H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro Minister of Industry and Commerce, received H.E. Mr. Andreas Eliades, on the occasion of his appointment as ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Their excellencies reviewed bilateral relations between and Cyprus, and ways to enhance cooperation between the two friendly countries in various fields, especially economy. As well as other topics of common interest.

The Minister expressed his sincere wishes to the Ambassador for success in his diplomatic duties, looking forward to continuing cooperation in the best interest of both countries.

H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro Minister of Industry and Commerce headed the delegation of the Kingdom of Bahrain participating in the 66th meeting of the Trade Cooperation Committee in Qatar, with the participation of Their Excellencies GCC Ministers of Trade, and Mr. Jassim Muhammad Al-Budaiwi, Secretary General of the GCC

His Excellency Fakhro affirmed that the Kingdom of Bahrain always seeks to enhance cooperation with the GCC countries in various fields to achieve mutual benefits.

The meeting discussed a number of topics on the agenda, including a working paper on the establishment of a permanent committee on investment, and the latest developments of the second ministerial meeting of ministers of economy and trade (6 + 1) between the GCC and China and the accompanying forum, as well as discussing the memorandum of the General Secretariat on taking note of the work of the committees of the Trade Cooperation Committee, and reviewing developments in addressing the challenges of intra-GCC trade, and developments in negotiations on free trade agreements with countries and international blocs. In addition to the annual report of the work and achievements of the Commercial Arbitration Center for the year 2023 and other topics on the agenda.

H.E. Mr.  Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, headed the delegation of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the 52^nd meeting of the Industrial Cooperation Committee of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, in the presence of Mr. Jassim Muhammad Al-Budaiwi, Secretary General of the GCC, and the GCC Ministers of Industry, held in Doha, Qatar.

His Excellency affirmed the Kingdom of Bahrain’s commitment to upholding cooperation and exchange of experiences and knowledge to enhance and support GCC economy, especially in the industrial sector and its reproach in adopting advanced technology, innovation, and technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The meeting discussed the advancement of the industrial sector in the Gulf, including developing a unified definition of the (Gulf) national product and its standards, reviewing a report of the lists of goods subject to collective protection, discussing the developments of the unified strategy for industrial development, reviewing a report on the activities of the Technical Secretariat Office for combating harmful practices in international trade, as well as a report on the achievements of the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting.

H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, headed the delegation of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the periodic consultative meeting between Their Excellencies the Ministers of Commerce of the GCC and Their Excellencies the Heads of the GCC Federation of Chambers, which was held within the framework of the meetings of the GCC Ministerial Committees in Doha.

The meeting discussed topics on the agenda and reviewed the ministers’ views on this regard.

H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce and Chairman of the National Committee for Standardization and Metrology, stressed the importance of strengthening partnership with standardization bodies in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

This came during the 7^th meeting of the Ministerial Committee for Standardization Affairs of the GCC, which was held in Qatar, with the participation of Mr. Jassim Muhammad Al-Budaiwi, Secretary General of the GCC, and Their Excellencies the heads of delegations of member states of the Ministerial Committee for Standardization Affairs in the GCC.

The meeting discussed several topics on the agenda, most important of which is the approval of the outputs of the 58^th meeting of the Technical Council of GSO held between 24 and 25 April 2024, and the approval of the final GSO account for the fiscal year 2023, in addition to discussing a number of legislations and topics to enhance the safety and quality of products traded in the Gulf market, and support the development of quality services and infrastructure, in line with the international prospect to protect the environment.

Under the patronage of His Royal Highness Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is hosting the first Arab Forum for Consumer Protection, which will be launched in its first edition in the Arab world and West Asia in the Kingdom of Bahrain from 20 to 21 February 2024, in cooperation with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and representatives of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). 

The Forum will be attended by a group of experts, lawyers, academics and technicians in the field of consumer protection from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Arab and West Asian countries, in addition to high-level representation from (ESCWA) and the (UNCTAD).

The second edition of the Arab Consumer Protection Day celebration was launched this morning under the slogan "Arab Women and Consumer Protection", in the presence of H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, and Bahjat Abu Al-Nasr, the director of the Economic Integration Department of the Arab League, and with the participation of a number of Bahraini society women from civil societies, university students, and a group of experts, legalists, academics and technicians in the field of consumer protection from 25 participating countries from the GCC and Arab region, within the Greater Arab Free Trade Area, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Bahrain.

On this occasion, His Excellency the Minister confirmedthat the launch of this distinguished initiative came in response to the recommendations of the 13^th meeting of the group of experts and specialists in the field of consumer protection within the Greater Arab Free TradeArea of the Arab League. To highlight every year animportant topic facingconsumers at the Arab world,as thisyear'scelebration carries the slogan"Arab Women andConsumer Protection", which the Kingdom of Bahrain has always soughtto support.

The Minister noted that the celebration included the first dialogue to discuss challenges and solutions centeredaround Arab women with regard to consumer practices, by presenting a distinguished set ofexperiences and practices appliedin consumerprotection agencies atthe Gulfand Arabregion. Affirming the Kingdom of Bahrain's support to futureaspirations in the field of consumer protection in the area, under the GeneralSecretariat of the Arab League and the members of the Group of Expertsand Specialistsin the field of consumerprotection within the GreaterArab FTA.

In cooperation with the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, organized a joint event to discuss the latest developments in the industrial sector during the year 2023.

H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, stressed the keenness to continue developing promising sectors in the Kingdom of Bahrain, including the industrial sector. In addition to providing the necessary support for the growth and sustainability of this sector due to its role in advancing comprehensive development in line with the Industrial Sector Strategy (2022-2026).

 His Excellency praised the role of the private sector and the importance of strengthening partnership with it to accelerate the pace of investment, especially in light of the prosperity of the industrial system which receives full support from Bahrain, which is characterized by its fertile environment for establishing projects, and an ideal export terminal that resulted in a number of positive indicators.

For his part, Dr. Khaled Fahad Al Alawi, Assistant Undersecretary for Industrial Development at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, gave a presentation that included the most prominent statistics related to the industrial sector during 2023, which portrayed positive growth, pointing to the most important incentives and enablers that the Ministry of Industry and Commerce launched according to the industrial sector strategy (2022-2026), and reviewing the most important investment opportunities in the pharmaceutical industries, renewable energy industries, downstream petrochemicals, manufacturing aluminum, food industries, and semiconductor industry.

Moreover, the event showcased details of the program to promote sustainable industrialization (green factory labeling) in partnership with the private sector, which was announced during the Kingdom of Bahrain’s participation in the Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), and highlighted the Industrial Investment Guide, which is considered the first reference for industrial investment in the Kingdom, in addition to reviewing the evaluation mechanism developed for applications for allocating industrial plots. The event also included an awarding of the first graduated batch of twenty individuals who completed the required training hours to be accredited as evaluators of the "iFactories" initiative, aimed at supporting the transformation of the industrial sector towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution in cooperation with the Labour Fund (Tamkeen).