The decision by GCC leaders to establish a common market from January 1Â was another significant step towards greater unity between the six countries.
Economic integration and the development of a regional market will, undoubtedly, give the GCC more muscle on the global geopolitical stage and allow its members to enjoy more fully the riches of the oil boom.
The Gulf states have long realised the benefits of working together. The GCC itself was set up in 1981 to ‘reinforce and institutionalise cooperation and coordination’. And the interconnected power grid project is another part of that vision for greater cross-border collaboration.
The financial advantages of power exchange and trading between the Arab states are clear.
But the rewards could be even greater if performance benchmarking were also included in the scheme. Rewards for the end-user, that is.
Performance tables charting the reliability of electricity supply in individual countries and in regions within those countries would have the impact of driving up standards, reducing power losses and improving service to customers.
Benchmarking is as much an indication of efficiency as it is inefficiency, so only electricity providers with real need to improve would have reason to oppose the introduction of such a system.
Many countries in Europe and elsewhere already practise utility benchmarking. Admittedly, in some countries the number of utility companies is limited, so internal benchmarking is not really possible.
But this is where an international system would be useful. Obviously, differences in operating methods and environmental influences would need to be factored into the benchmark parameters.
As electricity liberalisation and privatisation progress, benchmarking is a technique by which authorities could continue to regulate network utilities. And, as utilities are increasingly becoming international outfits, international utility benchmarking is a logical next step.
Benchmarking could be introduced across a variety of sectors within the GCC, encouraging companies to reinvest profits and to expand and improve infrastructure. In a region where vast sums are being poured into new developments, efforts also need to be channelled towards maintaining and improving the efficiency of existing infrastructure. The introduction of performance indicators would be one way to do that. After all, no one enjoys being bottom of the league.
Staff Writer
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Strength through unity
The growing ties between GCC member countries?should be?strengthened by using international benchmarking.
The decision by GCC leaders to establish a common market from January 1Â was another significant step towards greater unity between the six countries.
Economic integration and the development of a regional market will, undoubtedly, give the GCC more muscle on the global geopolitical stage and allow its members to enjoy more fully the riches of the oil boom.
The Gulf states have long realised the benefits of working together. The GCC itself was set up in 1981 to ‘reinforce and institutionalise cooperation and coordination’. And the interconnected power grid project is another part of that vision for greater cross-border collaboration.
The financial advantages of power exchange and trading between the Arab states are clear.
But the rewards could be even greater if performance benchmarking were also included in the scheme. Rewards for the end-user, that is.
Performance tables charting the reliability of electricity supply in individual countries and in regions within those countries would have the impact of driving up standards, reducing power losses and improving service to customers.
Benchmarking is as much an indication of efficiency as it is inefficiency, so only electricity providers with real need to improve would have reason to oppose the introduction of such a system.
Many countries in Europe and elsewhere already practise utility benchmarking. Admittedly, in some countries the number of utility companies is limited, so internal benchmarking is not really possible.
But this is where an international system would be useful. Obviously, differences in operating methods and environmental influences would need to be factored into the benchmark parameters.
As electricity liberalisation and privatisation progress, benchmarking is a technique by which authorities could continue to regulate network utilities. And, as utilities are increasingly becoming international outfits, international utility benchmarking is a logical next step.
Benchmarking could be introduced across a variety of sectors within the GCC, encouraging companies to reinvest profits and to expand and improve infrastructure. In a region where vast sums are being poured into new developments, efforts also need to be channelled towards maintaining and improving the efficiency of existing infrastructure. The introduction of performance indicators would be one way to do that. After all, no one enjoys being bottom of the league.
Staff Writer
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and... More by Staff Writer
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