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International donors pledge $4bn for Yemen

salama — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:52:40 +0000

International donors have pledged more than $4bn (£2.54bn) in aid to Yemen, which is facing a possible humanitarian catastrophe.

Neighbouring Saudi Arabia is providing the bulk of the funds, promising $3.25bn to help the goverment improve infrastructure and security.

Aid agencies have warned that Yemen is on the brink of a food crisis.

At an international conference on Yemen, the Sanaa government is thought to have asked for some $10bn in help.

Yemen has been shaken by pro-democracy protests, communal unrest in the north and an Islamist conflict in the south.

Attending the “Friends of Yemen” conference in Riyadh, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said the funds were aimed at achieving stability in Yemen.

State failure

“I assert one more time our support to Yemen to back all the phases of the political initiative to help achieve security, stability and prosperity in facing the threats of extremism and terrorism,” he told representatives from Western and Arab Gulf nations at the start of the gathering.

He said the money would go towards supporting “development projects”.

“Yemeni families are at the brink and have exhausted their ways of coping with this crisis” Penny LawrenceInternational director, Oxfam

But when the BBC questioned a senior Saudi official on exactly what the money would be spent on, he said it would support Yemen’s currency, cover the deficit and strengthen the security forces.

Speaking after the coference, Yemen’s Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirabi said: ”This [aid] confirms that the Yemeni-Saudi relationship is special and that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is fully aware that the stability of Yemen is a key element for the stability of the Kingdom.”

While the fragile government in Sanaa may welcome the extra funds, the money will not address the urgent humanitarian needs of those facing starvation outside the capital, says the BBC’s Emily Buchanan.

In February, the Yemen government reportedly said some $3bn aid pledged by the Friends of Yemen group in 2006 still had not been delivered.

On Tuesday, the UK government announced it would be providing aid for at least 250,000 of the most vulnerable in the country – including nutrition support, food aid and the provision of safe water.

Malnutrition rising

The UK Minister for International Development, Alan Duncan, said: “Without that support, the alternative is a slide towards state failure and an increased threat from international terrorism.”

In a joint warning on Tuesday, a group of seven charities said that 10 million Yemenis – 44% of the population – were currently undernourished, with five million requiring emergency aid.

The aid agencies say there is food available, but many Yemenis are unable to afford it

In their warning, the aid agencies – Care, International Medical Corps, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Mercy Corps, Oxfam and Save the Children – say malnutrition rates have doubled in the country since 2009, partly as a result of a surge in food and fuel prices.

The problem has been exacerbated by political instability and conflict, with nearly half a million people displaced from their homes by fighting.

Markets across much of Yemen have food available, but many Yemenis cannot afford to feed their families, the aid groups warned.

“Yemeni families are at the brink and have exhausted their ways of coping with this crisis,” Oxfam’s international director, Penny Lawrence, said.

“Mothers are taking their children out of school to beg on the streets to get money to survive.”

Unable to cope

Jerry Farrell, Save the Children’s country director for Yemen, said: “Unless urgent humanitarian action is taken, Yemen will be plunged into a hunger crisis of catastrophic proportions.”

According to UN estimates, a third of Yemeni children are malnourished.

A UN humanitarian aid appeal for Yemen is facing a $262m (£166m) shortfall in funding contributions.

In February, President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down in response to months of protests that paralysed Yemen’s political system.

Islamist militants have taken advantage of the upheaval to seize parts of the southern province of Abyan, now considered a stronghold of al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula (AQAP).

In addition, the government is grappling with Shia Houthi rebels in the north of the country.

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Event: Experts gather to harness Saudi Arabia’s tourism potential

salama — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:02:06 +0000

Riyadh, May 25^th- Tourism’s contribution to Saudi Arabia’s GDP in 2011 was over 7.2 percent, and the sector employed 670,000 staff – with 26 per cent Saudisation.[1] As per the latest report by Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), Saudi Arabia is expected to receive 88 million visitors by 2020 with religious tourism alone accounting for around 16 million travellers by 2014.

