DUBAI, 2 July 2006 — Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) yesterday opened its headquarters in Dubai. The new office will be the main administrative center for the association as it builds its membership ranks and develops common positions on industry issues.
The GPCA was founded in March 2006 by eight founding members, and already has a burgeoning list of companies wishing to become members or affiliates. Its mission is to offer its members networking opportunities through various platforms.
“The petrochemical and chemical industry is a major contributor to the wealth of the region and is one of the region’s largest employers. The GPCA was established to ensure that the industry finds a common purpose and realizes common ambitions in the region and on the international stage and to build a greater awareness of the importance of the industry among our many stakeholders.
“The opening of this office is a small but symbolically significant step in achieving this purpose,” said Mohamed Al-Mady, vice chairman and CEO of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), and the first chairman of the GPCA, at the opening ceremony.
Hamad Al-Terkait, president and CEO of EQUATE and vice chairman of GPCA, said, “Once we get the GPCA activities under way, one of our main priorities will be to establish certain specialist sub-committees allocated to tasks such as safety, health, the environment and quality.
Human resources and technical committees will also be set up.
“In doing so, we hope to provide best practice solutions to some of the concerns facing the industry. For example, the enormous growth in the industry is placing unmanageable demands upon regional logistics and by developing cross-industry working groups we hope to provide solutions for our members.”
The office will be managed by secretary-general of the GPCA, Abdullah ibn Zaid Alhagbani.
