ABU DHABI. Aug 7: Wealthy Gulf Arab states have made headway in an industrialisation drive to lessen reliance on their oil wealth but still lag behind in heavy products, an official report said Saturday, reports AFP

From 4 1 billion dollars In 1975. industrial investment in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) surged to 40.9 billion dollars in 1993 and the gross domestic product in the sector jumped from 4.6 per cent to 9 4-per cent, the .report bv the Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consultancy 1GOIC) said

But the bulk of investments covered light products such as chemicals, food, clothes, metals. home appliances, papt^-. cement and small equipment.

Chemicals accounted for nea rly half the industrial capital receiving 19.7 billion dollars . while around 3.4 billion dollitrs were invested in metal industries and 4.3 billion dollars in food, according to the report, published in United Arab Emirates (UAE) newspapers.

TTie figures did not include inves tments tn petrochemicals. estimated at nearly 18 bib-lion dollars. -Most of products in th Is sector are exported to Japai 1 and the European Union amon g others.

tiCC states — Saudi Arabia. Bahri tin. Oman, Qatar. Kuwait and t he UAE — have been trying Ui diversify their oil-reliant economies by building up an industrial base since sectors such as tourism and agricul-

ture are relatively small due to their arid desert land.

Industrialisation gained momentum in the mid -198Os when oil prices began to de-cllne and created large deficits In Gulf budgets.

GCC states have sought tec -hnology from industrial cou • ntries to set up projects for heavy products with little success as the countries have argued the Gulf market is relatively small hnd Investment •laws prevent them from having full ownership in Industrial ventures.

As a result, industrial exports by GCC nations have remained as low as eight billion dollars a year compared with exports of crude oil. gas and petrochemicals of more than 70 billion dollars.