These predictions have led to a growth in the number of hotel rooms to be built in the Makkah region. Many hotel development companies are announcing their projects – including Abdul Latif Jameel Real Estate Investment Company – which is investing US$ 3.2 billion, making it a major hospitality development project in Makkah expected to provide 8,500 rooms.[2]

The Kingdom Hotel Expansion Summit, themed ‘harnessing a thriving future for the Saudi hospitality industry’ and being organised by leading French business information firm naseba, commences tomorrow in Riyadh to address the Kingdom’s increasing tourism requirements.

The summit discusses the role of Saudi Arabia as an important regional hub for hospitality development and hosts international experts and speakers from the sector. It addresses issues including hospitality as a foundation for economic growth, energy management, and food and beverage trends. Its timeliness was confirmed by Christophe Landais, Managing Director at Accor Middle East, who noted his pleasure at attending the event for the second year running, highlighting that it is “the perfect platform to showcase Accor Middle East’s growing hotel portfolio in the Kingdom.”

Several hospitality solution providers including IDIS, Schneider Electric and Philips are delivering keynote presentations on innovative and upcoming products. Tomorrow’s first session discusses the hospitality industry outlook with an opening panel discussion on how hospitality can act as a foundation for economic growth and how businesses are embracing this change. The discussion involves detailed viewpoints from the perspectives of government, owner and operator.

Many hoteliers, including Hilton and Nobu hospitality, are expected to announce the details of their upcoming projects in several press conferences being organised in conjunction with this initiative. Christophe Landais added “we have five committed properties in the pipeline: ibis Riyadh Olaya Street (2012), ibis Yanbu (2013), ibis Jeddah Malik Road (2014), Adagio Jeddah Malik Road (2014) and Novotel Jizan (2015). The Saudi market continues to be an important market … and we are fully supportive of Saudi Arabia’s travel, tourism and hospitality industry”.

Fabien Faure, naseba’s Managing Director, added “our hospitality summits are increasingly becoming the preferred platform among major hoteliers to announce upcoming projects as well as source global suppliers. We are looking at over 300 hoteliers, developers and executive chefs attending the summit making it one of the most popular gatherings for decision makers in the Middle East.”

The two-day summit will take place on May 26^thand 27^that the InterContinental Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

For media information, please call Ardaman Sidhu on +9714 367 1383 or email ardamans@naseba.com

[1]http://www.menafn.com/menafn/1093514999/Tourism-Contribution-to-Saudi-GDP-More-than-72-Percent

[2]http://www.ttgmena.com/Tourism-and-hotel-investments-announced-for-Saudi-Arabia/

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Saudi Arabia: Grand Mosque Expansion

salama — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:04:55 +0000

Posted on May 18, 2012 by John Burgess

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has been on the throne for seven years now. Saudi media is pretty busy writing up encomiums for the changes and developments he has pushed. One, particularly noteworthy, has been the expansion of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Arab News reports that the most recent expansions are greater than all expansions before. Ever-increasing numbers of pilgrims seek to take part in the annual Haj, already the greatest annual religious gathering in the world.

Credit for biggest expansion of Haram goes to the king
Jeddah: Badr Al-Qahtani

The biggest expansion of the Grand Mosque in Makkah was carried out during the reign of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

In 2011, the Haram’s capacity was raised to accommodate 1.6 million worshippers, one-and-half times more than all the expansions put together in the mosque’s history. This latest expansion cost SR 80 billion and is part of Makkah’s many development projects, including work on the mosque’s central zone and surrounding areas.

Speaking on the seventh anniversary of King Abdullah’s accession to throne, Dr. Muhammad Bin Nasser, vice president of the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs, said developing the mosque’s area is an ongoing project.

“Every year the Grand Mosque witnesses more development in the services provided to visitors. This year, the King Abdullah Expansion Project is being carried out.

It includes the latest and most sophisticated electrical and mechanical systems. The expansion is linked to the first Saudi expansion and to the masaa (running area between Safaa and Marwaa) via several bridges. A new system of elevators and escalators is being installed,” he said.
…

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Jeddah to host major food, hotel, hospitality and packaging show

salama — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:03:47 +0000

Over 350 companies from 22 countries will be participating at the annual Saudi food, hotel, hospitality & propac arabia show to be held in Jeddah from May 20-23, 2012, under the patronage of the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture and under the auspices of Engineer Hassan Sangoof, Director General, Ministry of Agriculture, Makkah Region.

