Made in GCC Forum opens in Bahrain with 20 joint industrial investments in pipeline

Mixed · 2The inaugural Made in GCC Forum opened on 6 October at Exhibition World Bahrain in Sakhir, and it runs for three days. 1 2 Mixed · 2Its agenda covers industrial integration, global market access, supply-chain resilience, financing mechanisms and industrial partnerships, as well as smart factories, economic zones and the development of Gulf talent. The National's columnist also lists artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and regional value chains. 1 2 Right · 1GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said the Gulf Cooperation Council is advancing a pipeline of 20 joint industrial investment opportunities. Five of these have been completed and approved in the first phase by the GCC Industrial Cooperation Committee, and he said they would serve as a foundation for later ventures. 1

Right · 1Promotional workshops for these opportunities are under way in Saudi Arabia and Oman, in coordination with the Federation of GCC Chambers. The official release did not disclose the sectors, investment values or implementation timelines for the 20 opportunities. 1 Right · 1Albudaiwi said GCC states host more than 22,000 factories employing over 1.7 million workers, and that manufacturing contributes 13 percent of the bloc's GDP. He described the forum as embodying a shared vision of the GCC leaders that industry is a foundational pillar for diversifying the Gulf economy. 1 Right · 1The 57th meeting of the GCC Industrial Cooperation Committee, held in Manama alongside the forum, launched the Gulf Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its digital platform. The centre is meant to support the adoption of advanced manufacturing and emerging technologies and digital transformation in Gulf factories. 1

Right · 1Other GCC meetings coincided with the forum. Ministers at the 71st Commercial Cooperation Committee on 6 October reviewed work on the GCC Common Market and the Customs Union, and commerce ministers and chamber heads held their 15th consultative meeting on 7 October on challenges facing the private sector. 1 Right · 1The General Secretariat cited combined GCC GDP of around $2.4 trillion, with non-oil activities about 79 percent, and central bank net foreign assets of about $829 billion at the end of June. It also reported 2025 electricity generation of about 876,000 gigawatt-hours, up 9.6 percent, and that the electricity interconnection saved more than $952 million that year and over $5.2 billion cumulatively. 1 Centre · 1In an opinion column in The National, Yasar Jarrar argues that the key question is what it means for something to be "Made in the GCC". He says the Gulf should pursue "resilience through integration" rather than each state duplicating factories and stockpiles, with minerals from Oman, energy-intensive components from Saudi Arabia or Qatar, and technology from the UAE or Bahrain. 2

Centre · 1Jarrar cites a Gulf GDP of $2.3 trillion in 2024 and an IMF study of more than 13,000 investment transactions, which he says found that inward cross-border investment boosts real non-hydrocarbon GDP about three times as much as equivalent domestic investment. He calls for common standards, interoperable regulation, open procurement and an AI-enabled industrial platform, while leaving markets to find competitive advantage. 2