Achieving operational excellence throughout the supply chain industry with emphasis on best practice in environment, health, safety and security will be the central theme of the fourth Gulf Petrochemical and Chemical Association (GPCA) Supply Chain Conference in Dubai on May 8-9.
A pre-conference workshop on May 7, titled “Optimizing the Supply Chain: Responsible Care in Action”, will also debate the wider adoption of a standardized code of practice governing the handling and shipping of petrochemicals products in and outside the GCC region.
“Industry self-regulation promotes the standing of the Gulf’s petrochemicals sector globally and achieves long-term efficiencies for the wider benefit of the industry,” said Dr. Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, Secretary General of the GPCA.
“This year’s supply chain workshop and conference will discuss how the Responsible Care Initiative is being successfully applied across the region and other opportunities to demonstrate best practice in the GCC, which is essential if the Gulf’s chemicals and petrochemicals sector is to realize its dramatic growth potential.”
Responsible Care is the global chemical industry’s comprehensive environment, health, safety and security (EHS&S) performance improvement initiative.
Originally conceived in 1984 by the Canadian Chemical Producers Association, the initiative was brought to the United States by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) in 1988, and then introduced into the Gulf by the GPCA in 2009.
The GPCA’s Responsible Care programme is aligned with those of various international bodies, including the United Nations Environment Program and the International Council of Chemical Associations.
Sharing their insights on the deployment of the Responsible Care Initiative will be industry experts G. R. “Randy” Speight, Managing Director, CHEMTREC; Jos Verlinden, Director of Transport and Logistics, Cefic; Terry Frith, Technical Manager, Chemical Distribution Institute; and Hussain Al-Ghamdi, Responsible Care Department Manager of SIPCHEM.
The main programme of the Fourth GPCA Supply Chain Conference on May 8-9 will continue the theme of cooperation, with presentations and panel sessions under the title “Optimization through Collaboration”.
Hamad Terkait, the former CEO of Equate Petrochemical Company in Kuwait, and the former Vice Chairman of the GPCA and the association’s Supply Chain Committee, will deliver the conference’s opening speech.
“The Fourth GPCA Supply Chain Conference will allow those attending to exchange ideas with the leading authorities in the supply chain sector – representing the key petrochemical and chemical players in the region,” he said.
“This forum plays an active role in the development of the GCC chemicals and petrochemicals sector, as the success of the previous three conferences has demonstrated.”
The 4th GPCA Supply Chain Conference, taking place at the Emirates Towers hotel in Dubai, is co-organized by ICIS, the leading provider of market intelligence for the global chemical industry.