Gulf Aluminium Council to hold an exclusive meeting to promote Aluminium sector in the Gulf

The Gulf Aluminium Council (GAC) — the coordinating body that represents, promotes and protects the interest of aluminium industry in the Gulf — has signed a contract with Meydan in terms of which the GAC will host an exclusive business dinner at Meydan Racecourse on 3 March 2011. The date, which coincides with Meydan's Super Thursday Horse Racing series, marks the GAC's first annual event of its kind and will set a precedent.

The GAC's General Secretary, Mahmood Daylami, explained that the association aims to host a prestigious, by-invitation-only annual dinner that is truly different from traditional, run-of-the-mill business meetings. "The concept to link a business meeting with a high profile international event is unique," he says. "We believe that it will reflect the importance of the Gulf region as an emerging hub in the global aluminium industry: more than 2 million metric tonnes of primary aluminium was produced by the region in 2009 (equating to 5.6 per cent of the global market), with in excess of 3 million metric tonnes being forecast for 2010. The rapid infrastructural development taking place in the GCC countries has also raised the level of aluminium product usage in the region, which has spawned the development of a growing downstream aluminium sector. As a result, the Gulf is the focus of keen attention from around the world — a fact that we aim to leverage by simultaneously promoting iconic events hosted by the region when we invite our very special international guests to these dinners."

Mr Mahmood Daylami, the GAC General Secretary, goes on to say that an international event will be selected for the GAC dinner by rotation in each of the countries where the GAC has members in forthcoming years. "It is fitting that Dubai Aluminium Company Limited ("DUBAL") will host this first GAC dinner," Daylami says. "Not only is DUBAL one of the world's largest single-site primary aluminium smelters, the industrial flagship of the UAE and the largest primary aluminium producer in the region; but also, the official GAC headquarters are in Dubai, such that the city and Emirate deserve the honour."

There has been great interest by GAC members (and non-member companies) to be partners or sponsors for the event. So far Aluminium Bahrain (ALBA), Emirates Aluminium (EMAL), Qatar Aluminium (Qatalum), Sohar Aluminium, Ma'aden, SNC Lavalin Inc., GE Energy, Alstom, Rio Tinto Alcan, Kuehne + Nagel LLC, Koppers Inc. have joined as partners for the event; while SGL Carbon, ABB, Hertwitch Engineering, Bechtel, Northern Technical, Rain CII, Carbon Savoie, Gulf Extrusion, Fluorsid SpA, Pyrotek FZE, International Technical Supplies & Services, Simonsen, Worley Parsons, HATCH, Techno Car SpA, Fluor Corporation, Super Tech Group and Kempe International have joined as sponsors. As part of their privileges, the host, partners and sponsoring companies will be entitled to nominate invitees to the dinner, where the maximum number of guests will be 200.

Meydan Racecourse, which attracts the best thoroughbreds, owners and racing nobility from around the world, combines luxury, comfort and racing technology to offer the ultimate horseracing experience. "This first GAC dinner will be very high class and elegant, setting the tone for future events," adds Daylami. "To enhance the value-add, the GAC will invite speakers from within or without the aluminium industry to address the guests on relevant topics."

At present, the GAC has a 12-company membership. The Board of the GAC comprises the Chief Executive Officers of the six founding member companies, five of which have established smelters in the region, namely: Alba, DUBAL, EMAL, Qatalum, Sohar and Ma'aden, which has announced plans to develop a fully integrated complex in Saudi Arabia. The remaining members comprise the major downstream industry players in the Gulf (comprising extruders, rolling mills and cable manufacturers such as Gulf Extrusion (UAE), Garmco (Bahrain), Alupco (Saudi Arabia), Kuwait Aluminium Extrusion (Kuwait) and Elite Group (Ras Al Khaimah).