RIYADH, 3 October 2003 — The Top 100 Gulf Companies Conference concluded here yesterday with draft recommendations calling on the GCC states to respond to the challenges of globalization while preserving the positive aspects of the region’s cultural values.
Dr. IbrahimAl-Awaji, the chairman of the organizing committee, later told Arab News that the draft recommendations would be sent to the member states for review before they are adopted. He said the participants discussed the economic situation in the Gulf and the pace of change.
They also focused on investment, especially in the gas sector, as well as the privatization program, and delegates identified the obstacles facing prospective investors.
Dr. Al-Awaji also presented a paper on bureaucratic hurdles that impede the processing of investors’ licensing applications and stressed the need to cut red tape in the interest of administrative efficiency.
One of the highlights of the conference was the huge interest of prospective investors from the Gulf states in investment opportunities in Madinah. Saleh S. Abbas, a representative of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) in Madinah, told Arab News there had been a number of enquiries about these projects.
He said SAGIA issued 25 licenses to foreign investors for projects in the industrial and services sector worth over SR316 million in the last three years.
Most of the discussions revolved around the investment opportunities in the gas sector. In his presentation Prince Faisal ibn Turki, consultant at the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, said the share of gas in the Kingdom’s energy sector increased from 35 percent in 1990 to 40 percent in the current year. It is expected to reach 51 percent in 2008.
