5ᵗʰ GPCA Leaders Forum explores “Building the Next Generation of Leaders in the GCC Chemical Industry”

The forum took place on 19 February at the Sheraton Hotel Bahrain, attracting 82 senior industry leaders to discuss the chemical industry’s future

The 5^th edition of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) Leaders Forum highlighted the importance of “Building the Next Generation of Leaders in the GCC Chemical Industry”, attracting over 80 senior industry leaders on 19 February at the Sheraton Hotel Bahrain.

Eng. Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, CEO, SABIC, and Chairman, GPCA, delivered the Welcome remarks, stressing the need to develop young professionals today to lead the industry through the opportunities and challenges ahead.

“The nature of our industry requires our leaders to focus on the short term without losing sight of the long term; to cope with vast diversity and enormous complexity,” Al-Fageeh said.

“For a company to prosper, its employees must have the skills to overcome its business challenges. As business challenges change, so too must employee skills,” he added, calling upon delegates to engage in thoughtful discussions about the resources, framework, and tools that companies can use to build the next generation of leaders.

Louis Besland, Partner, Board & CEO Practice and Global Sector Lead, Chemicals, Heidrick & Struggles, delivered an Opening keynote, setting the stage for discussions on the future of leadership in the chemical industry.

“Future chemical leaders need to build on diverse experiences. Beyond developing themselves, future chemical leaders need to focus on developing their teams,” Besland told delegates, highlighting agility, foresight, resilience, adaptability, and learning as the most important personal characteristics of a leader.

The forum continued with a CHROs leadership dialogue with Moutaz Mashhour, CHRO, Neo Space Group – A PIF Company, and Marten Booisma, Former CHRO, AkzoNobel, moderated by Suvi Kitchloo, Partner, Global Industrial, Heidrick & Struggles. The dialogue focused on building tomorrow’s leadership and managing the development of a diverse internal leadership pipeline.

Delegates also heard from Dr. Jay Bevington, Partner, CEO & Board of Directors Practice, Heidrick & Struggles, as part of a special Keynote, and Dr. Abdulrahman Jawahery, CEO, BAPCO Refining, and Samir Brikho, Executive Chairman, Eurochem, as part of a CEOs leadership dialogue. Ricki Li, Insight and Data Lead, World Economic Forum (WEF), presented key findings from the global study on the Future of Jobs by 2030 at the GPCA Leaders Forum.

Dr. Abdulwahab Al Sadoun, Secretary General, GPCA, concluded the GPCA Leaders Forum, reflecting on the key insights shared throughout the event. In his remarks, Dr. Al Sadoun highlighted the evolving leadership landscape in the chemical industry and the critical role of adaptability, innovation, and sustainability in shaping future leaders.