Rajen Kilachand, Chairman of Dodsal Group, the regional infrastructure development pioneer, will address the Arab Strategy Forum 2006 (ASF) on Monday, 04 December, 2006. With his speech at the session entitled, ‘The Global Race for Energy.’ Mr. Kilachand will present the global energy scenario and the long-term impact of the energy hunger of rapidly growing nations such as India and China.
This ASF session will bring out the changing dynamics of the world energy demand, spotlight the new producers and consumers, discuss the transformation of the geopolitical landscape by the current energy outlook and look at the developments likely to affect oil prices.
The other participants in the session will be Lakhdar Brahimi, Special Advisor to the Secretary-General, United Nations, New York, Shukri Ghanem, Chairman of the Management Committee, National Oil Corporation, Libya, Jeroen Van Der Veer, Chief Executive, Royal Dutch Shell, The Netherlands and Daniel Yergin, Co-founder and Chairman, Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA), USA. The session will be moderated by David Ignatius, Associate Editor and Columnist, Washington Post.
Addressing the audience, Mr. Rajen Kilachand, said: “There is a paradigm shift underway in the energy industry globally. This is being brought about by the cooperation between Russia, the world’s largest oil producer and the fastest growing consumers led by China and India. Nuclear power will also be brought back aggressively to meet the world’s energy needs.”
In addition to Mr. Kilachand, Mr. Pranabesh Das, Managing Director, Operations, The Dodsal Group, will participate in the plenary session on ‘Energy Scenarios to 2030: How the future will be fuelled.’ Mr. Das said: “There is a tremendous resource crunch on the energy sector in skilled manpower, and organisational capabilities. The sector will see an investment of around US$17 trillion till 2030 and the skill requirements to bring to life these investments will need to be added to significantly. Oil conservation measures will yield an equivalent of 12 million bpd. that is the combined production of the KSA, the UAE and Nigeria. Even with this change, oil, coal and gas will meet 81 per cent of the world’s energy needs in 2030, up from the 80 per cent of today.”
Founded in 1948, the Dodsal Group has a long association with the region, Asia and Africa in building the infrastructure, refineries, transport and other facilities of the energy chain. They have also gained concessions for the exploration of natural reserves in various states in the Middle East and Africa. They earlier signed the Exclusive Partner Agreement for the ASF that will bring together over 600 global leaders to discuss key issues impacting the Arab world.
“Dodsal intends to present another perspective to the regional and international leaders present at the ASF who will undoubtedly have their own understanding of the growing and important role played by the current energy boom in the global economy. We are sure to generate a lively debate at the ASF and bring out differing views of the key players in the discussion,” concluded Mr. Kilachand.
About Dodsal Group:
Dubai-based Dodsal Group is a 55 year-old diversified multinational that operates in five distinct businesses – infrastructure, exploration and mining, trading, quick service restaurants and flowers. In its core infrastructure business, Dodsal undertakes projects either on EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) or on a turn-key basis. In the exploration and mining division, it explores for hydrocarbon reserves and mines for metals and minerals in Africa and the Middle East.
Dodsal’s trading division markets and distributes chemicals, metals & engineering goods for twenty four companies from eleven countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Its quick service restaurants division holds the franchise of Yum! Brands International and operates 60 Pizza Hut and KFC outlets across 11 Indian cities. It envisions 150 outlets by 2010. Dodsal’s flowers business holds franchise rights for an innovative technology for printing personalised messages and photos on petals for Singapore & India.
A regional pioneer in being a socially responsible corporation, Dodsal actively promotes arts and culture, education and healthcare initiatives.
