GOIC - Press Releases

The Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) in close cooperation with the Oman Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is offering a unique opportunity for companies, institutions and organizations involved in industrial development policy making throughout the GCC to take part and/or sponsor the Introductory Workshop on Industrial Clusters Development to be held on 26–28 August 2007 in Salalah, Sultanate of Oman.

Evidence on global level shows that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can boost their competitiveness through networking with firms situated and working closely with each other in “clusters”. This introductory workshop aims to introduce the concept of clusters in the GCC.

In order to deliver the most professional introductory workshop for policy makers and executive level professionals from specialized organizations, GOIC has sought the skills and know-how of experts with established experience of work with developing a multitude of industrial clusters.

As an outcome of the workshop, participants will have an understanding about how cluster development can be applied in their respective context.

A limited number of sponsorship packages are still available. Sponsors will benefit of:

Free attendance: Silver sponsors 2 individuals, Gold sponsors 3, Platinum 5 individuals;
Full recognition on all the Program printouts (brochures, banners, handouts);
A dedicated stand/exposition spot at the Event (if requested);
Exposure to the local news as well as visibility within the industry;
Priority access to the complete two weeks Training Program on Industrial Cluster Development to be organized for technical cluster project managers in the near future.

Additional details on the Program, Registration of Participants and the Sponsorship Schemes can be downloaded from below.

We truly encourage all interested participants and/or sponsors to contact GOIC as early as possible as the number of free spots are limited. Should you need additional details or information, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Nada Al Amri on +974 485 8888 or Kristina Csiki on +974 6658955.

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PETROCHEMICAL SECTOR: A VISION FOR 2020” - GOIC 11 th Industrialists’ Conference.
January 2008, Abu Dhabi.

GOIC is organizing its 11 th Industrialists conference in January 2008 in Abu Dhabi. The Conference will be 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.

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.

The petrochemicals industry is considered amongst the dynamic industries due to the multiplicity and density of its products and complexions as well as its wide rage 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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GOIC and Gulf One Bank Form A Project Development Company

The joint agreement signed by both Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC), and Gulf One Investment Bank (G1), covers establishing a joint company that provides support to critical various stages of green field, from doing a feasibility study for different projects till the final stage of financial closure. The sector focus in Infrastructure and Energy-related projects.

Dr. Ahmed Al-Mutawa’a, the Secretary General of GOIC, illustrated that the vital role of the new company is to capitalize on the considerable in-house technical expertise in industrial consulting within the organization. The latest development of the enormous opportunities in Industrial and Infrastructure sectors in the Gulf region compelled the establishment of this joint venture. The key objective of this venture is to improve the private sector’s access to industrial projects and to support theist decision making by providing structured and reliable methodology that will enhance the quality of investments in such projects.

Dr. Nahed Taher, the CEO and a board member of Gulf One Bank, stressed on the aligned vision of the bank and GOIC on the growing market demand for such services in the region. G1 blends global standards and regional knowledge in the financial evaluation and planning for mega projects. The bank’s involvement in this joint-venture aim to enhance the returns and eliminate the downside risks or constrains on such sophisticated, sizable and long-term projects.

Project sponsors face many uncertainties as they move a project idea from business concept and feasibility assessment to construction financing. Early definition of a project’s financial structure, economic drivers and potential development obstacles significantly improves the project’s successful and cost-effective implementation. Understanding and optimizing the complex relationships among the technical, financial and development aspects of a project requires an integrated team with multidisciplinary expertise.

Both GOIC and G1 believe that the project development company through early collaboration with their clients’ project teams, by providing feasibility studies and financing plans will integrate a project’s technical, financial and development information to arrive at economically viable project options. GOIC has already performed these services for many clients across a variety of industries, for the Gulf governments, resulting in high professional credibility and strong relationships with major international institutions. The new partnership with G1 aims to strengthen these services to attract various private sector institutional and individual investors including banks, capital markets and private investors, as well as government-supported export credit and multilateral agencies.

