DAMMAM: Abdullah Bin Ahmad Zainal, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, will deliver the keynote address at the opening of a one-day forum on problems to raise finance for industrial projects in the Gulf region. The forum, to be attended by project managers of industrial ventures and heads of financing companies from the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, will be held on Oct. 12 at the Asharqia Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It is jointly organized by the Asharqia Chamber and the Federation of GCC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FGCC Chambers), the umbrella organization of all chambers of commerce and industry in the Gulf region. “The forum should be able to provide direction to those engaged in industrial ventures, given [the proposed new] projects in the region and the corresponding problems of financing these projects,” said Basem Al-Saif, Director of Key Committees at the FGCC Chambers. Fifteen regional and international experts will address the plenary session. Al-Saif said the 15 experts will be given 15 minutes each to speak on the issues of funding and developing industrial ventures in the region. Other speakers include Abdulrahman Rashid Al-Rashid, president of the Asharqia Chamber, Abdulrahim Naqi, secretary general of the FGCC Chamber, and Salman Al-Jishi, chairman of the GCC Industrial and Promotion Committee. The discussions will center on financing projects in the prime industrial sectors, such as oil and gas, petrochemicals, infrastructure, and water and power generation. Projects sponsored by the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), the Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation (Apicorp), and Tasnee will be tabled for discussion, according to Al
