RIYADH, 2 October - Riyadh Governor Prince Salman will inaugurate here today the eighth GCC industrialists' conference. The two-day conference is being organized by the Ministry of Industry and Electricity, the General Organization for Industrial Consultancy in Doha (Qatar), Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Minister of Industry and Electricity Dr. Hashim Yamani will be a keynote speaker at the conference. Yamani said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency that the conference would tackle major issues facing the region's industrial development and recommend suitable solutions.
"It will also serve as a strong tool to facilitate the transfer of expertise, contribute positively to establish the advanced technological projects, assist training programs and make available jobs for the national cadres," the minister noted.
Osama Al-Kurdi, secretary-general of CSCCI, told Arab News that the main objective of the conference was to brief the participants on the investment opportunities in the Kingdom and other Gulf states.
"The past conferences had been highly successful in promoting an industrial environment in the Gulf states," Al-Kurdi said.
The conference is being held against the background of a drop in FDI inflow into the region during the last two decades. Moreover, investors seem to be no longer interested in the petroleum sector as other promising sectors like high technology and knowledge industry are gaining the investors' attention.
According to a study conducted by the GOIC, there are 7,487 factories in the Gulf states involving a total investment of $84.2 billion.
Of this, the value of the domestic capital stood at $44 billion, or about 52 percent. Foreign investors pitched in with the remaining nearly $31 billion, or about 37 percent of the total investment.
The study noted that foreign direct investment in 1999 reached about $865.4 billion, of which 73.5 percent of the amount went to the industrialized countries and 24 percent to the developing countries.
The study indicates a shift in investments from the conventional petroleum-based industries to new high-tech ventures. There has also been a streamlining of regulations and policy as well as strategic changes to attract overseas capital.
The meeting will also discuss ways to counter the charges made by European exporters against the local industrialists such as market flooding. Another important topic of discussion will be new strategies such as merger of companies in the region.
