Launched by H.E. Al Attiyah Next Sunday:
GOIC Conducts a Forum on International Experiences in Industrial Clusters Development
29 May 2008
Doha ,Qatar

H.E. Abdullah Bin Hamad al-Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry in the State of Qatar, launches next Sunday, June 1, a Forum on International Experiences in Industrial Clusters Development.

The forum aims to explore various options and approaches in clusters' development in a number of countries ranging from developed countries to developing economies. The three-session forum focuses on SMIs based on the fact that international experiences proofed that this kind of enterprises when performing within clusters, have benefited from the creation of growth, competitiveness, networking and opportunities of investment.

The forum is organized by the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) in cooperation with the Ministry of Energy and Industry in the State of Qatar. The forum will give participants the chance to have an insight into the challenges and gains in developing industrial clusters from other contexts and countries; learn from best practices and how they can be applied in their respective context. The forum will also tackle three experiences from GCC in industrial clusters field in each of the United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and State of Qatar.

It is worth mentioning that the number of SMIs in GCC member states reached some 10,000 mainly concentrated in the sectors of Chemicals and Plastic, as well as Non-metal mining industries (except Petroleum). SMIs represent 86.3% of the total number of Gulf factories. The volume of investment in this sector is some US D 10.8 billion; and manpower is some 464,490 worker.

According to GOIC, SMIs have achieved growth in terms of number; from 7000 factories in 2002 to some 10,000 factories in 2007; i.e. an average growth rate of 43%, and an average annual growth rate of 7.4%. The United Arab Emirates achieved the highest rate in term of the number of factories in this sector by having 3,828 factories in 2007, compared to 2,282 factories in 2002, i.e. a growth rate of 68% during the same period. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ranked second, as SMIs increased from 2,546 to 3,323; at a growth rate of almost 30% during the same period.

Preliminary statistics performed by GOIC show that the number of industrial clusters in GCC member states is some 200 clusters working in Petrochemicals, Traditional Industries, Cement, Aluminium, and Fertilizers, further to Service-based Clusters.

As a final point, the application of industrial clusters in GCC member states faces a set of obstacles relating to the lack of awareness or knowledge of their importance, lack of trained human resources and marketing abilities, lack of appropriate financing mechanism, besides infrastructure bottlenecks, information gaps, lack of coordination and linkages between different stakeholders as well as the lack of institutional framework for such type of projects.

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A 5.2 MTPA Shortfall in Flat Steel Products in 2010:
GOIC Presents Two Studies on Steel Rolling and Building Materials Industry in Project Qatar 2008
07 – 10 April 2008
Doha ,Qatar

Within the framework of its continuous attention to support the industrial sector and seize the opportunities of important economic events in the region, the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) participates in the 5 th International Trade Exhibition for Construction Technology, Building Materials, Equipment & Environmental Technology in Qatar "Project Qatar 2008", which was launched yesterday evening, April 7 and lasts until 10 th. In this participation, GOIC intends to shed light on the vital role of consultancy in the construction sector as it is expanding rapidly in GCC region. In its suite, GOIC had a presentation which tackled its services, expertise, programs, tangible achievements, as well as alliances and associations with a multitude of local, regional and international institutions, both in the public and private domains.

At the level of studies presented by GOIC in the exhibition, GOIC's suite has witnessed significant attendance in the opening day on its study on Building Materials Industry in GCC. It is a Multi-Client Study Report that identifies investment opportunities in the building materials sector to investors considering the demand projection. It also investigates the construction sector growth, trends in application, demand assessment and demand projection for 20 identified building materials. In addition, the study sheds light on the status of building materials' manufacturing industry in GCC.

The other study presented by GOIC is also a Multi-Client Study specialized in Steel Rolling. This study provides investment opportunities in steel rolling sector; as well as an overview of global trends, status of rolling mills in the GCC, analysis of foreign trade, apparent consumption and demand projection of intermediate and finished rolled products in GCC by 2010 and 2015. Furthermore, Steel Rolling Study Report examines the areas of gap and identifies the type and capacity of rolling mills to be set up to meet the demand along with the export possibilities in neighboring countries.

