The opening ceremony of the third annual Gulf Environment & Sustainable Development Forum (GEF) opened tonight at the Jeddah Hilton with a host of VIPs joining HRH Prince Turki Bin Nasser Bin Abdulaziz, President of PME.
Among the highlights of the opening were the winners of the two environmental awards, presented by HRH Prince Turki Bin Nasser. The award for Environmental Protection was won by National Water Company, in partnership with Suido Kiko Middle East, who were congratulated on their work for the Jeddah Sewage Lake, elimating two long standing health hazards. Receiving the award were CEO of NWC, H.E. Loay Al Musalam and Nizar Kammourie, CEO of Suido Kiko Middle East.
A new award for 2012, the Award for CSR, was presented to National Commercial Bank for their commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility. Special attention to their CSR programmes was made by the judging panel.
Among the Ministers making speeches at the opening ceremony was HRH Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz, Assistant Minister for Petroleum Affairs, Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources. His speech touched on goals being set including: “doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency by 2030, which calls for improvements of about 2.5% every year, reaching 40% by 2030. The cost of meeting this target is estimated at US$140-170bn annually.”
The conference continues through Monday and Tuesday, where HRH Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman will chair a panel session. The focus of the conference will be on the Green Economy, Green Innoviation and CSR applied across all industrial sectors in the Middle East region. The exhibition, which is free to attend, will attract public and private sector investors looking for green solutions and international expertise. To find out more, visit www.gulfenvironmentforum.com.