Launched today in Kuwait with a wide participation from the industrial sector

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, the sessions of the 15th Industrialists’ Conference “Foreign Direct Investments: their impact on Gulf industries” will be inaugurated on Wednesday, November 25, 2015. The Conference is held by 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) 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). It will take place at the Sheraton Hotel, Kuwait, on the 25th and 26th of November, 2015.

The opening session of the 15th Industrialists’ Conference will start at 8:00 am with the recitation of the Holy Quran. The first speaker will be His Excellency Dr. Yousef Al-Ali, Kuwait’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, followed by His Excellency Dr. Abdullatif Bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, represented by His Excellency Mr. Abdullah Bin Juma Al-Shibli, Assistant Secretary General for Economic and Development Affairs at the Secretariat General who will deliver his speech. His Excellency Mr. Abdulaziz Bin Hamad Al-Ageel, GOIC Secretary General will then deliver his address before the discourse of the FGCCC. Afterwards, Keynote Speaker HE Mr. Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, former Second Deputy Prime Minister of Qatar will deliver his speech, and then an opening video clip will be played before honouring the sponsors of the event.
The first day will include a ministerial roundtable discussion on the importance of FDIs to industrial development in the GCC. Ministers of industry from different GCC countries and the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council will participate in this session chaired by His Excellency Dr. Meshaal Al-Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Director General of KDIPA.

Conference Sessions

Day I

The first session will discuss the current status, development and incentives of foreign investments in GCC countries and include topics such as FDIs and their impact on GCC industries, its current status, developments and fields, and the global and regional progresses of foreign investments compared to GCC countries.
The second session will tackle the role of foreign investments and their impact on GCC economies. It will examine the contribution of FDIs to GCC economic development and the role of these investments in light of economic difficulties and challenges in the GCC.
The third session will include a workshop on future investment opportunities in the GCC railway project, held in collaboration with the Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council. A number of specialised international companies operating in the field of railways will take part in a working session and present industrial investment opportunities.

Day II

The sessions of the 15th Industrialists’ Conference will continue on Thursday, November 26, 2015, and the fourth session will be entitled “The role of the private sector and SMEs in drawing FDIs”. It will tackle the role of the private sector in improving the industrial investment environment to draw foreign investments and in promoting Gulf investments between GCC countries. It will also study global private sector success stories in promoting industrial investment opportunities aiming at attracting FDIs.
The fifth session will be on preparing and improving GCC’s investment environment. It will tackle improving the environment for doing business and foreign investments towards a flexible and efficient infrastructure, in addition to the best practices in doing business environment and infrastructure.
The sixth and last session will be entitled “Foreign investments in the industrial sector and their role in developing knowledge and transferring technology”. It will examine industries attracting FDIs in GCC countries, the importance of foreign investments in developing and transferring technology in the GCC, global success stories in attracting foreign investments in traditional and knowledge-based industries.

The 15th Industrialists’ Conference will be concluded with a series of recommendations aiming at determining clear development policies in the GCC based on a comprehensive set of elements drawing foreign investors. The Conference will seek to build an ambitious strategy to develop and promote the industrial sector in order to attract more foreign investments. Furthermore, it will recommend enacting legislations and laws and offering facilitations and incentives to foreign investors in order to create a promising investment environment and to promote competitiveness of the GCC industrial sector by attracting foreign investments to stimulate Gulf economies. The recommendations will also include plans to improve the investment environment and overcome obstacles hampering foreign investments and to align foreign investments with GCC strategic plans and development objectives in order to maximise the benefit from these investments.
The 15th Industrialists’ Conference will also seek to determine key pillars of GCC industrial investment plans.