries and Yemen. This reflects the policy of GCC countries keen to support Yemen and the efforts of the Government of Yemen at the political, economic and security levels for a better future. In fact, Yemen has various natural resources, skilful and trained human cadres and an important geographic location. It is also a promising market for trade. All these features and characteristics highly contribute to the growth and development of the industrial sector in Yemen to play the desired role in developing the economy of the country.”

Al-Ageel
GOIC Secretary General said: “GCC and Yemen industrial exports have achieved a remarkable progress in the recent years; exports and re-exports were highly important to GCC economies: their total value jumped from nearly 727 billion USD in 2008 to almost 1061 billion USD in 2012. This huge surge was the direct result of the increase in oil exports’ value because of the rise of international oil prices. In addition to that, industrial products’ exports such as petrochemical products, chemical fertilizers, aluminium and others have increased as well. Furthermore, GCC industrial exports increased from approximately 55 billion USD in 2008 to nearly 115 billion USD in 2012 (12.6% of the total Gulf exports, worth almost 908 billion USD in 2012).”
Al-Ageel highlighted the important role played by GOIC that is working on several projects under the technical cooperation and regional coordination program. GOIC initiatives aim at supporting Gulf industrial integration. He added: “GOIC is deploying efforts to encourage and support Gulf exports and increase development capacities of industrial products through several programs, studies, reports and consulting services. In fact, the 14th Industrialists’ Conference “Industrial Exports: Opportunities and Challenges” is one of these many initiatives. Moreover, the Secretariat-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council tasked GOIC experts with preparing a comprehensive study on non-oil GCC export strategy and developing a framework for the implementation of the plan. The objective is to help these countries achieve desired economic diversification.”  

Mustafa Mente
Keynote speaker Mr. Mustafa Mente, Secretary General of the Turkish Exporters Assembly talked about the Assembly’s experience. He explained that it represents 60 regional and sectorial exporters associations and works with more than 58000 active exporting companies. According to Mr. Mente, the goal of the Assembly is to raise the value of annual Turkish exports to 500 billion USD in 2023. Turkish exports were worth 47.2 billion USD in 2003 and increased to 151.1 billion USD in 2013.

Awards were presented to the sponsors of the 14th Industrialists’ Conference: the strategic partner the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE); diamond sponsors: Agility, The United Steel Industrial Company (UNISTEEL) and Takamul Investment Company; the platinum sponsor: Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (ORPIC); gold sponsors: Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company (QIMC), Naser M. Al Baddah & Partner General Trading & Contracting Company and Oman Arab Bank; silver sponsors: Kuwait Fund For Arab Economic Development, State Holding, Al Foah, Almarai and PSCS; media sponsors: the regional media partner: Al-Hayat Newspaper, and media partners: Saudi Al-Riyadh Newspaper, Qatari Al-Sharq Newspaper, Construction Magazine, Al-Massira Magazine published by the Secretariat-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Oil & Gas Journal, Aamal Al-Khaleej, Gulf Business and “Ain Al-Riyadh” Website.
In addition to that, Engineer Ahmed bin Hassan Al-Dheeb, Undersecretary of Oman’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Chairman of the Board of Directors of GOIC presented an appreciation plaque to the patron of the event His Highness Sayyid Asaad bin Tareq Al Said, representative of His Majesty the Sultan.
After the awards ceremony, the esteemed ministers of industry and GCC Secretary General took part in an open dialogue session moderated by Dr. Ihsan Bin Ali Bu-Hulaiga, former Secretary General of the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC). The session tackled key issues related to the industrial sector in the region and the opportunities and challenges in the area of industrial exports with the participation of several Gulf industrialists and international experts.

Day II sessions
The fourth session will be held on Monday and will tackle “investment policies and financing mechanisms of industrial exports.” Professor Yahya Al-Mutawakel, former Yemeni minister of industry and trade and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Yemeni Academy for Graduate Studies will chair the session. The panellists will be Mr. Fahad Rashid Al-Ibrahim, Director General of the Arab Investment & Export Credit Guarantee Corporation and Mr. Ali Al-Ayed, Director General of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund.
The speakers of the following session will be Mr. Mohammed Bin Hilal Al-Jabri, Head of Marketing at the Export Credit Guarantee Agency of Oman and Mr. Ahmed Mohammad Al-Ghannam, Director General of Saudi Export Program and Assistant to the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of the Saudi Fund for Development. They will examine opportunities and challenges to investments in export industries, financing services and industrial exports guarantee in GCC countries and Yemen, in addition to mechanisms to support SME industrial exports.
The fifth session will be entitled “International success stories in export development”. It will be chaired by Mr. Qais bin Mohammed Moosa Al-Yousef, Chief Executive Officer and Member of Management Board at Al Yousef Group LLC. The speakers will be Mr. Cenk Aydin who will explain the Turkish experience and Mr. Parth Tewari, Head of Operations for the Competitive Industries Practice of the World Bank Group who will talk about the experience of Singapore.
After this session, there will be an open dialogue between panelists: Dr. Jo Dongho Jo, Director of the Economic Cooperation Division at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, Mr. Ali Abu Kamil, private sector development specialist at the MENA World Bank, Dr. Bischoff, Director General of the Center for Materials Science in Qatar and Dr. Nasser Al-Jaidi supervisor of the Institute of Prince Abdul Rahman bin Nasser for research and advisory services at the University of Salman Bin Abdul Aziz.
The discussions will focus on their experiences in the area of industrial exports financing, export support institutions, infrastructure (seaports, transport and telecommunications), access to regional and international markets, criteria and specifications of exported products, national legislations and laws and their conformity with WTO agreements, lessons learned and the implementation in GCC countries and Yemen in the area of credit and financing policies and legislations, laws and mechanisms. 
The conference will be concluded on Monday with a closure statement and recommendations of the participants.
The 14th Industrialists’ 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).