Gulf Downstream Association (GDA) Hosts Business Leaders and Industry Experts at Bahrain Capital Club

- The power of collaboration and knowledge sharing among regional and international downstream players highlighted as keys to industry success -

Manama – 25 June 2019: The Gulf Downstream Association (GDA) successfully hosted a gathering of prominent business leaders and industry experts at the Bahrain Capital Club on Monday, 24th June 2019 to discuss the power of collaboration and knowledge sharing and how to harness it for continued and sustainable development of the GCC and global downstream industry.

The evening consisted of high-level networking and a presentation delivered by GDA’s Secretary General, Mr. Audah Al Ahmadi, entitled “A New Initiative for Knowledge-Sharing”, which was followed by a Q&A session open to the audience.

During his talk, Mr. Al Ahmadi provided an overview of the Association and the principles and objectives on which it is founded. In 2016, GDA was established by a Cabinet Resolution in the Kingdom of Bahrain and is supported by its Founding Companies, the national oil companies of the GCC region, which include Saudi Aramco, Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI), Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco), Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) Refining. The primary aim of GDA is fostering engagement and aggregating the wealth of knowledge that lies scattered across the Gulf’s and global downstream industries in order to accelerate development via its unique platform for industry collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Mr. Al Ahmadi encouraged industry players to join the organisation to capitalise on the vast experience and knowledge GDA and its membership have to offer. This includes use of its state-of-the-art, interactive website and Knowledge Hub, industry events, workshops and networking. Moreover, GDA members benefit by preferential pricing on world-class training courses that have been developed and delivered together with leading technology providers and other international training facilitators. GDA also organises conferences and exhibitions, forums and symposiums in collaboration with leading event organizers.

In his presentation, Mr. Al Ahmadi highlighted GDA’s success to date in attracting a strong and growing membership across the downstream industry including regional and international companies and experts working within the Refining and Marketing sector, a range of Consultants, Technology Providers, EPC Contractors and other Service Providers, Government Organisations and those within the world of Academia. He talked in depth about some of the key features of various platforms for knowledge sharing.

At the heart of what GDA does are nine Technical Committees covering key areas of the downstream industry. These Committees have been created to support and accelerate strategic growth, improve processes and performance and address issues and current challenges facing the downstream industry. They are made up of leading Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) nominated by the respective member companies or invited to join by GDA management. Mr. Al Ahmadi noted that GDA is eager to further expand the composition of these Committees, which meet regularly every quarter while also maintaining active online engagement between meetings to keep momentum and a continual flow of knowledge sharing going within the membership.

Many from the audience commented that the GDA Knowledge Hub is a unique concept for sharing knowledge and experience among all players of the Downstream Industry.

Commenting on the success of the event, Mr. Al Ahmadi, said, “We’re delighted with the strong turn- out of our colleagues from across the local, regional and international downstream industry. Since our establishment, we’ve worked closely with our members and the broader industry to ensure that we are providing value and becoming a common voice for our members. We look forward to welcoming an even greater number of our peers on board in the coming months and unveiling even more partnerships, resources and opportunities from which they and the industry will be able to benefit.” GDA is open to all members of the downstream and related industries and offers a broad range of membership options in order to provide the opportunity for industry stakeholders to benefit. More information about GDA and how to become a member can be found by visiting www.gda.org.bh.

ABOUT GDA

The Gulf Downstream Association (GDA) was established by its Founding Companies from Saudi Aramco, Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI), Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). GDA is a non-profit organisation which aims to bring leading downstream players together to further develop the industry and draw mutual benefits from sharing knowledge and best practices. In addition, strengthening generally the position of the petroleum industry in the growth of the global economy. The approval on the establishment of the Gulf Downstream Association took place at the Cabinet meeting in the Kingdom of Bahrain held on 11 July 2016. For more information and membership inquiries, contact +973 1711 6000 or visit the Association’s website at www.gda.org.bh.