Several top-level government and business leaders will be in Bahrain next month for the Gulf Industry Forum (GIF) where they will discuss the industrial sector’s role in leading the world out of recession and boosting economic output in Gulf countries.

The forum is being organised by North Star Associates, a UK-based international event consultancy, in association with Bahrain-based Hilal Conferences & Exhibitions (HCE) on January 12.

Dr Hassan Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Bahrain will deliver the opening address at the GIF on ‘The Role of Government in Encouraging Industry’.

This will be followed by a keynote from Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa, chairman, General Organisation for Seaports (GOP), Bahrain on ‘The Benefits of Logistics Zones as Support for Industrial Development’.

Top Saudi entrepreneur Dr Solaiman A. Al-Twaijri, managing director and chief executive officer, Saudi Arabian Amiantit Company will then deliver a speech on ‘The Future is Industry – an Entrepreneurs View’, followed by Anwar Abdulrahman, chairman, Dar Akhbar Al Khaleej and Al Hilal Group, Bahrain.

The forum will have four plenary sessions - covering the topics of Energy & Power; Raw Materials and Commodities the Building Blocks of Industrial Growth; Financing Industrial Development and Manufacturing Businesses; and Market Innovation and New Products.

Faisal Al-Mahroos, acting chief executive, Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) will deliver a keynote address on ‘Bapco’s Impact on Industrialisation in Bahrain’, while Ameet Shah, co-chairman and director, Astonfield Management, which develops renewable energy power stations, will present a talk entitled ‘Alternative Energy Sources for Powering Industrial Development’.

The second plenary session will feature keynote speakers Mahmood Kooheji, chairman, Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) and Madhu Konneru, CEO of Trimex Group, a mineral and metal prospecting conglomerate.

The third session, to be moderated by Nicholas Moy, chairman, Gryphen Investment Bank, will feature panelists Praveen Kadle, managing director, Tata Capital, a finance company headquartered in Mumbai, India and part of the giant Indian conglomerate Tata Sons Limited, who will speak about ‘Corporate Financing Strategy – the Tata Model.’

Saad Qahtani, CEO of Arbah Capital, will speak about ‘The Islamic Approach’ to financing; and Maurizio Manzati, managing director, Emirates International Advisers (EMINTAD).

Plenary Session Four, to be moderated by Tony Smith, director of British Offset Office, will feature addresses from Ashraf Yusuf Suliman, South African ambassador to Kuwait, and Jowan Fuad Masum, partner, Bayan Consultants in Iraq, the former Iraqi Minister of Communications.

Ahmed Suleiman, managing director, North Star Associates, said: “The speakers’ line up comprises leaders in industry who are uniquely placed to offer insights and opinions on the strategic directions in which regional and global industries must take to help boost economic output.'

'The Gulf Industry Forum provides the platform for constructive dialogue and ideas among key decision makers and industrialists,' he added.

The forum will be held at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre on the sidelines of the third Gulf Industry Fair which runs from January 12 to 14.-TradeArabia News Service