It is worth mentioning that the study on Steel Rolling examines the present level of imports and future plans for expansion of steel production for 15 countries in the neighborhood. Based on available data, 10 of these countries have been selected as target countries for export of rolled steel from the GCC. The total steel import of these 10 target countries was 7.7 million ton in 2006. While the study expected that the shortfall in flat steel products will be some 5.2 MTPA in 2010.

On the other hand, GOIC provided the visitors with an idea on its online Industrial Market Intelligence Portal (IMI) which provides Industrial & Socioeconomic Data on GCC region and caters to the needs of investors and industrialists for the basic industrial information necessary for decision making on Investment and Marketing. Throughout the exhibition days, GOIC IMI Team will be there to provide the suite's visitors with specialized information and reports for free. This comes in conjunction with the release of the new, high-tech version of IMI which GOIC has lately launched to further facilitate users' access and improve performance.

It is worth mentioning that GOIC, founded in 197 6 , targets developing industries throughout the GCC by means of providing, both the industrial and economic sectors, with distinctive knowledge, consultancy and technical services. GOIC's mandate is to promote the highest levels of industrial cooperation and collaboration, in both the public and private sectors, by providing a complete set of high-quality, specialized research, information and consultancy services.

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US D 400 Millions the investment size of proposed projects:
GOIC Presents 5 New Industrial Projects in the 3 rd Investors Meet

 October 31, 2007

Dr. Mohammad Saleh Al Sada, Qatari Minister of State for Energy & Industry Affairs called industrial development banks in GCC member states to develop projects' financing mechanisms, in the remark which Engineer Sa'eed Al Kuwari, Director of Industrial Development Department delivered on his behalf in the 3 rd Investors Meet held at GOIC yesterday. Dr. Al Sada added that development banks need continuous development of the mechanisms and systems of projects' financing, as this will elevate them to the required level of challenge. Also, he described entrepreneurs and investors to be the driving force behind economic development in any country, and it is they who undertake calculated initiatives and establish projects by means of utilizing investment opportunities, such as those presented in this meet, which are to foster economic growth forward.

In addition, the minister called the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) and similar organizations to work on introducing both profitable and sustainable at the long terms. He also pointed that "Such kind of cooperative partnerships help in building confidence on the part of investor and encourage foreign investments and export competitiveness". "GCC member states exert efforts to increase the share of the non-oil sector in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), something which suites the call for more diversification in the economic base. This kind of challenge cannot be faced by consultative organizations alone, it requires further to that investors who are capable and willing to delve into this field, as well as development banks which are capable of providing their financing offers, alongside other supporting mechanisms on the part of governments." Dr. Al Sada reported. 

On her part, Dr. Lulwa A. Al-Misned, Assistant Secretary General
for Industrial Investment Promotion in GOIC said "We need to think ahead if we have to catch up with some of the technologically advanced countries in future.", indicating that such technological leap would require that "we think of more advanced technologies in the preliminary stages of its development elsewhere fund them and develop them for its eventual implementation in this region." Dr. Al-Misned reported, assuring, meanwhile, the role of development banks at all development stages.

Dr. Al-Misned also pointed to the Meet Agenda and that the objective of investors meets have been to identify viable projects for the GCC region, develop the projects in association with technology licensors and present the techno-economic findings of such studies to prospective investors in this region. "We hope that such an exercise would not only stimulate the thinking process of investors but also act as a catalyst in promoting new projects." she added.

In addition, Dr. Al-Misned assured that GOIC would render all necessary professional support required in terms of project identification, market research, technology sourcing, technical evaluation and techno-economic feasibility studies. And she pointed out that in this meet GOIC is presenting five new projects to participants, which were picked up employing the criteria of first of its kind in GCC, import substitution, export potential, enhanced value addition and industrial development of this region.

