Nahdeh as new board chairman

Kuwait's Chamber of Commerce and Industry has elected Said Ali Al Nahedh as board chairman to succeed the late Abdel Razzaq Al Khaled.

The board also elected Hilal Mishari Al Mutairi second deputy chairman, Salah Fahad Al Marzouq honorary deputy treasurer and Khaled Abdullah Al Saqar bureau member.

SIPC to get loan

The Saudi International Petrochemical Company (SIPC) will receive a SR400 million ($106.65 million) term loan for a methanol project to be built at the company's petrochemical complex in the Jubail Industrial City.

The loan was approved recently by the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF), according to a report in the Arab News daily.

The Saudi joint stock company's project has a capacity of 850,000 tonnes per year with a total investment of more than SR l billion, the report said. The company has completed the basic engineering design in cooperation with Fluor Daniel and the technology licenser, Jacobs Engineering.

Profits rise for Omani firm

Oman's Al Khaleej Polypropylene Products Company has reported a net profit of RO40,000 ($103,900) for the first quarter of 2001 compared to RO50,000 for the same period in the previous year.

Net assets as on March 31 this year amounted to RO2.514 million compared with RO2.329 million at the end of the first quarter of 2000 while turnover was RO1.408 million compared to RO1.308 million over the same period

Saudi cement sees 37.1pc growth

The combined profits of Saudi cement companies increased by 37.1 per cent in the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2000, a report said.

It said the profits of the eight firms reached $100 million, up from the $72.9 million posted in the first three months of 2000.

The Arab News said the companies produced about 20 million tonnes of cement a year, of which 14 million tonnes were used locally and four million tonnes exported, leaving a surplus of two million tonnes.

Darwish wins award

The UK-based fire performance cable manufacturer, Pirelli, has given Qatar's Darwish Trading Company an award for placing the largest single order for cables.

Hassan J Darwish, Darwish Trading Company's authorised partner, received the award from Ivan W White, Pirelli area manager (Gulf), at a function in Doha recently, the Gulf Times reported.

Fire performance cables can survive fire for over three hours, enabling transmission of messages for building evacuation and fire fighting.

Syed Arif Mahdi of Darwish Trading said the Pirelli cable had been installed extensively in Qatar in projects including Al-Ittihad and Al-Rayyan stadia, Doha International Airport, multi-storey carpark, QP (Dukhan Operations), Qafco and Qapco.

Efforts to combat dumping

UAE authorities are stepping up efforts to combat dumping of dairy products in the local market, media reports said.

The Khaleej Times said the UAE federal cabinet, acting on a memorandum by the Finance and Industry Ministry, authorised the ministry to co-ordinate efforts with other government agencies to persuade local and foreign dairy producers to renew their agreement with milk producers for another year.

The ministry was also authorised to take necessary measures against non-signatories, the report said. It said the agreement was designed to ensure principles of fair competition and free trade, to safeguard consumer interest and to fight dumping in the local dairy market.

Kingdom sees 8pc growth

Saudi Arabia's pharmaceutical market is growing at a healthy rate of eight per cent a year, an industry official said. The market was also worth SR3 billion ($800,000) annually, the local Riyadh Daily newspaper quoted pharmacist Hatim bin Jameel Mukhtar as saying.

Mukhtar's comments came during a one-day seminar on pharmacy management held at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI). He said that in the Kingdom, nearly 70 million patients visited pharmacies each year and drug stores made an average income of SR2,500 a day.

Mamda raises its stake

Moroccan insurance firm Mamda has raised its stake to 10.11 per cent from 8.87 per cent in leading fertiliser company Fertima, the CFG Group brokerage house has said. Fertima, formerly a subsidiary of giant state-run phosphates firm Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP), floated 30 percent of its capital on the Casablanca bourse in 1996.

OCP currently holds 19 per cent of Fertima's capital, with the remaining stake held by private groups.

Seminar becomes success

Interplast, the UAE-based plastic products manufacturer, recently held a seminar in Muscat showcasing its latest products.

The event was attended by the company's agents, customers, government officials and a number of contractors and traders, said a report.

At the seminar, Interplast general manager Savvas A Lardis presented the range of products including polyvinyl chloride (used by the plastic industry), Decoduct, Edison and Intergard electrical products with cable management systems and accessories, Decoform thermoformed cups and containers used by the food industry, besides a number of other products.

Interplast is also developing co-extruded HDPE ducting and fittings for optic fibre cable installations.

The Sharjah-based company is part of the Harwal group of companies which has production bases in the UAE, the US, Armenia, and Lebanon.

Firm gets approval

The Shura Council has granted the Tabuk Cement Company a concession to exploit gypsum from the Raghafa Hills in Dhuba.

The council also endorsed a request from Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) for a concession to exploit gold ore and associated metals in Balgha in Qassim, the Arab News said.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has discovered silica deposits estimated at millions of tonnes in the northern region of Tabuk, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

"The deposits of silica sand are estimated at several million tonnes. They stretch over more than 40km," the agency quoted Oil Minister Ali Al Nuaimi as saying.

Two Saudi firms to merge

Two Saudi Arabian food firms are set to merge. Food Products Company (FPC) said that its board of directors had accepted in principle a merger offer from the Ajwa Group for Food Industries to form a new company for producing and marketing food products. FPC said in a statement that measures would be taken to protect the interests of all parties and that a feasibility study on the project would be presented to the company's general assembly shortly.

Industrial directory launched

The latest edition of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (OCCI) industrial directory has been launched.

The 2000-2001 edition has comprehensive listings of more than 600 manufacturing companies in the Sultanate, the Oman Daily Observer reported. The bilingual (English/Arabic) directory runs to 400 pages.

Firm faces non-payment penalties

A labour dispute over non-payment of wages at a Qatari company has been referred to the police for resolution, a report said. The Criminal Evidence and Investigation Department (CEID) will now try to force the employer, Gulf Steel Factories, to pay its nearly 130 striking expatriate workers.

The dispute was referred to the CEID after the company failed to honour a 10-day deadline to pay the arrears, a Labour Department official told the Gulf Times.

The workers are on strike for over three weeks now. Drawn from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and India, some of the workers want to return to their home countries after getting the wage arrears while others wish to continue once the dues are cleared.

Gulf Steel Factories, located in the Industrial Area, has already been blacklisted by the Labour Department for failing to pay the workers on time.

Khimji renews contract

Khimji International, the franchisee of Pizza Hut in Oman, and Pepsi-Cola International have renewed their three-year agreement, which makes the soft drink company the endorsed beverage supplier to Pizza Hut outlets in Oman.

The two companies have been partners in the Sultanate since 1988.