GCC states were cautioned at a Dubai conference that they should accord higher priority to manufacturing and reduce imports if they wished to strengthen their economies.

Dr. Hischam El Agamy, director of corporate development, IMD International, Switzerland, called for more investment, both locally and in terms of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), in order to build a stronger manufacturing base and halt reliance on imports.
He quoted figures that revealed annual imports in the GCC were equivalent to the total combined imports of India and Russia.
 “Imports at this level are simply not sustainable. Unemployment is rising across the GCC and the Arab world, GDP is stagnant, populations are expanding, non-oil exports remain small, and productivity is low, despite increases in education,” El Agamy remarked while addressing delegates at the inaugural event of Gulf Construction Conference Week 2004.
He suggested attracting more FDI through smart infrastructure and smart reform, and advocated the creation of “clusters of light industry.”
While acknowledging that Dubai was a good model of an economy diversifying away from reliance on energy revenues, he suggested there was a lot more to be done to ensure the long-term sustainability of the GCC.
“We must learn to complement each other and not compete. There needs to be a move away from the agency model of business in the region, and a strong move towards building a healthy sustainable manufacturing base.
“Education needs to build stronger links with business and we must facilitate stronger venture capital interest and more efficient processes to enable existing small to medium enterprises to grow. The region needs to move with a new mind set and to avoid viewing co-operation in terms of a ‘win-lose’ mentality,” said El Agamy.
Gulf Construction Conference Week was a series of parallel conferences, which presented an ideal opportunity to raise awareness of current trends and issues on the part of industry decision makers.
El Agamy was one of almost 70 global speakers at the event, who provided the region’s booming construction players with the vital tools they needed to survive in a rapidly changing environment.
Gulf Construction Conference Week was staged in association with Gulf Construction magazine, a sister publication of Gulf Industry.  It was supported by, and strategically positioned alongside, the Big 5 exhibition, the most important and biggest building, building services and construction event in the Middle East.