Organised by Al-Harithy Company for Exhibitions (ACE), the event – Saudi Arabia’s 17th international Event for Food, Beverages and Catering, Hotel Equipment, Supplies and Services – is set for opening at 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 20 at the JCCI-owned Jeddah Centre for Forums & Events.

“This is the leading event in the Kingdom’s food, hotel, hospitality, processing and packaging industries, with a successful track record of more than fifteen years,” Zahoor Siddique, Vice President for Exhibitions, ACE, said.

The show has established Jeddah as the hub of the food, hotel and hospitality sector, and the Kingdom as a national showcase and forum where worldwide suppliers present their products and services, he added.

The event, propac arabia – the Kingdom’s comprehensive showcase for the industry – runs concurrently and will display a diverse range of exhibitor profile covering the entire spectrum of this industry. This is Saudi Arabia’s 17th International Event for Production & Processing, Printing & Packaging, Plastics & Chemicals.

The dual event hosts an impressive list of national pavilions from China, Egypt, Indonesia, Taiwan, Turkey, USA and individual companies from Belgium, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Korea, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Singapore, Tunisia and UAE; and Saudi companies representing international brands.

The show incorporates TopChef & Art de Table, jointly organized by ACE and Saudi Arabian Chef Association, which will feature culinary skills of chefs from the finest hotels and restaurants and adjudicated by a panel of international experts.

“Art de table will be yet another attraction of impressive table displays by leading hotels and restaurants,” Zahoor Siddique added.

The shows also enjoy the support of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Islamic Center for Development of Trade with Royal Host as the Main Sponsor and Fakieh Group as the strategic sponsor.

The show runs daily from 5 -10 pm, 20-23 May, 2012.

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Saudi Arabia Halts Shipments of U.S. Beef, USDA Agency Says

salama — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:09:31 +0000

Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia halted imports of U.S. beef, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Beef from the U.S. shipped on or after April 19 is not eligible for export to the country, the agency said today in a report on its website, without providing a reason for the ban.

The U.S. shipped 15.469 million pounds (7,017 metric tons) of beef to Saudi Arabia in 2011, government data show. That’s less than 1 percent of total U.S. beef exports last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Campbell in Chicago atecampbell14@bloomberg.net

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Saudi Arabia: SFDA urges stricter inspection

salama — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:24:43 +0000

By RIYADH: KHALID TAWALBEH ARAB NEWS STAFF

Chief Executive Officer of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) Mohammed bin Ahmed Al-Kanhal has urged the authority’s offices at customs outlets to be careful while examining imported foods, especially shipments of fish from the waters of the Arabian Gulf.

He said they should make sure there was no contamination from microbes as some countries around the Arabian Gulf discharge sewage into the sea without processing it.

He stressed the importance of the high nutritional value of fish and the need for inspectors to examine the properties of the fish or send samples to central labs.

After visiting SFDA offices in Salwa and Al-Bataha yesterday, Al-Kanhal said there was need to impose stricter sanctions on those who sell counterfeit medicines, because their effects are as damaging as drugs.

He added the punishments for dealing in counterfeit medicines are generally lighter than those for drug-related offenses.

The aim of Al-Kanhal’s visit was to improve integration with customs authorities and examine the impact of the GCC customs union and the impact of the use of one port for the transit of goods, including food, medicines, medical devices and other products. The SFDA executive was accompanied by his deputies and aides

The Saudi Food and Drug Authority is strengthening its oversight laboratories and offices with equipment and qualified personnel to enhance its presence in various exit and entry points to ensure the safety of food and drugs and guarantee the effectiveness and efficiency of medical equipment and supplies.

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Saudi Arabia: Shoura Council approves draft food system

salama — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:49:06 +0000

By RIYADH: MD RASOOLDEEN ARAB NEWS STAFF

The Shoura Council approved a set of draft rules and regulations for a comprehensive food system in the Kingdom.

