GGF to set up Mena secretariat in UAE

UK-based Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) yesterday held a meeting, hosted by Emirates Float Glass (EFG), and decided to establish its Middle East and North Africa (Mena) secretariat in Abu Dhabi.

The meeting held at EFG factory in ICAD-2 in Mussafah was attended by a large number of CEOs and top officials from manufacturers and processors of glass products in the region. They also included officials from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Jordan in addition to those from the UAE.

"The body has decided to expand the federation's GCC presence to a wider Middle East and North Africa region," EFG General Manager Ghassan Mashal told Emirates Business on the sideline of the meeting.

He said it was the first such meeting in the history of GGF since its inception five years ago with the participation of federation experts and top executives from the region discussing all the issued pertaining to the glass and glazing industry.

Mashal said: "The current regional members [glass companies] are around 12 but that number will soon increase since most of the participants attending the meeting showed interest and pledged to join the group. They also are in joint agreement to campaign for regional government legislations to set a standardised glass code in the entire Mena region.

"Another important decision was to set up a regional GGF secretariat in Abu Dhabi and a secretary general will be appointed to help promote the federation at regional level."

He also said the federation now will be more efficient and effective in the UAE and the entire region with the member companies set to increase.

Mashal added, "We aim to campaign and lobby for a new legislation which will bring about a standardised glass code in the UAE on a federal level." He also said that another meeting will be held in Egypt soon to help expand the group membership and campaign for standardised glass codes in the entire region.

Referring to EFG, which is owned by Glass LLC, a subsidiary of Dubai Investments, Mashal said company has already received the CE (European standard) marking for quality products, safety and environment protection. He further added the current EFG production capacity of 600 tonnes per day will soon be doubled once the second float-line is completed and operational.

He said the work on the second plant, which is being developed with an investment of Dh200 million, is already under way.

Mashal also said the factory will soon, after completing bronze, will go for other colour tinted products. "We are already working on grey and next will be green."

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