The Kingdom is scheduled to host the 4th Arab conference for Industrial Information and Networks. King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, will grace the opening of the three-day conference set to open on Dec. 20. Arab industry, commerce and telecommunications ministers as well as experts and scientists will take part in the deliberations of the conference. Some others from non-Arab countries are also expected to particiate. Nabeel Bin Amin Mulla, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO), said his organization and the Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organization (AIDMO) would organize the conference in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Islamic Development Bank (IDB). He said the royal patronage of the conference clearly shows King Abdullah's concern, keenness and encouragement to support Arab work aiming at boosting the efforts to develop industry and its technologies, transferring and localizing science and technology in the Kingdom and the Arab World on integrated basis so as to serve the joint interests of the Arab national at all levels. He said the conference would deal with several important subjects related to industrial information, like added value, industrial production, industrial costs, support for industrial exports, industrial infrastructure, statistics, standards and specifications, implementation of quality regulations, continuous development and improvement, integration of industrial operations through the use of networks and nano technology in networks, and information technology (IT) and Geographic Information System (GIS) in developing industry and mining. All this is with the aim of upgrading the standard of industrial quality in different fields and reducing wastage and costs which would ultimately lead to supporting Arab economies and upgrading them to better levels under global competition and market openness according to the conditions of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Mulla expressed his hope that the participants in the conference would pass constructive recommendations that would contribute in transferring and localizing science and technology in the Arab World in general and the Kingdom in particular.
