Dubai, United Arab Emirates; March 8, 2015:Nearly 80 percent of the GCC regions major petrochemical and chemical producers have made innovation strategy a key business priority, indicating that the advancement, improvement and modernization of the sector is a top priority, according to a new survey by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA).

According to the GPCA Innovation Survey 2015, the number of companies that have formulated an explicit innovation strategy has doubled from 21 percent in 2010 to 41 percent in 2015. Additionally, 38 per cent of surveyed companies in the Arabian Gulfs chemical industry are seriously considering implementing an innovation strategy and expect it to remain a priority over the next ten years.

Over the last four decades, the GCCs petrochemicals industry has evolved from humble beginnings into a multi-billion dollar industry, which has amore than 140 million ton capacity that has applications in host of sectors, said Dr.Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, Secretary General, GPCA. And as growth forecasts indicate stable progress, the latest GPCA Innovation Survey shows that the regions petrochemical producers are increasingly looking towards applying a meaningful innovation mandate to stay relevant in the face of rising market competition.

Now in its second edition, the GPCA Innovation Survey tracks the perceptions and priorities of theregions top petrochemical producers. This year, the survey spoke to 24 manager level or above executives in the Arabian Gulf, representing 70 per cent of GPCA full member companies.

In terms of investment, the GCCs chemical industry invested an estimated US$367 million on research and development (R&D) in 2013, a figure that is around 0.8 per cent of global R&D investment.

R&D investments are traditionally seen as indicators to an organization or countrys openness to innovation, explained Dr.Sadoun. While the GCCs spending on R&D may be perceived as low, implementing innovation into operations is a long- term program that requires careful planning. Over the last 5 years, the industry has implemented ambitious training programs, collaborated with countless universities and unveiled five impressive research institutions, signalling that innovation is something that top management takes very seriously. Innovation, after all, will ensure that the industry can weather the storm of oil price fluctuations.

The GPCA Innovation Survey 2015 will be unveiled at the Research & Innovation Summit in Dubai, UAE. From March 16-18, the conference will host senior executives from the petrochemical industrys foremost companies, academia and research institutions to share insights on Mastering the Research and Innovation Challenges.