H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation partnership with the standardization bodies in the GCC countries, as he Headed the Kingdom of Bahrain's delegation in the fifth GCC meeting of the Ministerial Committee for Standardization Affairs.

The meeting was held this morning at the Millennium Resort in Salalah, Oman, with the participation of the GCC Ministers of Commerce, and GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, and the GCC Ministers of Industry. In the presence of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ms. Eman Ahmed Al-Doseri, and the accompanying delegation.

The Minister pointed out that the gains and advantages that come through integration in various areas of standardization would contribute to supporting the Gulf economy by emphasizing the importance of imported and exported products that meet technical requirements and smart conformity assessment procedures, which preserve human health and safety and protect the environment, and contribute to facilitating intra-trade procedures between the GCC countries, and streamlining the passage of commercial products while following international laws and regulations.

His Excellency Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, affirmed the keenness of the Kingdom of Bahrain to continue with the cooperation and exchange of experiences and knowledge with GCC countries, in a way that enhances and supports Gulf economy, especially in the industrial sector, while adopting advanced technology, innovation and techniques of the fourth industrial revolution.

This came as His Excellency headed the Bahraini delegation in the 51st meeting of the GCC Industrial Cooperation Committee, with the participation of GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, and the GCC Ministers of Industry. In the presence of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ms. Eman Ahmed Al-Doseri, and the accompanying delegation, in Salalah, Oman.

The meeting discussed a number of topics of common interest, in an aim to contribute to the advancement of the industrial sector in the GCC, which serves the aim of the Kingdom of Bahrain to enhance and develop this sector within the industrial sector strategy (2022-2026).

The executive regulations for the Unified Industrial Organization System (Law) were also approved during the meeting, as well as the amended controls on exempting industry inputs from customs duties (taxes), in addition to approving the Secretariat's proposal to establish and develop an e-platform for Gulf industrial projects, and defining standards for lists of goods subject to collective protection and preparing an implementation plan for the list of goods for collective protection, in addition to reviewing a report inventorying the experiences of member countries in supporting the industrial sector to adopt the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The Kingdom of Bahrain has made notable progress in developing the industrial sector through a comprehensive strategy within the Government's framework to develop promising sectors as part of the economic recovery plan, which resulted in the launch of a number of initiatives, most notably the iFactories Initiative and the program for Industrial added value (Takamul).​

On the sidelines of the meetings of the Industrial and Commercial Cooperation Committees of the GCC in Salalah, H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, met with H.E. Mr. Nigel Huddleston, Minister of State for Trade and Business in the United Kingdom, in the presence of a number of senior officials from both sides.

During the meeting, the Minister affirmed the UK's position as a major investment partner, pointing out the steady growth of economic and trade relations, which reflects the depth the historical relations that tie both countries, in order to achieve common and ambitious visions.

The meeting also discussed a number of issues of common interest and ways to develop and increase the volume of upcoming bilateral investments, where the Minister affirmed Bahrain's keenness to enhance aspects of cooperation with the UK in all fields, especially in trade and commerce. Noting the role the private sector in both countries can play to contribute to achieving common goals.

His Excellency also praised the positive outcomes since the announcement of the free trade agreement between the GCC and the UK in 2021, which marked a strategic step towards enhancing relations between the two parties.​

H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro Minister of Industry and Commerce received H.E. Mr. Shaheen Abdullayev, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Kingdom of Bahrain residing in Riyadh, where they discussed joint bilateral relations and ways to strengthen and develop cooperation between the two countries.

In welcoming His Excellency the Ambassador, the Minister praised the progress of joint relations, reviewing the most important advantages and possibilities of the investment environment in Bahrain and the facilities provided by the government to investors from all over the world, making it a preferred destination for many global projects and investments, in addition to the continuous updates of laws and legislation protecting investments.​

H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, chaired the seventeenth meeting of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Council, with the participation of board members, the meeting took place on Sunday 10^th of September 2023 in (HQ) Coworking space in Seef Mall, the biggest Coworking space in Bahrain authorized by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.  

H.E. praised the pivotal role of SMEs in growing the national economy, noting the government's full support for this sector.

The meeting included a presentation reviewing the Council's performance indicators for the years (2022 – 2026), followed by a review of the updated target values.

Moreover, Council members also reviewed the developments and achievements of a number of initiatives under progress, as part of the Council's strategic work plan, whereas the Bahrain Development Bank provided an overview of banking solutions for emerging and small and medium enterprises. Export Bahrain also gave a presentation on the latest developments and solutions in export.

For their part, Tamkeen briefed the SDB on the "Startup Bahrain Rounds" initiative, which supports Bahraini startups with potential to grow and expand, by presenting their entrepreneurial ideas to investors for funding and investment.

In conclusion, H.E. the Minister expressed his appreciation to the efforts of members in developing the SMEs sector and enhancing its contribution to the national economy.​

H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro stressed the depth of the historical bilateral relations between Bahrain and India, noting the importance of investing these strong relations in creating and developing economic partnerships between the two sides.