The council’s 25th ordinary session was held under the chairmanship of its Vice Chairman Mohammed bin Amin Jaafri yesterday.

Assistant Secretary-General of the Council Abdulaziz Al-Yahya said the council approved the scheme comprising 46 articles which included the definition of food, food additives, its safety, hygienic practices, food handling, set standards for food, environmental and health requirements and packaging.

The proposals were forwarded for discussion by the council’s committee on health and environment.

During the session, the house empowered the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) to issue technical regulations and set standards for food and to approve the list of foodstuffs that are to be imported into the Kingdom in conformity with the country’s regulations.

The authority is also expected to identify establishments that handle food including their production facilities to ensure they are in accordance with the Kingdom’s regulations.

Accordingly, the SFDA would list the types of food that are prohibited in the Kingdom according to Islamic law, food that is harmful to health or unfit for consumption, food produced that contravene the regulations of the technical standards of food production and unsafe food or counterfeited goods.

Al-Yahya said the authority would also work out the registration procedures for food items that are to be marketed within the Kingdom.

The SFDA was established under a Council of Ministers resolution as an independent corporate body that directly reports to the head of the Council of Ministers. Its objective is to ensure the safety of food and drugs for man and animal and safety of biological and chemical substances as well as electronic products.

Its board of directors is headed by Crown Prince Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, and several other ministers connected to the food industry.

The main purpose of the SFDA is to regulate, oversee and control food, drug, medical devices as well as set mandatory standard specifications for them, whether they are imported or locally manufactured. The control and testing activities can be conducted in the SFDA or other agency’s laboratories. The SFDA is also in charge of consumer awareness programs on all matters related to food, drug and medical devices and all other products and supplies.

According to Ibrahim Al-Mohizea, vice president of SFDA for the food sector, the food industry in the Kingdom produces goods worth some SR250 million a day.

Only halal food is consumed throughout the Kingdom. Around 1.8 billion people in the world consume halal food and its global market is valued at SR2.5 trillion.

The house also discussed ways and means of exercising government control over cooperative insurance companies in the Kingdom. The proposal was submitted by the council’s finance committee, which had already received representations from the Supreme Judicial Council.

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Saudi Arabia: Lulu plans logistics center in the UK

salama — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 10:08:40 +0000

By GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN | ARAB NEWS STAFF

British Ambassador Sir Tom Phillips cutting the ribbon to mark the opening of the British Week at Lulu Hypermarket in Riyadh on Saturday, while Shehim Mohammed Unni, Lulu regional director (left) looks on. (AN photo)

RIYADH: Sir Tom Phillips, British ambassador, inaugurated the “British Week”, a major British food festival, at the Lulu Hypermarket in the Saudi capital yesterday. The “British Week”, organized by Lulu Hypermarkets in Riyadh and Dammam in cooperation with the local embassy of the United Kingdom, showcases more than 3,000 exclusively imported British products for the first time in the Kingdom under one roof and on promotional prices.

In Alkhobar, the British Week was opened by David Harries, head of British Trade Office yesterday with great fanfare. After formally cutting the ribbon to mark the opening of the British Week in the Saudi capital, Ambassador Phillips expressed his appreciation at the hypermarket’s initiative in holding a food festival that highlights the high quality and rich diversity of food products from the UK. Phillips, who took a round of the hypermarket after formally opening the festival, said that Lulu Hypermarket was introducing and popularizing some of the best British products to the local market.

In addition, the festival is allows the large number of Saudis and expatriates, who regularly visit the UK, to enjoy in the Kingdom some of the great food products of Britain. The inaugural ceremony was attended by a large number of guests including British diplomats and top Lulu executives. Shehim Mohammed Unni, Lulu’s regional director; Peter Broom, deputy director for UK Trade & Investment (UKTI); and Promilla Caughey, UKTI marketing manager were present together with a number of newsmen and photographers. In Alkhobar, Harries was welcomed by Abdul Basheer, Lulu’s regional director at the hypermarket.

