GPCA’s postponed annual forum to host third of usual attendees, eyes lift of Saudi travel ban

LONDON (ICIS)–The annual forum organised by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) due to take place in February in Dubai will go ahead with sharply reduced attendance and strict safety measures, the head of events at the industry group told ICIS.

Fiza Khan added that if the UAE’s epidemiological situation took a turn for the worse in the coming three months, the annual meeting on 10-11 February in the UAE emirate could be cancelled at the last minute.

GPCA’s event in February would be highly dependent on Saudi Arabia’s travel ban, which the country is expected to lift from 1 January; the government said it would announce its decision by the beginning of December.

The forum was scheduled to take place on 7-9 December, but the pandemic forced GPCA to postpone it.

If the physical event finally goes ahead, it will only host a third of the participants who attended in 2019 in Dubai, down from 2,200 to 750, confirmed Khan.

Attendees will be asked to comply with strict safety measures – mask wearing, social distancing in sitting arrangements – and safety would be boosted by booth sterilisation and other measures, said Khan.

“We are assessing the situation, which remains uncertain. If the situation by February does not favour us, we would cancel the event. Equally, if the UAE government issues directives not to go ahead, we would cancel it even if it were two weeks before [the event is due to start],” said Khan.

“As of now, and according to the UAE’s government guidelines, we are allowed to hold this event and we have the support of companies here [in Dubai] as well as of supporting partners like Saudi Aramco or SABIC.”

The events and conferences sector has been badly hit by the pandemic as potential attendees remain wary of travel; the petrochemicals industry has not been an exception and no major regional conference has taken place since GPCA’s last meeting in December 2019.

Earlier this month, the European Petrochemical Luncheon (EPL) confirmed to ICIS it was cancelling its March 2021 event in Prague; EPL is held three times a year and is one of Europe’s key networking events for the region’s petrochemicals players.

EPL’s June event due to take place in Barcelona would also be on the line for a cancellation, sources said to ICIS, although EPL did not confirm that.

Crude oil prices and global stock exchanges rallied on 9 November after US-headquartered pharmaceutical major Pzifer said its vaccine against coronavirus could start being rolled out by year-end as trials are progressing well.

The conversation with GPCA’s Khan took place last week.

SAUDI TRAVEL BAN LIFTING IS KEY
GPCA is playing on safe ground, however, as the UEA has been praised for its handling of the pandemic; according to the Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center, the 10m-country had confirmed 142,000 cases and 514 deaths as of 10 November.

Khan said 82 people, as well as several contractors, have already registered for GPCA’s annual meeting.

Together with supporting partners, many of GPCA annual forum’s attendees would come from Saudi Arabia given the predominant role the crude oil and petrochemicals producing country plays in the wider Gulf region.

“As soon as Saudi Arabia opens its borders, that would show things are moving in the positive direction,” concluded Kahn.

Kahn said to those already registered, or mulling to do so, that money from registrations would be refunded or vouchered for the next event if any last-minute change of regulation, either by the UAE or the companies’ home countries, including travel vans, impeded the event’s celebration.

“UAE’s epidemiological situation is well controlled, however. Everything from malls to the Dubai World Trade Centre is open and, opposite to most of Europe, around 80% of office workers are back to their workplace,” said Khan.

“Once people went back to their workplaces, cases have not spiked, which shows people’s high levels of compliance with safety guidelines established by the government.”

The International Petrochemicals Conference (IPC), organised by the US trade group AFPM and due to take place in San Antonio, Texas, in March is still planned to go ahead; the pandemic, however, continues expanding fast in the US, with several records in daily cases over the last past week.

AFPM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.