This came during a meeting that gathered His Excellency Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, and Mr. Mukesh T. Kavalani, Chairman of the Thattai Hindu Merchants Community, in the presence of a number of Board Members.

The meeting discussed a number of topics of common interest, as well as the positive results of the official visit of the Bahraini economic delegation to India last March, headed by His Excellency the Minister of Industry and Commerce, where His Excellency highlighted the attractive investment environment in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the privileges and facilities the Kingdom provides to investors inside and outside of Bahrain, stressing their importance in improving economic and trade relations to achieve common goals and aspirations .

For his part, Mr. Mukesh T. Kavalani, Chairman of the Thattai Hindu Merchants Community, praised the depth and progress of bilateral economic relations between the two countries, praising the great efforts made by the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain to develop the flow of investments between the two sides.​

HE Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, announced the launch of (iFactories) as a national initiative to support the movement of the industrial sector towards the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" by evaluating factories and measuring their level of digital maturity, and enabling them to invest in technology infrastructure and manufacturing automation, which is one of the pillars of the industrial sector's strategy (2022-2026), in partnership with the Labor Fund (Tamkeen), and in the presence of representatives of the industrial sector and Ministry officials.

Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro valued the government's keen interest in developing the industrial sector to strengthen national industries and increase their efficiency and global competitiveness.

His Excellency also added that the launch of this initiative, in strategic partnership with (Tamkeen), aims to transform 300 factories into smart factories by the year 2026, by adopting the best regional and global practices in managing production lines to ensure the sustainability of the industrial sector's resources, raise its productivity, increase its efficiency, and reduce dependence on unskilled manpower, and transfer them towards automation and modern technologies, in order to create promising qualitative job opportunities for citizens.
 

For her part, Tamkeen CEO. Maha Mufeez confirmed that this partnership achieves Tamkeen's goals in making the private sector the main engine of economic growth in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in addition to making Bahrainis the ideal choice for employment in the labor market.

Mufeez also explained that Tamkeen's role in this initiative is to be a competitive accelerator that aims to finance automation and digitization projects through financial grants of up to 50% to factories that seek to adopt the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, in addition to qualifying and training 20 Bahrainis to obtain accreditation from “Insight", making them the first batch of globally accredited evaluators to measure factories' readiness for digital transformation and assess their digital maturity.
 

During the event, Dr. Khaled Fahad Al Alawi gave a brief presentation on the basis of (ifactories), indicating that it will be based on the (SIRI) index, the latest international standard for evaluating factories in terms of applying the practices and tools of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Al-Alawi pointed out that the factory transformation process is summarized in 4 steps, starting with the evaluation stage, where the Ministry will provide advisory and technical support to conduct self-evaluation, followed by the actual evaluation by accredited evaluators, which will move the factory to the design stage, to develop a digital transformation plan, which is considered the basis for the empowerment stage. Through which the factory will be able to obtain support and incentives, ending with the development phase, where the Ministry will, through its tools, monitor the transformation process through performance monitoring tools and measure its indicators.

Al-Alawi invited those wishing to join the initiative to start self-assessment by viewing the evaluation guide on the Ministry's website, or by communicating directly with specialists in Industrial affairs in the Ministry to benefit from the initiative.

HE Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, affirmed that national efforts are continuing within a comprehensive vision and clear strategy towards the development of youth, by implementing a series of successive achievements in many fields of development.

This came during the closing ceremony of the third edition of the "Young Tech Entrepreneur" program, one of the digital youth initiatives, held under the patronage of HE Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, in the presence of Mr. Ahmed Bu Hazaa, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Tech Entrepreneur Program, and a number of participants and entrepreneurs.

On this occasion, His Excellency explained that sponsoring and supporting this pioneering program comes within the framework of the government's directives for the Kingdom of Bahrain to be a regional platform for technologies in the Middle East, and to invest in Bahraini youth in a way that enhances sustainable development, praising the innovative projects implemented by the participating youth in the program's 3 editions, with the follow-up of a number of specialists and experts in this field.

His Excellency added that the Technical Entrepreneur Program has provided economic and technical opportunities for Bahraini youth participants, to help them invest their ideas and achieve their ambitions in sustainable entrepreneurship .

The Minister also announced the launch of the Digital Youth Initiative (Shabab Tech), which provides participants in the program with continuous support to develop their projects.

Moreover, His Excellency toured the program's exhibition, and was briefed on all the projects designed by the participating youth.

For his part, Mr. Ahmed Bu Hazaa, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Program, expressed his appreciation to the Minister of Industry and Commerce for sponsoring the Program, noting the role of partners from government and private institutions in supporting and developing the Program as well.

The Young Technical Entrepreneur Program seeks to provide entrepreneurship knowledge and experience, by utilizing modern technologies. The current edition features projects by 20 young people between the ages of 17 and 23, university students and novice entrepreneurs, with the participation of 15 industrial, commercial, and financial institutions specialized in fintech and artificial intelligence. The program provides young participants with entrepreneurial skills and gave them the opportunity to learn from successful pioneers and businessmen, by organizing visits to incubating institutions to explore business opportunities in the digital field, in addition to workshops and lectures in project management, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, tech, and cloud computing.