The Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD) played a prominent role at the Gulf Standards Forum 2023, held on November 14-15 at the GCC Standardization Organization’s (GSO) headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Dr. Yousef Alhorr, Founding Chairman of GORD, represented the organization among 100 senior leaders from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including various stakeholders, interested parties and standardization ambassadors.

In his opening speech, His Excellency Mr. Saud bin Nasser Al-Khusaibi, President of the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO), revealed that the GSO had successfully approved and issued an impressive total of 27,000 unified Gulf standards and technical regulations for various products and services. Notably, 1,243 of these were identified as mandatory technical regulations.

Dr. Yousef Alhorr, a key speaker at the event, highlighted GORD’s commitment to innovation and capacity building programs aimed at fostering sustainable low-carbon development. One of the key achievements emphasized in his presentation was GORD's pivotal role in the development of the Gulf region’s first-ever Sustainable Construction Code. This forward-looking initiative, started in collaboration with the GSO represents a unified green building code for the GCC region.

The Gulf Standards Forum 2023 addressed a range of crucial topics aimed at consolidating the integration and exchange of experiences and best practices among member states in the field of standardization and its various activities. The discussions and presentations aimed to strengthen the quality infrastructure, emphasizing the important role of GSO in preparing, issuing and approving Gulf standards and technical regulations. This comprehensive approach is expected to enhance the Gulf industry, contribute to protecting health and safety, facilitate trade and eliminate technical barriers to trade.