The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism concluded a workshop on "Implementing the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement" which was held in the Kingdom of Bahrain in cooperation and coordination with the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 15 to 17 October 2017.

The workshop was attended by representatives of the International Trade Center in Geneva and a number representative from ministries and institutions from the public and private sectors in Bahrain.

At the end of the workshop, the Director of Foreign Trade Relations at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Sh. Hamad bin Salman Al Khalifa distributed certificates for the participants.

In the official visit to the United States of America (Washington DC), the Minister of Industry, Commerce & Tourism Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani met the president of  Small Business Administration, Ms. Linda McMahon, in presence of Bahraini Ambassador to Washington Shaikh Abdullah bin Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Assistant Undersecretary of Foreign Trade Ms. Eman Al Doseri and Director of SMEs Development Ms. Shaikha Al Fadhel.

During the meeting, they reviewed a number of issues related to economic affairs especially in small and medium enterprises sector.

On behalf of the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani, Undersecretary of Commerce Affairs Mr. Nader Al Moayyed inaugurated the 4th edition of eCommerce Forum and Exhibition 2017 for trading establishments. This year is held in a strategic partnership with Tamkeen and Bahrain Technology Companies Society (BTECH), and silver sponsorship from Gulf Petrochemical company. The event was held under the theme "eCommerce ... Bahrain Platform ... for a Global Market" at the Crown Plaza Hotel.

On this occasion, undersecretary delivered a speech stressing on the importance of organizing such events with aim to raise the awareness to the owners of small and medium enterprises about the electronic transformation that is witnessed by the world today, by combining the latest technical solutions in terms of cloud computing to enable them to add a qualitative leap towards improving the performance of the Bahraini eMarket.

In this context, the latest eCommerce statistics in the region were highlighted according to the eCommerce Foundation in September 2016, in which the turnover of the B2C global eCommerce transactions has doubled in the Middle East and Africa region for 2016 to be approximately $ 26 billion, with 150 million Internet users in the region for the same year. In contrast, the growth rate of global eCommerce among individuals and enterprises is estimated at 17.5% Dollars.

For his part, Tamkeen Chief Executive Dr. Ebrahim M. Janahi stressed the importance of supporting initiatives aimed at promoting the commercial and economic prosperity in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

“Tamkeen, as strategic partner in this Forum, stresses its role in providing the Bahraini market with all the required components of sustainability and competitiveness to level it up to highest international standards and actively contribute to the realization of Bahrain Economic Vision 2030,” Dr Janahi added.

The Chief Corporate Services Officer Dr. Yusuf Ahmed Dashkooni praised in a speech during the opening ceremony the objectives of the Forum in widening the horizons for the exchange of expertise as well as spreading the culture of eCommerce and its latest updates and best practices.

Moreover, the Bahrain Technology Companies Society (BTECH) noted the importance of such events, which highlight the reality of eCommerce in the Gulf region and its growth at all levels. Mr. Rashed Senan, Secretary of the Society BTECH praised the ministry's ability to continue its effectiveness and success in transforming it into a regular event that meets with its stakeholders in the eCommerce market to exchange views on the possibility of developing its performance in the Bahraini market in particular and the Gulf in general.

BTECH emphasized the need to establish an Echo System capable of efficiently keeping the Bahraini market alongside of developments in the eCommerce market, including the shift from traditional practices to those based on cloud computing.

He added that there were noticeable shifts in the discussions on online trading platforms. There are two main examples to be cited including BitCoin, the digital currency, and Block Chain.

The speech praised the strategic partnership between the three departments: The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, the Labor Fund (Tamkeen) and the Bahrain Technology Companies Society (BTECH), stressing the need for such activities to continue and receive the attention they deserve from all relevant institutions.

Following that commenced the first of the discussion beginning with the seminar moderated by Dr. Abdul-Hussain Al-Deiri, Chairman of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in Bahrain, on the future of eCommerce. In the discussion, Mr. Khaled EL Shabrawy, Cloud Solutions Lead for Public Sector from Microsoft Gulf, talked about the role of modern technological means to promote eCommerce. Ms. Amal Al Mudaifa Product Marketing Manager in Data Centre and Transactions in Batelco, continued to deliver the leading technology solutions in the field of eCommerce, cloud computing and the benefits to small businesses when applied. The most important legal outcomes addressed by Dr. Abdelgadir Warsama Ghaleb legal consultant and professor in the university, the importance of eArbitration and eLitigation to promote eCommerce and its various applications.

On the other hand, the second panel discussion, which was moderated by Mr. Abbas Hussein, Director of Digital Middle East, dealt with the topic of business accelerators and the most important means of support provided to emerging businesses and entrepreneurs by providing an environment conducive to inspire and encourage them to launch their ambitious work at the level Both locally and globally. This was presented by Mr. Mohamed Al Tawash Managing Director Founder & MD from Corporate Hub CH9. In addition, the most successful stories in this field were presented, which they are Wnna by Mr. Ali Mohsen, Akalati by Mr. Abdulla Al Radhi, Ingrab by Mr. Hussain Haji and ProCloud Institute project by Mr. Ahmed Al Sari.

