Gulf business leaders to hold talks in Muscat By Joe Avance?a Saudi Gazette DAMMAM - GCC business leaders will meet in Muscat, Oman on December 29-30 to come out with strategies on how the region's private business sector can cushion the impact of the international financial crisis. The meeting is aimed to adopt workable solutions that the Gulf private business can implement to enable companies in the region to weather off the current financial problems affecting their sector, according Abdulrahim Hasan Naqi, Secretary General of the Federation of GCC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FGCC Chambers), which is convening the meeting. “We have to find strategies that will support the competitiveness of the regional economies as the global financial crisis worsens,” Naqi said. He said the Muscat meeting will be among the series of regional consultations that business leaders in the GCC will be convening to tackle key challenges, particularly inflation, now facing the region. Gulf finance ministers and central bankers have so far not been able to put up a unified front in the face of a global financial crisis, a situation that could threaten and stall the plan monetary union by 2010. The launch of the monetary union has so far not received the unified commitment of all the six-GCC states. It has been reported that Oman has already dropped out of the monetary union project and Kuwait threw the plan into doubt when it dropped its dollar peg to battle soaring prices as a result of run-away inflation. Attending the GCC business leaders' consultation meeting are the representatives of all the major chambers of commerce and industry in the region, the regional International Monetary Fund, Arab Fund, and the Cooperation Council of the Arab Gulf States. DP World Nhava Sheva receives ISO 28000 MUMBAI - Global marine terminal operator DP World's Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal Pvt. Ltd (NSICT), also known as DP World Nhava Sheva, has become the first terminal in India to achieve ISO 28000:2007 certification in supply chain security management systems. Certification was undertaken by globally recognized independent Rotterdam-based Dutch auditing firm and Maritime Classification Society of excellence Det Norske Veritas (DNV). The ISO 28000 standard sets in place mechanisms and processes to address security vulnerabilities at strategic and operational levels, as well as establish preventive action plans. The certification was granted after a stringent security audit of the facility, focused principally on container security, physical access controls, personnel security, procedural security, security training and threat awareness, business partner requirements and IT Security. The standard complements all international security legislative codes DP World already conforms to at its terminals. Capt. Rustom Dastoor , CEO DP World Nhava Sheva said: “Having an internationally recognized and certified security management system will greatly benefit DP World's customers and other terminal users and stakeholders who can now be assured that robust systems are in place to provide for the safety of their cargo and people using the terminal facilities in DP World Nhava Sheva.” DP World is rolling out ISO 28000 security standards throughout its network of 48 terminals worldwide, with DP World Nava Sheva the 15th terminal to achieve certification. Its investment in the ISO security management system has been recognized by the US Customs Border Protection agency, which invited DP World to join its Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program. DP World is the only global marine terminal operator to have achieved ISO 28000 certification and simultaneous membership of C-TPAT. Ganesh Raj, Sr. VP & managing director of DP World, Subcontinent Region said: “the government together with the private sector partnerships in India need to take on more efficient and effective measures to secure Indian waters, ports and other infrastructure.”
