Dr Bayoumi named keynote speaker
Dr Mohamed Gamaluddin Bayoumi, Secretary-General of the Arab Investors Union, will be the keynote speaker at the first ArabCab Conference in Bahrain in April.
The topic of his speech was not disclosed. The three-day conference, organised by the Arab Cable Manufacturers Forum (ACMF), takes place at the Diplomat Hotel from April 25. Dr Bayoumi, an advisor to the Arab League Secretary General, is a former Egyptian assistant minister of foreign affairs.
A total of 38 Arab cable manufacturers agreed to form the ACMF at a meeting in Cairo last year. Participants unanimously agreed to base the forum’s executive secretariat in Bahrain. The kingdom’s Midal Cables will be hosting the secretariat.
Venture capital fund set
The Sharjah Government has set up a Dh50 million ($13.6 million) venture capital fund to support businesses by UAE nationals.
A decree was passed last month and the authorities are now working to set up a board of directors to manage the fund.
“The Al Ruwad fund is dedicated to UAE national-owned businesses that would like to set up an industrial investment in Sharjah,” said Shaikh Tariq Bin Faisal Al Qasimi, chairman of the Sharjah Economic Department.
For 2005, Sharjah is forecasting 10 per cent annual GDP growth to Dh35 billion. A weak dollar has helped exporters double exports to Europe.
GDP contribution up
The manufacturing sector’s contribution to Oman’s GDP in 2003 stood at 8.3 per cent, up from 2.9 per cent in 1990 and 4.7 per cent in 1995, a report said.
Khalid bin Said al Shuaibi, head of the Executive Office for the Omani Products Promotion Campaign, said Omani citizens should support local industry by opting to buy national products.
On facilities provided for Omani industries, the official said incentives included exemption from customs duties on machinery and raw-materials, an income tax holiday for the first five years from setting up the plant with the possibility of a further five years’ extension and provision of land and services by the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE), which manages seven estates in the Sultanate.