Asked about the move by London to promote its food products in high-growth markets like Saudi Arabia, the British envoy said: “I am delighted to have relationship with Lulu, which is looking at opening a logistics center in the UK. “This is real opportunity to celebrate the partnership,” said Phillips, adding that there is a large British community in Riyadh. “Saudi Arabia is a priority market for the UK,” added the ambassador, while giving the highlights of the Saudi-UK relations in the field of culture.

Speaking on this occasion in Riyadh, Shehim said that “the UK is an important and growing market for us. The new distribution center called “Lulu Sourcing and Logistics Center”, to be opened in the UK, will be an integral part of commitment to Britain, from where Lulu Hypermarkets of the Gulf have been importing products worth 24 million pounds annually. The Lulu’s center will be located in Birmingham, the second most populous city in the UK, which is also a major international commercial city.

Shehim pointed out that the British Week offers the best fine food products from the UK. With a wide variety of products including Gluten free products, organic products, free range eggs, fresh breads, goats milk and yogurts, diabetic products, flavored yogurts, chocolates, fresh fruits & vegetables, pies & cakes, canned foods, gift food, bakery, cheese, cooked and cured meats, the British Week at the two Lulu stores is a highly recommended festival for every one to go and experience, he added.

“The prime focus of British Week is to portray Lulu Hypermarkets as a unique shopping experience for its customers,” he added. Given the cosmopolitan clientele and culture of Lulu, “British Week” campaign will offer a lot to the customers on this occasion. During this promotion period, Lulu outlets in Riyadh and Alkhobar have been decorated with huge and colorful replicas of the famous landmarks and icons associated with Britain. As part of this event, free tickets would be handed over to lucky winners of a raffle draw to attend the Summer Olympics 2012 to be held in Britain.

This British festival is the first of its kind being organized by a hypermarket in the Saudi capital city. Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom have long been close allies, and the breadth and depth of Britain’s relationship with the Kingdom continues to increase. On commercial front, the two-way trade between the two Kingdoms continues to grow. Commercial partnerships are flourishing and UK visible and invisible exports are valued at more than $6 billion. Saudi Arabia remains by far the UK’s largest market for go

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Saudis make Desert Sands into Solar Polysilicon

salama — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:20:57 +0000

Susan Kraemer – Green Prophet

Saudi Arabia has lots of open land with sand rich in silicon needed to make polysilicon for the solar industry.

This year, the Kingdom has announced its second polysilicon manufacturing partnership, this time with Germany’s Centrotherm Photovoltaics. A year ago, Saudi Arabia had announced a $1 billion solar joint venture with South Korea that was to have brought the first ever solar factory to Saudi Arabia to make polysilicon, the essential ingredient of traditional solar cells. That Saudi-based joint venture company, Polysilicon Technology Company, was to be in production by 2014. However, a year later, no website, and no further news announcements…

By contrast, the new partnership agreement with Centrotherm - to build a polysilicon plant in Saudi Arabia, has already yielded its own website in the new Saudi-based company name: IDEA Polysilicon Company (IPC).

By selecting Germany’s Centrotherm Photovoltaics – the world’s No #2 maker of solar equipment – the founders of IDEA would seem to have chosen wisely.

The new company will build a $1.06 billion industrial complex in Yanbu.

Funding comes from investors in the Gulf; IDEA International Investment and Development Company, who had put out a request for bids for building the polysilicon factory in 2010.

The project will be the largest manufacturing facility in the Middle East for the production of highly-pure polysilicon (how its made) with a total capacity of up to 10,000 tonnes per year, of which 2500 tonnes will be converted to solar wafers.

With this move, Saudi Arabia is slowly beginning to make some moves towards diversifying out of oil, which is its only real exportable commodity – and towards solar power and sand-based polysilicon, the commodities that it is truly rich in.

And since the Middle East and North Africa are expected to be among the major PV growth regions during next years, its a smart move.

Dubai to Invest $3billion in Solar Farms

Susan Kraemer – Green Prophet 13 Jan 2012

Dubai produces only around 100,000 barrels per day of oil from four existing fields, and is dependent on fossil fuels for electricity production and for water, which must be desalinated. So news that Dubai is planning a gigantic solar farm with a capacity of 1,000 MW (1 GW), would seem like an appropriate response, right?

