CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE
The month of November is a blessed one for the Sultanate of Oman. This year we celebrate the 41st National Day of Oman and on behalf of the Board, Management and staff of Sohar Aluminium I would like to congratulate His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said and the people of Oman.
Our nation has made tremendous progress under His Majesty’s wise leadership and we look forward to the future with hope and confidence. This November is all the more special to Sohar Aluminium as it hosts the prestigious Arab International Aluminium (Arabal) conference which is being held in Oman for the first time from 13 to 16 November 2011. This is also the first year the Arabal conference is being held on an annual basis. The Arabal conference was started in 1983 by Kuwait Aluminium Company to bring together leading figures in Middle East Aluminium in order to strengthen ties and discuss issues of the day. Over the past 28 years Arabal has grown year on year and now attracts heads of industry from around the world to attend, speak and exhibit. Arabal is the only conference in the world attended by every single primary aluminium manufacturer in the Gulf Region, which makes it the conference of choice for anyone interested in the Middle East aluminium industry. Thus it is a matter of great pride for Sohar Aluminium to be hosting this conference and will truly showcase itself as one of the leading aluminium producers of the region if not the world. In line with its vision “Passion for Excellence, Be the Best”, the conference is all set to be the best one yet. At Sohar Aluminium our people are its greatest assets and we are proud to be an employer of choice. Our Omanisation which currently stands at 70% of our 1,000 strong workforce is a driving force within the organisation. The great strides we have made to achieve our Omanisation target has led to Sohar Aluminium being recognised at the GCC level for excellence in nationalisation. This recognition came at the 28th Meeting of the Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs of the GCC states held in Abu Dhabi in October 2011, when Sohar Aluminium, one of two companies in Oman recognised for this achievement, received the highly prestigious Omanisation Award. The company’s target by 2015 is to be 85% Omanised. Ahmed Al Wahaibi Chairman