By KUNA
Doha : The 11th Gulf Cooperation Council conference of industrialists starts Sunday under the slogan “petrochemical sector .. futuristic vision for the year 2020” and under the auspices of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Muhammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Industry, with the participation of GCC ministers of Industry.
The Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC), which is based in Doha, said in a statement that the conference aims to highlight the strategic issues concerning the role of the GCC states in the petrochemical industry worldwide. The statement added that the conference will focus on future developments and market trends, investment and financing in the industry in addition to the challenges it faces.
Participating in organizing the conference in addition to (GOIC) are UAE Ministry of Finance and Industry, UAE Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in coordination with the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Federation of Arab Chambers of the Gulf Cooperation Council in addition to the Union of Arab Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the United Arab Emirates. The Conference agenda includes the aforementioned work paper entitled (petrochemical sector .. futuristic vision for the year 2020) followed by an open discussion among the industrialists and the ministers of Industry.
The conference, which lasts two days, will discuss such topics as development trends in the petrochemical industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council states and the importance of the Gulf states in the area of future petrochemical manufacturing and marketing. In addition a work paper on the future of the plastic industry will also be discussed among a range of issues related to this industry.
Speaking at the conference will be a number of public figures, including former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Nobel Laureate in Economics Professor Joseph Stiglitz.
Of note is the fact that production capacity of ethylene ( a fundamental substance in the production of petrochemicals) in the Gulf Cooperation Council states amounted to more than 10 million tons in 2007 which represents about nine percent of the global production capacity of this substance and is expected to rise to 15 percent in 2020.