In the inaugural session also, Member of the Board of Directors of Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI), Mr. Mohammed Mahdi Al Ahbabi talked about the importance of the support offered by governments, businessmen, and investors to the industrial sector as it is considered the perfect way to diversify income resources, instead of depending on a single depletionable commodity. He also added that industry can achieve self-satisfaction phase in some sectors and reduce imports. In the remark which was delivered on behalf of Sheikh Khalifa Bin Jassem Bin Mohammed Al Thani, Chairman of QCCI, Mr. Al Ahbabi indicated that the real problem which faces Gulf industry is represented in the lack of raw materials which are mainly restricted to oil and gas, further to the unavailability of advanced technologies; this resulted in Gulf industries' inability to compete with foreign products, specially in SMEs sector. However, in the field of heavy industries which extensively depend on energy such as iron and steel, and petrochemicals, GCC member states were capable of achieving great progress at global level.

On the other hand, Mr. Al Ahbabi criticized the poor turnout of the private sector in terms of investing in the industrial sector. Meanwhile, he called for working together to encourage single entrepreneurs on the part of businessmen to advance the industrial sector, further to governments' supporting role to those entrepreneurships, in a way and mechanism that can achieve benefits for the national economy of GCC member states.

Finally, during the Meet, GOIC presented new projects which were selected after screening more than fifty project ideas. The new projects where ISO Propyl Alcohol, Aluminium Die Cast Parts for Automotive Industry, ISO Standard Dry Shipping Containers, Ultra Thin Aluminium Foil, and Nitric Acid & UAN-32 Solutions. It is worth mentioning that the investment size in the proposed projects is estimated to US D 400 millions, and in case of implementation they will create around 350 job opportunities.

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GCC Petrochemical Industry
Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Global petrochemical Industry is facing lot of changes in the past few years. We have seen lot of challenges: prices of crude oil and gas have soared and continuous to do so; petrochemical margins in GCC touched record levels while the plants in the West are facing tough times; economies of China and India continues to grow and have substantial impact on the market and prices of petrochemicals, etc are a few worth mentioning here. And another challenge is the overheated EPC contract market which is pushing the project costs to record levels.

Participants in the global petrochemical industry must consider the impact of the capacity growth in the GCC and the Middle East on global markets. By the year 2010, the countries of the Middle East will produce above 20% of the world’s basic petrochemicals and polymers, such as ethylene and polyethylene.

Feedstock prices vary by country in GCC, but they all provide feedstock at attractive prices that provides an incentive to invest in the hydrocarbon production.  This enables a Gulf-based producer to manufacture and deliver petrochemicals, say, polyolefins at a price typically below 75% of that of cost in China and elsewhere.  But the demand comes mainly from China and to less extend from India.

Opportunities for continued and future petrochemical development include exploiting the energy advantage to a greater degree. This means that more capacity in energy intensive chemicals. The development further along the petrochemical value chain will be driven by an export orientation. 

Most of the GCC countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE already in place healthy and growing base chemical production that utilizes methane, ethane, and gas liquid feedstock in petrochemical units. These plants are of global size and utilize best and modern technologies. With base and secondary chemical production already flourishing, producers have begun exploring tertiary industries. This can offer diversity and better value addition to the industry. They are actively collaborating with petrochemical industry participants to gain access to technology and expertise.

Good infrastructure can be found in large industrial cities, such as Jubail, Yanbu ΄ , Messaieed and Ras Laffan. The GCC country governments have made the investments in ports, roads, and buildings to promote the industrial growth. However, space in the existing industrial cities is becoming limited due to high growth rate witnessed recently , and additional development will be necessary to support future growth. 

On the financing side, strong growth has occurred in the Middle East banking sector in the past decade. The equity markets have also emerged in all GCC countries. Foreign direct investment (FDI), another important economic driver, has grown modestly during the past decade. It can be evidenced from joint ventures formed with foreign companies such as Shell, ExxonMobil, Dow, Total Petrochemicals, and ChevronPhillips.

