The Fourth edition of the eCommerce Forum and Exhibition for Trading Establishments 2017 held under the patronage of His Excellency the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Mr. Zayed R. AL Zayani, in a strategic partnership with Tamkeen and the Bahrain Technology Companies Society (BTECH), and supported by Gulf Petrochemical Company as a silver sponsor. The fourth edition of the eCommerce Forum and Exhibition 2017 under the slogan "eCommerce ... a Bahraini Platform ... For a Global Market" on Tuesday 17th October 2017 from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Bahrain Exhibition Hall in the Crown Plaza Hotel.

The event was attended by more than 200 participants from various business institutions, businessmen, investors and many interested in the eCommerce field.

Based on the successful discussions held in the event, the participants recommended a variety of constructive suggestions and proposals, including the introduction of eCommerce into school curriculums extensively and the allocation of lectures related to the new currency Bitcoins with the importance of coordination with banks and competent bodies in other countries. In addition, it was suggested to enhance the application of cloud computing in the small enterprise sector and granting Arabic language greater scope in the field of eCommerce.

Furthermore, activating platforms for successful experiences and raising awareness for creativity and innovation in this field was highly recommended, as well as focusing on the legislative and legal systems to support the judiciary and eArbitration as this will allow all technological companies to participate in the field of eCommerce development in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

As for the second panel discussion on the subject of eBusiness accelerators and virtual commercial registration, participants indicated that there is a need to accelerate the work of specialized eCommerce and examine the importance of adding other activities to "Sijli" to open the field for investment in this area more widely.

On the other hand, the survey provided the results regarding the event organization in general, indicating that the effectiveness of the registration process was 96%, as they were considered easy and flexible. The attendees enjoyed the topics presented by 88%. The audience praised 60% of the media coverage in terms of advertising in newspapers, magazines and social networking sites, etc. While the selection of the headquarters of the event and the duration of the time it was held in, was rated excellent, and the effectiveness achieved the desired results by 64%. Attendees recommended others to attend in the coming years by 90% with the possibility of repeating the event more than once during the year. Overall, the event is evaluated with a very good estimate according to the rate obtained from the survey.

The Minister of Industry, Commerce & Tourism Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani confirmed Ministry’s keenness to provide better services and enhance an effective communication with the beneficiaries of these services from within and outside the country, in implementation of the directives of the leadership and the government.

This came during a meeting with Tawasul team, confirming that receiving Customer Service Excellence Award for customer support via “Tawasul”, which was organized by the Government Forum 2017 under the patronage of HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, is an incentive for the ministry to do more to serve the investors to get the best ways and practices that contribute in facilitating business in all sectors.

The minister praised the efforts undertaken by “Tawasul” team and Ministry’s employees.
It should be noted that the Ministry joined “Tawasul” system in August 2014. The total number of cases received about 1,100 from inside and outside the Kingdom.

The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and Chairman of the BTEA, H.E. Mr. Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani headed the board meeting of the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) on Monday 23rd October 2017 in the presence of the Chief Executive Officer of BTEA, H.E. Shaikh Khaled bin Humood Al Khalifa.
The Minister lauded the continuous support of the leadership and government in regards to the development of the tourism and exhibition sector in the Kingdom in order to further elevate its contribution to the local economy. 
During the meeting, the board reviewed and discussed the topics on the agenda including reviewing the financial reports dated up to September 2017 and the additional services provided at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Center.
The meeting also included a high-level presentation discussing the development projects that such as the development of Bahrain Bay, Diving Center, the Hospitality and Culinary institutes, the Galali beach project and Al Muturith Island.
The executive management also praised the role of the representative offices appointed by BTEA in terms of executing the authority’s included the plans and programs. The representative offices aim to promote the Kingdom of Bahrain in line with a strategy developed by the BTEA in collaboration with EDB and other major shareholders to elevate the tourism sector and enhance its contribution to the national economy by 2030 under the new identity ‘Ours.Yours’. The representative offices also played an important role in increasing the number of visitors to Bahrain and increasing the hotel occupancy.
 
The BTEA aims to develop the tourism sector by launching the hospitality and culinary institute in the Kingdom in order to elevate the industry by training the Bahraini workforce and creating a generation that can further boost this sector.
The board also expressed their gratitude to the management and employees of BTEA for their sincere efforts in achieving the authority’s plans in order to position the tourism and exhibitions sector as a main contributor to the national economy.

The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani received CEO of International Development Ireland (IDI) Mr. Ronan Diagnan, in presence of Undersecretary of Industry Affairs Mr. Osama Alorrayedh and BIIP Manager Project John Patrick.

During the meeting, The Minister confirmed the prominent role played undertaken by global advisory institutions and outstanding experience in managing economic projects. The minister expressed the keenness of the government of Bahrain to develop all economic sectors in Bahrain including the industrial sector to benefit from all relevant international experiences and advisory institutions.

In the framework of the official visit to the United States of America Washington DC, the Minister of Industry, Commerce & Tourism participated in the breakfast roundtable hosted by the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, in presence of the Assistant Undersecretary of Foreign Trade Ms. Eman Al Doseri.

During the meeting, they discussed and reviewed a range of topics related to the joint economic affairs between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United States of America.

The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington (AGSIW), launched in 2015, is an independent, nonprofit institution dedicated to increasing the understanding and appreciation of the social, economic, and political diversity of the Gulf Arab states.

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.