Inaugurated by H.E. Dr. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, Minister of Oil and Gas Affairs, Chairman of the National Oil & Gas Authority, Kingdom of Bahrain

Conference and exhibition organised at Gulf International Convention Center from December 5 to 8, 2010

Manama, Bahrain, December 6, 2010: His Excellency Dr. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, Minister of Oil and Gas Affairs Chairman of the National Oil & Gas Authority, Kingdom of Bahrain inaugurated the Middle East Maintenance Conference & Exhibition 2010 (MAINTCON 2010), at a high profile ceremony attended by senior government officials, dignitaries, investors, sponsors and exhibitors. Organised by the Bahrain Society of Engineers (BSE) and the Gulf Society of Maintenance Professionals (GSMP), the event will remain open for three days from Monday December 6 to Wednesday December 8 at Gulf Hotel Bahrain's Gulf International Convention Center.

Commenting on the opening, Eng. A. Majeed Al Gassab, President, BSE, said, "First of all on behalf of the organising committee and the Board, I would first like to express my gratitude to H.E. Dr. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza for the invaluable support he has always extended towards holding this landmark exhibition. During times of financial stress it is the industrial and manufacturing sector that experiences the immediate economic impact as markets go into a downward spiral and demand is curtailed. This is when everyone tightens their belts to keep a firm grip on production and costs in the hope that increased productivity and efficiency will give them the competitive edge to tide over the recessionary conditions. But the real challenge in trimming production and costs is to maintain planned growth strategies while making no concessions in ensuring the health and safety of the workforce. This is no easy balancing act and it is here that the conference could help in providing some crucial answers on managing production assets and streamlining machine uptime."

"Maintenance, reliability and asset management are the game changers in industrial production today. Just two decades ago they were considered a support function of production but they are now key factors for the competitiveness of companies. In fact, maintenance is a profession in its own right and it is no accident that representatives of major companies in the region got together to promote maintenance professionalism by setting up the Gulf Society of Maintenance Professionals at this crucial juncture in our industrial evolution earlier this year," he observed.

The definitive event, being conducted for the first time ever on the theme of 'Managing Maintenance for Operational Excellence", focusses on the crucial role of maintenance management in ensuring reliability of production assets in today's troubled industrial environment when productivity and cost effectiveness are key issues in remaining competitive in a market going through a downturn.

Eng. Nazar Al Shammasi said "MAINTCON 2010 brings together global suppliers of equipment, technology and maintenance services and professionals in maintenance management, material handling and storage, planning and scheduling, predictive and monitoring technologies, maintenance and reliability engineering, work process specialists, etc under one roof. It has attracted over 1000 regional as well as global participants from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, USA, Canada, Australia, Italy, India, Iran, and Netherlands, UK, Germany and other part of the world".

The conference agenda features several keynote addresses on each of the three days by a wide range of international experts who will touch upon issues in manufacturing and production covering maintenance excellence, asset reliability, streamlining performance, increasing productivity, cost effectiveness and challenges of the future he added.

The keynote speakers include Abdulrahman Fahad Al-Wuhaib, Senior Vice President, Operations Services, Saudi Aramco; Mosaed Al-Ohali, Executive Vice-President, Manufacturing, SABIC; Hans Klemme-Wolff, Chairman of Global Forum for Maintenance and Asset Management (GFMAM) and Chairman of European Federation of National Maintenance Societies (EFNMS); Nezar Al Shammasi, Conference Chairman, GSMP Chairman and Director Corporate Maintenance Support, Saudi Aramco; and Eng. Majeed Al Gassab, President, Bahrain Society of Engineers.

A total of 57 technical papers covering topics such as predictive and preventive maintenance, reliability engineering, asset integrity, performance measures, health and safety, workforce development, etc. will be presented through three parallel sessions during the three days of the event. Four pre-conference workshops are scheduled on December 5 and one workshop on CMRP certification on December 7. Details of the keynote addresses and technical sessions are given on the following page.

As of now, key sponsors of MAINTCON 2010 include Saudi Aramco, SABIC and FLOWSERVE as Elite Platinum Sponsors; Mohammad Al Mojil Group and Zamil Steel as Platinum Sponsors; Rohrer Group, A.H. Al-Shuwayer Sons, Hussain Khadim Al Sadiq Sons, CSC, Fouad Al-Essa & Partners Company for Trading and Contracting, Arabian Fal Company, E-Gas Company, Hadi H. Al-Hammam EST, AHSTCO, Khusheim, GP Allied, Kuwait Petroleum Company/ Kuwait Oil Company, Aluminum Bahrain (ALBA), Petroleum Development Oman, ROLTA, BAPCO, KEMA Nederland, GPIC and Banagas as Gold Sponsors; and V-LINE SAUDI ARABIA LTD., TST-Turbo Service & Trading GmbH, Al-Iman Gasket Co., S.G.B. Dabal Company, BLDGTEC, Qatar Petroleum, ADNOC and Meridium International FZ LLC as Silver Sponsors.

Tatweer Petroleum is the Luncheon Sponsor, FLOWSERVE is the Gala Dinner Sponsor and ZADCO is the Publication Sponsor.

"MAINTCON 2010 will remain open from 9 am to 4 pm on all conference days. Admission is free for engineers, specialists and interested persons".

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© Press Release 2010