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Aid for Trade: From Policy to Practice
6 - 7 November, 2006 - Doha, Qatar

The Policy Dialogue on Aid for Trade: From Policy to Practice opens under the patronage of H E Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the State of Qatar. The event is organized in Doha, 6 -7 November, 2006, by The Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) in partnership with the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).

H.E. Dr. Ahmed Khalil Al Mutawa, Secretary General of Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting, welcomed H.E. the Ariterian 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 industrial 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 Ariteria.

On the other side, a delegation from Doha Bank led by Mr. R. Seetharaman, the Acting Chief Executive, has paid a visit to GOIC premises during which the delegation met H.E. Dr. Ahmed Khalil Al Mutawa, The Secretary General. Mr. Seetharaman and the accompanying delegation where put in the view of the new tendencies of GOIC which occurred in accordance with the strategy which was adopted by GOIC board since a short period, in addition to elaborations on GOIC programs and activities.

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Call for establishing similar unions for other sector: GOIC Welcomes Establishing Gulf Union for Petrochemicals

Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting welcomed announcing the establishment of Gulf Union for Petrochemical Manufacturers, which was lately announced in Dubai. On his part, Dr. Ahmed Khalil Al Mutawa, Secretary General of COIC commended this step as it contributes to enhancing the capabilities of this sector to face the challenges which it is confronting. "The coordination amongst the producers in petrochemicals sector in GCC member states has to do with pushing towards reinforcing the status of those countries on the global supply chain, and achieving a strong position in the foreign negotiations", Dr. Al Mutawa added.

A four-member delegation from The Kingdom of Bahrain led by Mr. Abdelellah Al Qassimi, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Economic Development Board of Bahrain; and included each of Dr. Ousama Al-Ali, Vice President for Planning and Development; Mr. Ali Radhi, Vice President for Business Enterprise Support; and Mr. Yousef Al Harami, has visited Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting.

The visit was started with the delegation meeting with both GOIC assistant secretaries general, H.E. Dr. Lolwa Abdullah Al Misned, Assistant Secretary General for Industrial Research & Investment Promotion, and H.E. Ahmad Dhaif, Assistant Secretary General for Information Technology.

After that the guests watched a presentation on GOIC activities which highlighted the Industrial Promotion Department and its missions as well as the projects it is planning for, in addition to the activities of Market Intelligence Department and Industrial Market Intelligence (IMI) Portal.

Additionally, there a session on the operations and activities of Subcontracting and Partnership Exchange Program (SPX); which acts as a technical information center so as to create common business opportunities as well as build linkages amongst the different businesses and interests. The SPX program also promotes the requests, queries and available opportunities with the aim of activating the industrial integration relationships between contractors and subcontractors and creating business linkages amongst them.

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Al Mutawa: gulf private sector is still an infant - An interview with Al Qabas

The Secretary General of Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting said that the industrial sector will be the alternative for the wealth investment and the high liquidity amounts in the local markets upon the saturation of real-estate growth in GCC.

In a special interview with Dr. Al Mutawa with Al Qabas in his office in Doha, the capital city of the State of Qatar in the premises of Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting, Dr. Al Mutawa reported that the infection of immediate profit in real-estate sector has been transferred to the industrial sector; and thus the latter was negatively affected by it. Dr. Al Mutawa called GCC member states for brain drain from Russia and Eastern Europe, in the same way many countries did, for the sake of GCC industrial sector development; those brains will constitute the core for creating new generations of gulf creative people in the industrial field.

The secretary general of GOIC also noted that gulf private sector is still an infant sector seeking immediate profit, and that gulf businessmen are merchants as they collected their wealth by means of immediate profit trade.

He also reported that the profits of gulf banks are high and their requirements are many and thus they are incompetent for financing industrial entrepreneurship; while the specialized industrial banks offer their services as if they were commercial banks.

