The minister of energy Dr. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza opened today the 14th Middle East Corrosion Conference and Exhibition.In his opening speech, the minister thanked the wise leadership for its support to all international events of the petroleum sector in Bahrain. He added that this conference gives special focus on the study of metal corrosion, which is done regularly for 3 decades, and the reason behind its importance is simply because corrosion costs our planet billions of dollars yearly. Corrosion happens every where around the world in different climates, and effects every person on a daily basis. He mentioned, that besides the financial loss that corrosion costs us, it extends to cause serious injuries and endangers lives. The minister mentioned that the high humidity and salty soil or water are main reasons for corrosion. Besides that, the area produces large amounts of heavy oil containing high level of Sulfur, and that is alone a factor producing a pro-corrosion climate. Adding to that the pollution caused by cars, trucks, planes, and ships which doubles the size and dangers of the problem. The minister considered the infrastructure very important for every country that seeks improving the living level of its citizens. Infrastructure is metal structures used in construction of buildings, bridges, power stations, oil refineries, rail ways, and ships, and all this infrastructure is susceptible for corrosion. He added that the protection of our assets, which are worth millions, is in between our hands. The organization of this conference is in the aim of protecting our assets, citizens and environment, since its debut in 1979. This conference attracted, over the years, thousands of participants, and featured thousands of researches done by representatives of companies, research centers, universities, government bodies, and industrial societies from all over the world. And over the last 30 years it has attracted experts and engineers from different industries, who were able to save millions of dollars thanks to ideas and solutions, that were introduced in this conference.