However, the speed of building the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park - named after the ruler of Dubai – is strikingly at odds with Dubai’s world-famous dispatch in speedy project development. The 1,000 MW solar farm will take till 2030 to complete!

Unlike ambitious Morocco (Could Morocco be First to Get 42% Solar?) and Egypt, which has requested bids to get 2, 700 MW of wind by 2016, and similarly blessed with abundant desert sun, Dubai’s solar will still only play a minor role in the sun-soaked region.

Solar power will supply just 5% of Dubai electricity by 2030.

It will take two years to get the first 1% (10 MW) up and running. The solar farm will be built and hooked-up in stages, with the first 10 MW hooked-up and shipping power to the grid by the end of 2013. Solar farms can be built very quickly. First Solar completed its solar farm in a few months in California, once the environmental reviews were completed.

Dubai is home to only 2 million people. However, they are some of the most energy-hungry people in the world, being entirely dependent on fossil energy to desalinate all of their water. Dubai gets only 6% of its income from oil, and what oil it has is expected to be gone by 2020.

In 2010, Dubai consumed around 33,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity and energy demand is expected to increase by 5% annually – without intervention. (However, Dubai has passed some very tough energy-efficiency rules to cut electricity use, like its New Net Zero Building Code.)

The first stage will cost 120 million dirhams, but the entire solar farm will cost a total of $3 billion US dollars.

It is to be initially funded by the kingdom’s Supreme Council of Energy, whose members include various government entities such as the Dubai Supply Authority and Dubai Petroleum Establishment as well as Dubai Aluminum Company (DUBAL) and Emirates National Oil Company.

Then for the financing of the rest of the project, the Supreme Council of Energy was studying several options, like developing a clean energy fund – which would essentially be more of the same ownership; by the kingdom – but also encouraging private partnership, said Nejib Zaafrani, secretary general and chief executive officer of Supreme Energy Council.

Dubai will also import nuclear power from its neighbor Abu Dhabi. Other than the 5% it plans to get from solar, Dubai expects to import 12% of its electricity from nuclear power, get 12% from some sort of “clean coal”, and the rest from natural gas, as part of its relatively modest and slow-moving goal to reduce its current carbon emissions 30% by 2030.

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Saudi Arabia/Tourism: 2.5 million arrivals for business tourism

salama — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:23:16 +0000

JEDDAH, 18 Jumada Al-Awwal/9 April (IINA)- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has received over 2.5 million visitors arriving to the country to take part in conferences or exhibitions held in different parts of the Kingdom during 2011.

During their stay they spent over SR 7.7 bn. Also they made 741 domestic business trips during which they spent SR 876 million, said Eng. Tariq bin Abdul Rahman Al Essa, Director of Business Tourism Development Project at SCTA.

Eng. Tariq was addressing during a workshop on business tourism with special focus on “Exhibitions and Conferences”. The workshop was held on the sidelines of STTIM-2012.

He further said, “These figures reflect importance of this sector if it was properly exploited as it has large correlation with other sectors, such as insurance companies, transport companies, food suppliers, media means, education sectors, training, and the like organizations.”

Regarding international experience, Al Essa focused on a number of experiences, which show how far this sector could be exploited, such as Imex festival in Frankfort in which about 3500 exhibitors from 150 countries to take part, Gibtm in Abu Dhabi in which over 250 exhibitors from more than 20 countries taking part and Eibtm in Barcelona it is one of the most famous exhibitions.

During his speech he referred to a number of objectives that SCTA look forward to achieve them through holding a forum for conferences and exhibitions in the Kingdom, in the forefront of which is, bringing together the conferences and exhibitions stakeholders, both organizers and suppliers in the Kingdom, exploring and highlighting international experience in this field, exchanging experience in the field of conferences and exhibitions.

The first session of the forum will focus on attracting about 50 exhibitors from hotels, exhibitions suppliers and conferences suppliers, tour operators, and exhibitions and conferences operators and international associations.

AH/IINA

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