The Middle East will exert an increasing influence on global petrochemical markets over the long term due to its advantaged feedstock position. Further petrochemical development will lead to growth in tertiary, energy-intensive and export-oriented conversion industries.

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Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, with the attendance of their Excellencies the ministers of industry in the GCC member states; Abu Dhabi Emirate hosts the GCC 11th Industrialists' Conference in January 2008.

The conference is organized by the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting in cooperation with some industrial stakeholders in the United Arab Emirates. The conference targets to create a vision of petrochemicals industry in the GCC in 2020.

The two-day conference agenda includes an open discussion session with their Excellencies the ministers of industry in the GCC, alongside 4 work sessions, subsidiary workshops, further to the accompanying exhibition.

On its part, the GCC Industrialists Conferences series which GOIC is accustomed to conduct is considered a great chance for bringing together the key industrialization stakeholders in the region with the target of drafting a common vision on the important strategic issues of the industrial sector; the subject matter of this 11th conference is a key issue for decision makers in the GCC.

From a statistical perspective, statistics indicates that the average of gulf investment value growth in chemicals and petrochemicals between 2000 – 2006 was 5%; as it increased from US D 70 billions, thus constituting 59% of the total gulf investment in the processing industries which equals some US D 118.3 billions. On the other hand, workforce in this sector reached some 163,134 workers in 2006, with a growth rate of 4.9% since 2000 when there were 122,735 workers.

It is worth highlighting that petrochemicals industry is considered amongst the dynamic industries due to the multiplicity and density of its products and complexions as well as its wide range of applications in the different fields of modern life. As such, this conference provides the opening for GCC member states to restructure their processing industries in a way that helps them achieve more integration, interrelation and balance, and thus providing it with more endurance and competitiveness in the global markets.

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H.E. Dr. Ahmed Khalil Al Mutawa, Secretary General of Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting, welcomed H.E. the Brazilian Ambassador in the State of Qatar Mr. Ali Ibrahim at GOIC premises in Doha. During the visit, Dr. Al Mutawa shed some light on the services that GOIC provides to the Gulf Business sector and its role in the industrial and economic development in GCC member states as well as the programs and activities that GOIC perform. Their Excellencies also exchanged the views with regards to cooperation prospects between GOIC; with its tendencies and programs, and the concerned parties in the Republic of Brazil.

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A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed on Tuesday 6th of March 2007, in Doha Qatar, between Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) and the Geneva-based agency International Services Trade Information Agency (ISTIA). Signing the MOU, was H.E. Dr. Ahmed Khalil Al Mutawa, GOIC Secretary General, and Ms. Jennifer M. Powell, ISTIA Executive Director.

This is a strategic partnership between GOIC and ISTIA. It is aimed at assisting the GCC countries towards building capacity to measure globalization data such as trade-in-services – crucial information for World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations – as well as foreign direct investment (FDI), operations of FDI-related enterprises, cross-border joint-ventures (JV), and transfers of technology via FDI or strategic alliances. In the context of a more global and integrated world economy, such information is crucial for both GCC governments, as well as the private sector.

Developing such information database, will give the GCC countries the tools necessary to successfully measure, understand and plan strategically for requirements of a more global and integrated world economy. GCC governments require this new globalization dataset to better negotiate in the WTO under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), as well as in other bilateral trade and investment negotiations. Capacity building is needed by high-level government officials and policymakers of GCC member states to bridge the gap between the new globalization data framework and their decision-making activities.

