H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, chaired the sixteenth meeting of the SMEs Development Council, which was held via video conference with the participation of the Council members.

The Minister praised the tangible cooperation between the members, stressing that the coming stages require more solidarity to overcome challenges and successfully complete initiatives within the specified timetable to benefit the SMEs sector and contribute to its development and prosperity.

The meeting included a presentation by Ms. Shaikha Al-Fadhel, Director of the SMEs Development Directorate, on the national performance indicators of the SMEs Development Council, in addition to reviewing the values of performance indicators of the completed initiatives and their target percentages in the next stage.

Developments of the SME database project were also reviewed, which aims to collect data on growth of enterprises, as the number of institutions that achieved growth from March 2022 to March 2023 reached 4,301 institutions and companies, with a majority of micro-enterprises. Requirements for the second phase of the project were also outlined to ensure that the operational conditions of these institutions are followed up at a deeper level by linking the information available to members to form an integrated database to rely upon for the improvement of this sector's performance.​

Moreover, in a step aimed at achieving the best results and outputs for the years 2022-2026, the team consisting of representatives of concerned authorities evaluated all 43 initiatives and programs and identified challenges to ensure the desired workflow.

H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, praised the great contributions and distinguished partnership between the private sector and the government, in terms of implementing economic and commercial projects with added value to the national economy, noting in this regard the role of the Bahrain Businessmen Association (BBMA) in promoting economic development in the Kingdom of Bahrain and highlighting its advanced image as an incubator for major projects and investment companies.​

This came during a meeting that gathered the Minister of Industry and Commerce and BBMA Chairman Mr. Ahmed bin Hindi, in the presence of a number of members of the Association. The Minister referred to the positive steps taken by the BBMA and its continuous cooperation with the Ministry, and its organization and participation in many influential economic events at local and international levels.

The Minister hailed the Bahraini private sector and its contributions to the growth of national economy, affirming that the Ministry is working by all means to provide more facilities to ensure the smooth establishment of local or global investments in the Kingdom.

H.E. Minister of Industry and Commerce Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro affirmed the keenness to strengthen relations and distinguished partnership between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United States of America at various levels to serve the interests of both countries.​

This came in a meeting between the Minister of Industry and Commerce and H.E. the American Ambassador Mr. Steven C. Bondi, where the Minister noted Bahrain's keenness to develop cooperation between the two countries, strengthened through the FTA (free trade agreement) which contributed to raising the rates of trade exchange between them to advanced levels, affirming Bahrain's constant efforts to strengthen and enhance economic relations on a global scale, and stressing in the same context the role of the private sector in both countries in maximizing benefits offered by bilateral agreements and expanding the joint cooperation in all fields.

H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce received in his office this morning Swiss Honorary Consul to the Kingdom of Bahrain Mr. Humbert Vincent.​

During the meeting, the Minister praised the distinguished efforts made by the Swiss Honorary Consul and his role in strengthening the joint economic relations between Bahrain and Switzerland, reviewing the latest developments in the economic environment that attracts investments to Bahrain, and the facilitated procedures for localizing investments from the region and the world, especially in light of the economic expansion and the protective legislation Bahrain offers to investments.

The Minister also stressed the importance of mutual visits between leaders, senior officials and businessmen from both countries, to achieve the required growth in economic relations, which positively reflects on the volume of trade exchange and joint economic cooperation. 

H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, hailed the contributions of national companies to various aspects of national development, praising their active role in promoting positive growth of national economy to achieve the comprehensive and ambitious development goals of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

This came during a meeting between H.E. Mr. Abdullah bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, and businessman and investor Mr. Hamed Al Zayani, founding member and partner of Al Zayani Investments, accompanied by board member Mr. Rashid Hamed Al Zayani, where a number of topics of economic and development importance were reviewed.

The Minister also stressed the government's continuous support for this vital sector, noting that the Ministry considers the private sector the main tributary of national economy and its growth.​

H.E. Minister of Industry and Commerce Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro stressed the prominent role of the local press in conveying government steps and programs in all sectors, including economic and development.

This came as H.E. the Minister received Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al-Bilad newspaper, Mr. Abdul Nabi Al Shola, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Mr. Moanes Al-Mardi, the CEO Mr. Ahmed Bahar and a number of officials.

During the meeting, the Minister praised the Al Bilad's initiatives in supporting the economic and development sectors and discussed a number of economic issues and the future outlook for the commercial, industrial and development sectors in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

For his part, Mr. Al-Shola praised the efforts of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in promoting the economic sector and highlighting the investment opportunities available in the Kingdom.​

H.E. Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro Minister of Industry and Commerce received Indian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain Piyush Srivastava, where they discussed a number of issues of common interest.

The meeting also reviewed the long-standing historical relations and strategic partnership between Bahrain and India, stressing the importance of investing these historical relations in developing joint economic relations, and noting the outstanding positive results of the official visit recently made by HE the Minister to India, wishing for it to achieve its desired results.

H.E. the Minister also referred to the attractive investment environment the Kingdom of Bahrain provides, and the privileges and facilities enjoyed by investors inside and outside Bahrain, pointing to its importance in upgrading economic and trade relations in a way that achieves common goals.

For his part, the Ambassador stressed the depth of bilateral relations and the remarkable progress they are witnessing in many fields, praising the great efforts made by the esteemed government of Bahrain to develop the flow of investments between the two sides.​

HE Minister of Industry and Commerce Mr. Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro received in his office this morning Chinese Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain Mr. Ni Ruchi.

The meeting reviewed bilateral relations and ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries in all fields, especially industrial, commercial and investment fields, in addition to discussing a number of issues of common concern.

The Minister referred to the kingdom's attractive economic environment, pointing to the positive effect of mutual visits between officials and businessmen in achieving growth, encouraging investments, increasing the volume of trade exchanges and joint economic cooperation between both sides. 

For his part, HE the Ambassador affirmed his country's keenness to strengthen and develop relations with Bahrain and increase the prospects of bilateral cooperation to serve both countries and their people.​