New investments in the Gulf's aluminium industries are expected to exceed $20 billion by 2020, said Bahrain’s Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Hassan Fakhro.

Welcoming around 600 delegates to the 25th International Aluminium Conference hosted at the Gulf Hotel, he said that the GCC nations were now becoming a major player in the international aluminium industry.

The theme of the conference is 'The rocky road to recovery'. Bahrain had been an example of how to avoid the rocky road caused by the global economic downturn, Dr Fakhro said.

'The world, and more particularly the industrialised nations, have been badly affected by the events of the last couple of years,' he said.

'The financial crisis which was triggered by a liquidity shortfall in the US banking system in late 2007, is considered by many economists to be the worst financial turmoil since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and has had a knock-on effect, which has impacted on industries across the globe, and resulted in a significant decline in world economic activity.

'The aluminium industry has been directly affected for sure, since the metal is used in a wide variety of consumer products - from packaging to automotives, from construction to aerospace. I am pleased to add that Bahrain, whilst not being completely insulated from the effects of the global recession, has only been mildly affected.

'Our economy continues to show growth at around four per cent and this is due in no small measure to the sound economic and fiscal policies adopted by the country under its wise leadership.

'This is also because it was the first country in the region to develop a world-class aluminium smelter and aluminium today is an important element in our industrial sector and indeed in our economy,' he said.

'Bahrain, over the past few decades, has built the most diversified economy in the region, with manufacturing contributing over 17 per cent of GDP,' he added.

'The manufacturing sector is one of the fastest growing segments of the economy, driven by the growth in oil-related and aluminium-based industries, which dominate this sector.

'The aluminium industry is a major contributor to growth, and with Alba having the largest smelter in the world, a strong and vibrant downstream industry has emerged,” he explained.

'Bahrain presents an oasis of stability in the greater Middle East region both for manufacturing and as an efficient and cost-effective distribution hub,” Dr Fakhro concluded. – TradeArabia News Service