New British Prime Minister Mr. Rishi Sunak received the Minister of Industry and Commerce, H.E. Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani, on the sidelines of the Minister's official visit to participate in the Second Arab-British Economic Summit 2022 in London.

the British Prime Minister welcomed H.E. Minister Zayed R. Alzayani alongside Arab Ambassadors to the UK, wishing them continued success in their work, and noted the depth of historical relations and strategic partnership between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the UK. Minister Alzayani stressed that the economic developments witnessed in relations between Bahrain and the UK will develop investment cooperation opportunities between the two sides, positively affecting bilateral trade exchange.

Furthermore, H.E. Minister Zayed R. Alzayani expressed his sincere wishes to the new British Prime Minister Mr. Rishi Sunak, for continued success in his new duties as UK Prime Minister. 

The meeting was attended by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the UK, Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, a number of Arab ambassadors to the UK and a number of senior officials from both sides.

H.E. Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani, Minister of Industry and Commerce stressed the depth of historical relations and close strategic partnership between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the UK, noting the importance of continuing the development of bilateral relations between the two countries at various levels, most importantly economics and investments, and pushing joint cooperation towards prospects that provide promising sectors that contribute to the promotion of economic growth and support all development paths towards achieving desired results, in a way that serves the best interest of both countries.

This came during His Excellency's participation in the opening session of the Second Arab-British Economic Summit 2022, held at the Queen Elizabeth II Center in London under the theme "Shaping a Common Vision", organized by the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce, with the participation of government officials, senior executives, leaders and decision makers from across the UK and the Arab world, to discuss diverse trade and investment opportunities, especially those that keep pace with emerging technology-based industries In the presence of His Excellency Sheikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Kingdom .

During his speech, Alzayani noted that Bahrain and UK have deep-rooted 200-year-old relations, which resulted in the growth of trade between the two countries, in addition to the signing of various cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding that will enhance bilateral commerce and increase the volume of investments.

HE also expressed Bahrain's keenness to raise the levels of global trade exchange and support the foundations and advantages provided by the FTA between Britain and the GCC, which contribute to raising the levels of trade, investment, and development exchange between the two sides.​
 

Alzayani added that the FTA is an ambitious, comprehensive and modern agreement commensurate with the 21st century, and will support economic growth and provide more opportunities through promoting trade in goods and services, as well as innovative new fields and emerging technologies for the mutual benefit of all parties.

H.E. noted that Dr. Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and British Secretary of State for International trade, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, signed the launch of the FTA negotiations between the GCC and the UK and Northern Ireland on June 22, 2022 at the headquarters of the General Secretariat in Riyadh, in the presence of their Excellencies GCC Ministers of Commerce, in a plan to move forward towards strengthening strategic relations.

In the conclusion of his speech, H.E. stated that the first round of negotiations aims to explore the views of the Gulf and British sides on the topics in negotiations' terms of reference, in preparation for the drafting of the legal texts of the agreement and the start of discussions, as the first round was held from 22 to 25 August 2022, led by H.E. Ms. Eman Ahmed Al-Doseri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and Acting Chairman of the Gulf Negotiations Group.

The Arab-British Economic Summit in its second edition dealt with many important topics, including highlighting important issues, most notably the FTA, ways to promote Arab-British trade and investment, renewable energy, investment in health technology, the technological revolution in the education sector, financial technology and the promotion of digital cooperation and other important topics.

H.E. Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani, Minister of Industry and Commerce, affirmed the government's pride in the strategic partnership between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the US in the industrial and commercial sectors, noting the abundance of economic opportunities in the Kingdom, motivating companies to invest and expand their business in Bahrain. The US Trade Zone is one of the most prominent outcomes of the official visit of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to the US in November 2019, which resulted in an MOU in 2021 to establish this zone to strengthen economic, trade and industrial cooperation and advance bilateral trade, according to the advantages of the FTA between Bahrain and the US, in addition to investment opportunities in the region. H.E. Ambassador SH Abdullah bin Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Ambassador of Bahrain to the US, was briefed on the U.S. Trade Zone by H.E. Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani, Minister of Industry and Commerce, in the presence of the Head of Political and Economic Affairs at the US Embassy to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Elizabeth Hatting.

