Representative CEO's of the GAC from the Gulf Aluminium Producers
The meeting was held at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha and involved representatives from Dubal, Emal, Alba, Sohar, MA'ADEN and Qatalum. Representing Qatalum were Hassan Al Rashid and Jan Arve Haugan. The committee meeting was chaired by Bruce Hall, CEO of Sohar Aluminium.
On the agenda
The agenda ranged from sharing information about recent Health, Safety and Environmental incidents, update on latest developments in regional projects as well as reports from the Sub-Committees' including a review of common challenges such as; the need for a solution for processing of spent pot lining in the region. The council agreed on further actions in establishing a permanent office in Dubai as well as draft budget for 2010 and meeting plans for next year including a more formal launching of the council in March 2010.
A new opportunity
This was the first GAC committee meeting for Jan Arve and it gave him the opportunity to meet and discuss a common direction in which all GAC members are undertaking in order to improve safety, environmental efficiency and productivity. Jan Arve Haugan said, "It is an important arena for the regional aluminium managers to actively get to know each other and set a clear direction for the common challenges for the industry in this prospective region."
A rain check
The Council were invited for a site visit, but due to the fact that Qatalum is in start-up mode, it prevented having visitors on site. A site visit is planned for a later date. Finally, the six CEO's will meet again in January to discuss a focused strategy of the Council and agree on the action plans and target initiatives for the Councils activities.