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In an interview with Al-Hayat daily newspaper published on 27th April 2005, H.E. Dr. Ahmed Khalil Al Mutawa, Secretary General of the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) said:

Depending on oil as a sole source of income and revenues in the GCC countries, will hinder economic prosperity and stability in the region.
Strategic industry in the GCC countries faces competition from real estate and tourism sectors but it must be given top priority.
GOIC serves and supports the private sector in the GCC states, and enhances this sector to play a key role in the comprehensive economic development and the industrialization process in the GCC states.
GOIC provides various databases with comprehensive information and statistics about the economic, social, industrial, commercial etc. fields in the GCC countries.
GOIC prepares for important activities in 2005, specially the 10th GCC Industrialists Conference in which ministers of industry will participate.
GCC countries must be positive towards globalization and get benefits from the economic, political, cultural and social opportunities and openings it provides.
GCC countries suffers shortage in RD and planning fields, in addition to lack of marketing strategies.
GCC countries will witness the gulf natural gas net project in the near future.
Oil prices will reach US $70 or even US $80 per barrel and will never go down to the previous low prices of US $25 per barrel. It will be around US $55 per barrel.

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A delegation from the General Secretariat of the GCC States comprising, H.E. Mohammed Ubeid Al-Mazroie (Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs), Mr. Rihan Mubarak Faez (Director of Commerce & Industry Department), Mr. Yousif Al-Mihbash (Head of Industry Section), Mr. Abdallah Al-Mutawa (Director of Financial Department) held a meeting at GOIC Headquarters with H.E. Dr. Ahmed Khalil Al Mutawa(GOIC's Secretary General), H.E. Dr. Lulwa Al-Misned (Assistant Secretary General for Investment Promotion and Industrial Research & Economic Analysis), H.E. Mr. Ahmed Hasan Dhaif (Assistant Secretary General for Information Technology), in addition to GOIC's expert and specialists.

During the meeting, a set of studies requested by the General Secretariat of the GCC was discussed. In addition, enhancing cooperation and coordination between the two parties; supporting industrialization and the comprehensive economic development, the vital role of the private sector in this development and the impact of the fast economic and technological developments in the world on the economies of the GCC countries, were also discussed.

The discussions were very positive and fruitful and will produce a set of joint programs in the near future.

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H.E. GOIC'S Secretary General receives an Australian delegation and discusses "More than oil"

H.E. Dr. Ahmad Khalil Al Mutawa, Secretary General of the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) received in his office in GOIC's headquarter in Doha, Qatar - with the presence of H.E. Dr. Lulwa Al-Misned, Assistant Secretary General for Investment Promotion and Industrial Research and Economic Analysis, and H.E. Mr. Ahmed Hasan Dhaif, Assistant Secretary General for Information - an Australian delegation comprising Mr. Nicholas Coppel, Executive Director, and Mr. Warren Hauck, Deputy Director, Economic Analytical Unit (EAU), Australian Government. EAU is the main agency within the Australian Government responsible for publishing analyses of major economic and political issues in emerging and promising markets, including Qatar.

During the meeting, which was attended by GOIC's experts and specialist, the Australian delegation was provided with economic, commercial and industrial information about the volume of trade between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and Australia for the purpose of promoting concluding free Agreements between the rest of the GCC states and Australia, as the agreement concluded between Australia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). GOIC, in return, requested the visiting delegation to explore possibilities of cooperation between GOIC and Australian industrial establishments, companies and institutions in the fields of manufacturing industries, economic and trade studies, industrial sector studies, technical training, etc.

The visit of the Australian Delegation to GOIC comes within program visit to the State of Qatar to meet with senior Qatar Government and business identities with the aim of compiling a report entitled "More than Oil: Economic Developments in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE". It is envisaged that the report will identify further areas of potential trade and economic cooperation between Australia and the GCC States, specially toward concluding free trade and economic agreements.

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Gulf organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) participated in the Middle East Conference and Exhibition for Aluminium and Metals (Alumex 2005) which was recently held in Dubai during the period 27-29 March 2005.

GOIC's team highlighted and promoted characteristics of Manufacturing Investment Opportunities (MIO) in the Metal Industries. In addition, GOIC's team presented the visitors of GOIC's Wing books, reports, studies, leaflets and guides about GOIC's activities and programes, and highlighted the "Directory of Gulf Industries" which will be issued soon. Many organizers visited GOIC's Wing and expressed their fascination of its publication and outputs.