In this context, Mr. Ahmed Abdulnabi Ali, Head of Technical Support and eServices from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, discussed the recently launched virtual trade records under the title "SJILI", which supports and encourages small-scale enterprise projects and certain types of business activities that can be carried out without the need for a physical office. These activities have reached a total of 39 activities and the requirements for their operation is aimed at simplifying the procedures for setting up establishments for entrepreneurs within a legal framework.

The forum concluded with a series of recommendations and constructive suggestions by the attendees and businesses in this field. A mini exhibition was also held, for the relevant commercial establishments where the most relevant services of digital transformation were displayed.

In the framework of the official visit to the United States of America Washington DC, the Minister of Industry, Commerce & Tourism participated in the luncheon hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce, in presence of Bahraini Ambassador to Washington Shaikh Abdullah bin Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Assistant Undersecretary of Foreign Trade Ms. Eman Al Doseri and Director of SMEs Development Ms. Shaikha Al Fadhel.

During the meeting, a number of issues related to Bahrain-US economic relations were discussed. The Minister said that “the relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United States of America which crowned with free Trade Agreement require more work to maximize the benefit of this agreement to achieve further progress in the relations and raise the trade level between the two countries.

The minister stressed that the Ministry is ready to provide all facilities for investors in all economic fields to achieve the aspirations of the leadership and the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain in this regard.

The GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) in cooperation with the Directorate of Standards and Metrology at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism organized a workshop on "Requirements for Halal Certifications according to GSO 2055-2” during the period 16-18 October 2017 at the Rotana Downtown Hotel.

The workshop touched several topics: defining legal requirements for Halal food and products and the requirements of GSO 2055-2, in addition to explaining the accreditation requirements for Halal certifications, as well as the process of evaluating and accepting Halal certifications bodies.

The workshop was presented by specialists in the field of food standards from the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology Sheikh Dr. Omar Kubaisi and engineer Bassim Tarawneh and engineer Shefa Halh.

The participant in the workshop were 40 people from many countries including the GCC countries, the State of Palestine, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Ukraine and Russia, representing government or private bodies or universities. This has contributed to exchange experiences and practices in the field of Halal certification.

In the framework of the official visit to the United States of America Washington DC, the Minister of Industry, Commerce & Tourism participated in the roundtable of the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC) Expert, in presence of Bahraini Ambassador to Washington Shaikh Abdullah bin Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Assistant Undersecretary of Foreign Trade Ms. Eman Al Doseri and Director of SMEs Development Ms. Shaikha Al Fadhel.

During the meeting, a number of economic topics were discussed specially in the SMEs sector. The Minister reviewed a number of measures and decisions taken by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and with the support and guidance of the leadership and the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain to promote this important sector, which contributes to develop and raise the national output. The Minister also reviewed the current and future programs in the field of facilitating financing, access to local markets to reach global markets, and develop innovations, as well as government’s efforts to develop policies and strategic plans for entrepreneurship and develop projects aimed at enhancing their contributions to GDP and create new jobs.

The National U.S. - Arab Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC), established nearly 50 years ago, is America’s longest serving organization dedicated to U.S. - Arab business.  NUSACC is widely regarded as the voice of American business in the 22 countries of the Arab world and the premier portal to the United States for Arab commercial enterprises.

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce & Tourism organized national workshop on “Implementing the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement” in cooperation with the World Trade Organization during the period from 15 to 17 October 2017 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

During the opening ceremony, undersecretary of Commerce Affairs Mr. Nader Al Moayyed delivered a speech pointing out that the World Trade Organization has succeeded in strengthening the multilateral trading system by entering into the trade facilitation agreement on February 22, 2017, as it considered the first multilateral agreement after about 21 years ago since the establishment of the World Trade Organization in 1995, this agreement aims at accelerating trade movement, freeing goods across borders, reducing physical and temporal burdens and creating a great push for trade and development.

The workshop comes after Bahrain ratified the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement in September 2016 by Law No. (17) of 2016 by ratifying the amended Protocol of Marrakesh Agreement to establish the World Trade Organization by adding the Trade Facilitation Agreement to (A), the agreement entered into force on February 22, 2017, after the ratification of two thirds of the Members of the Organization.

The Kingdom of Bahrain has provided notification to implement procedures under category (A) of the agreement on 24 November 2015. The current phase after the entry of the Trade Facilitation Agreement into force requires notification of actions under lists B and C of the agreement. The list procedures (B) should be notified including possible dates for the Kingdom of Bahrain to apply those procedures. List procedures (C), including technical assistance requirements, and the development of capacities for the implementation of these procedures, are also identified. List procedures (C), including technical assistance requirements, and the development of capacities for implementation these procedures, are also identified.

On the sideline of the 1st Italian Arab Business Forum which took place in Milan, the Minister of Industry, Commerce & Tourism Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani met Mr.  Angelino Alfano, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy.

During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and Italy and ways to enhance cooperation mechanisms in all fields particularly industrial, commercial, tourist and investment sector.   The minister also praised the advanced level reached of Bahraini-Italian relations and joint cooperation in various sectors especially the economic.