The Minister and the Ambassador also visited the location of the area in Salman Industrial City, where he noted establishing the US commercial zone infrastructure is one of the most prominent projects listed under the infrastructure investment axis within the industrial sector strategy 2022-2026.

Moreover, the Minister praised the efforts of the Embassy of Bahrain in the US in presenting investment opportunities in Bahrain to the US, which contributes to increasing the volume of trade between the two countries and achieving objectives of Bahrain's Economic Vision 2030.

Within the framework of the meetings of the Ministers of Commerce and Industry of the (GCC) in Riyadh, Minister of Industry and Commerce H.E. Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani participated in the launch of the Future Factories Program in the presence of (GCC) Ministers of Commerce and Industry, held at Prince Saud Al-Faisal Convention Center at the headquarters of the General Secretariat in Riyadh.  

The Minister praised the objectives of the Future Factories Program implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the developmental role of such ambitious programs on the industrial sector.

The launch of the Future Factories Program aims to develop factories digitally, raise the competitiveness of national industry, in addition to designing high standard factories, and developing existing factories into operational excellence standards and advanced technologies.

Minister of Industry and Commerce, H.E. Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani, headed the delegation of the Kingdom of Bahrain participating in the 63^rd  meeting of the Trade Cooperation Committee, with the participation of GCC Ministers of Commerce, in the presence of GCC Secretary-General, Dr. Nayef bin Falah Al-Hajraf. Which was held at the headquarters of the General Secretariat in Riyadh, in the presence of Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce Ms. Eman Ahmed Al-Doseri, Assistant Undersecretary for Local and Foreign Trade SH. Hamad bin Salman Al-Khalifa, and Assistant Undersecretary for Industrial Development Dr. Khaled Fahad AlAlawi.

The meeting discussed a number of topics related to the commercial sector and intra-GCC trade. 

H.E. the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani, headed Bahrain's delegation in the 4^th meeting of the GCC Ministerial Committee for Standardization Affairs, held this morning at the headquarters of the General Secretariat in Riyadh, with the participation of H.E. Dr Nayef Falah Al Hajraf, (GCC)Secretary General, and Heads of delegations of member countries of the GCC Ministerial Committee for Standardization Affairs, in the presence of H.E. Mr. Saud bin Nasser Al Khusaibi, Secretary General of GCC Standardization Organization(GSO), the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ms. Eman Ahmed AlDoseri, and the Assistant Undersecretary for Local and Foreign Trade, SH. Hamad bin Salman Al Khalifa.

The Minister affirmed that the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in implementation of the directives and visions of GCC leaders, believes in cooperation with the standardization bodies of the GCC countries, as part of their general cooperation in various fields, noting the gains and advantages from robust solidarity in the various fields of standardization that will support the Gulf economy by emphasizing the importance of the imported and exported products meeting the technical requirements and the conformity assessment procedures aimed at protecting safety, health and the environment, facilitating intra-GCC trade procedures and streamlining the passage of commercial products according to internationally applicable regulations and laws.

The Minister of Industry and Commerce, H.E. Mr. Zayed R.  Alzayani participated in the Saudi-Bahraini Coordination Council Committee's virtual meeting, in the presence of Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ms. Eman Ahmed Al-Doseri, Assistant Undersecretary for Local and Foreign Trade Sh. Hamad bin Salman Al-Khalifa, and a number of Ministry officials.

The Minister praised the historical relations between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, noting the importance of these meetings to achieve common goals and aspirations.

The meeting discussed topics of joint cooperation and initiatives within the work of the Committee, and solutions to potential obstacles. As well as planning future steps to move towards achieving major common goals.​

H.E. Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani, Minister of Industry and Commerce, affirmed the Kingdom of Bahrain's continuous support to the commercial sector, by facilitating all procedures to enhance this sector and provide it with various requirements that contribute to its development, to reflect the position of the Kingdom of Bahrain and its strategic location, which contributes to increasing its competitiveness and attracting more investments.

This came during the opening ceremony of the Genesis Showroom and the unveiling of the Korean luxury Genesis G90, under the patronage of H.E. this evening at First Motors in Sitra, where he was received by Zayani Motors Chairman Mr. Nawaf Khalid Al-Zayani, and a number of senior officials from the Ministry and the company.

During the launch ceremony, the Minister listened to a detailed explanation about this Korean brand, the most popular car brand in Korea, and the developments that have been added to it and the process of its global distribution.