The business community in the Eastern Province, through the Asharqia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, will harness the growth potential and economic development of Qatif, now one of the region's burgeoning municipalities. Abdulrahman Rasheed Al-Rasheed, president of the Asharqia Chamber, set the pace by visiting and addressing last Tuesday leading Qatif businessmen, traders and entrepreneurs who gathered at the King Abdullah Hall in Al-Qudaih area to hear the message of Asharqia Chamber officials. Addressing the gathering, Al-Rasheed outlined the prospective economic development of Qatif and offered the resources and support of Asharqia Chamber to help local businessmen and investors who are willing to engage in business, commercial and industrial ventures. Adnan A. Al-Nuaim, secretary general of Asharqia Chamber, said the visit of the president of the chamber, was also aimed at strengthening the relationship between the Chamber and the Qatif business community. Qatif, located between Dammam, Ras Tanura and Jubail, has traditionally been an agricultural, fishing and trading area. The recent discovery of oil, which established Saudi Aramco's Qatif-Abu Sa'fah Oil Field Development there, has underlined Qatif's importance in the development of the Kingdom. The Qatif-Abu Sa'fah Oil Field Development has a combined production of 800,000 barrels of oil each day, making Qatif potentially one of the world's leading oil-producing areas. Qatif has also other petroleum industries that included gas separator plants and pipeline facilities, in addition to emerging industrial companies.