In the new millennium, services are instrumental components of industrial activities; previously, services and industrial business activities were viewed as distinct and separate. The modern global economy views services and industrial activity as symbiotic and integrated for two principal reasons. Firstly, because businesses require efficient services sectors such as transportation and communications for domestic or import/export commercial operations. Secondly, modern business models no longer view companies as strictly services-only or industrial-only. In the 21st century, many companies which used to be famous for only selling goods, now also sell services as separate products; one example of this is Hewlett Packard, a former hardware-only firm which now sells consulting, business integration and other services as stand-alone products. Services also make up a significant share of the GDP for all countries in the world; developed country GDP is usually 70-85% services-driven, while developing country GDP figures are generally 35-70% services-based.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a part of the WTO GATS agreement, and in this light, measurement of FDI on a basis which allows sectoral and partner country identification is of crucial importance. Successful ISTIA collaboration seeks to facilitate the public and private sectors of GCC countries to operate in a manner most proactive and strategic in relation to globalization affairs.

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Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 5th February 2007 with National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), an internationally recognized think-tank in New Delhi, India. NCAER, an independent and non-profit research institution of international repute, is committed to assist in economic governance of both public and private sector to make informed policy choices.

Dr Ahmed Khalil Al-Mutawa, Secretary-General, GOIC, Qatar informed that GOIC undertakes a number of activities that are designed to provide data, research and analysis, development plans and information to help its clients, private and public sector, make sound, reliable and well-informed decisions on any new industrial ventures and on establishing a sustainable and competitive industrial sector. GOIC has been making all out efforts to make use of global expertise to develop a globally competitive industrial sector in the GCC region. Dr Suman Bery, Director General of the NCAER, New Delhi and his team of experts readily responded enthusiastically to accept GOIC request to have a technical collaboration.

Dr Ahmed Khalil Al-Mutawa, Secretary-General, GOIC, Qatar reported that signing of the MOU creates a working relationship between the GOIC and the NCAER that would help us to foster industrial development across the GCC Region. This MOU establishes a framework for facilitating cooperation and coordination between the two organizations in the areas of economic research, exchange of information and collaboration in undertaking consultancy assignments. This MOU also provides for training of researchers through twinning arrangements or, joint training programs, joint proposals for studies, secondments and other mutually agreed methods including work placements under joint projects and visiting fellowship.

Dr Ahmed also believes that more than ever today, we all need a functioning global knowledge system through which the world's peoples can face global challenges together. GOIC hopes that signing of similar MOUs will provide an opportunity to consolidate the global expertise available across the globe for the mutual benefit.

GOIC delegation was headed by GOIC Secretary General, H.E. Dr. Ahmed Khalil Al Mutawa accompanied by high ranking GOIC Experts.

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Within the framework of its international cooperation program, the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) conducted a meeting on Tuesday, March 6, 2007 at GOIC premises in Doha, to discuss the indicators of the Unified Industrial Strategy in GCC and the needed requirements to help the member states implement global industrial indicators.

The meeting discussed the importance of monitoring the Unified Industrial Strategy and studying the requirements of helping GCC member states in implementing the global industrial indicators. In this respect, GOIC developed quantities indicators to monitor the implementation of the unified strategy in the region. Furthermore, participants in the meeting tackled the issue of industrial competitiveness and the importance of putting a long-term, strategic vision to support GCC member states' capabilities as well as the necessity of building their capabilities in international trade; and flow of foreign investment taking into consideration the relative merits of each.

On the other hand, the meeting assured the importance of setting up the infrastructure for quality; along with raising productivity; and following up technical updates worldwide. Within the same context, the exerted efforts and pioneering role which GOIC is playing in developing Knowledge-based Industries Roadmap for GCC Countries was brought to light; being considered an excellent step towards setting the foundation for those industries, and following up updates further to creating potential for GCC future competitiveness in this field.

It is worth mentioning that GOIC, founded in 1976, targets developing industries throughout the GCC by means of providing, both the industrial and economic sectors, with distinctive knowledge, consultancy and technical services. GOIC 's mandate is to promote the highest levels of industrial cooperation and collaboration, in both the public and private sectors, by providing a complete set of high-quality, specialized research, information and consultancy services.

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