The Minister of Industry, Commerce & Tourism Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani received CEO of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority of Egypt Ms. Nivine Gamea, in presence of Ambassador of Egypt to Kingdom of Bahrain, Suha Ibrahim Rifaat and CEO of Bahrain Authority for Tourism and Exhibitions shaikh Khalid bin Hamoud Al Khalifa.

During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral economic relations between the two countries. The minister expressed his appreciation for the cooperation between the economic sectors in both countries, stressing government’s support for all steps and initiatives that would develop and strengthen relations especially in small and medium enterprises sector and tourism, which are witnessing remarkable growth.

In this regard the minister reviewed the potentials of the Kingdom of Bahrain in embracing various economic and tourism activities, calling the private sectors in both countries to benefit from the facilities offered by the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The Minister of Industry, Commerce & Tourism Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani met State to the Minister of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy, in charge of Foreign Trade Ms. Rkia Derham, in presence of Moroccan Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain Mr. Ahmed Rasheed Khutabi.

During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations between Bahrain and Morocco and ways to enhance and develop them to reach common aspiration and objectives set by both leaderships. The minister touched the appropriate investment environment that enjoyed by the kingdom of Bahrain, which make it a preferred destination for many international projects and investments. 

The minister also touched the investments environment enjoyed the Kingdom and its embrace many international investment projects especially in light of protective laws and regulations adopted by the Kingdom of Bahrain.
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Assistant Undersecretary of Foreign Trade Ms. Eman Al Doseri met H.E. Senator Ian Gorst, Chief Minister of Jersey and the accompanying delegation in presence of Mr. Mockbul Ali OBE, British Charge D’Affaires to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Assistant Undersecretary of Industrial Development Mr. Abdulkarim Alrashid, Director of Foreign Trade Relations Shaikh Hamad bin Salman Al Khalifa and Director of Tourism Facilities & Services Mr. Hisham Alsaken.

During the meeting, they reviewed and discussed bilateral relation between the two sides especially in the economic aspects. In this context, the ministry gave a presentation on facilitating business in the 21st Century in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in addition to a presentation about tourism development trends and the national strategy to develop tourism in the Kingdom of Bahrain, explaining the orientations of the Bahrain government and its strategies to attract investors and international projects especially in light of friendly investment environment and legislation and regulations that protect investments.

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism in cooperation with Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized an awareness workshop on the management of commercial activities on Bait Al Tujjar.

At the beginning of the workshop, BCCI CEO Dr. Khalid Mohammed Al-Rowaihi stressed on the importance of this workshop which organized in the framework of joint effort between the chamber and the Ministry to educate business owners on the management of commercial activities in Sijilat system.
 
Dr. Al-Ruwaihi expressed his appreciation for the continuous cooperation between the Chamber and the Ministry of in order to advance the status and future of the private sector and develop its ability to adapt local and foreign developments. He noted that this workshop aims to educate people with about ministry’s procedures on mechanism of the CR and facilities provided for the private sector, stressing that the chamber will continue to hold such evets to serve and strengthen this sector.

From his part, Undersecretary for Commerce Affairs Mr. Nader Khalil Al Moayyed said that the “Ministry of Industry, Commerce & Tourism has taken an integrated initiative to develop business sector in Bahrain. The electronic system was developed by launching Sijilat and Sijili and establish Incubator/accelerator activity, mobile trucks, review the requirements of official bodies in the system and develop legislation and laws regulating business, along with Along with a reduction in the number of business activities from 1891 activities to 381 activities, which resulted in developing business and issuance commercial registration and facilitate the procedures to startup businesses for investors and serious entrepreneurs.” 

Undersecretary of Commerce Affairs calls all owners of companies to review their commercial activities and remove the ineffective activities. He pointed out that the Ministry is ready to provide the necessary assistance and consultation through workshops and seminars.

A presentation was presented by head of Technical Support and electronic services Ahmed Al Mulla on the mechanism of dealing with the new system in the process of registration and selecting the activities within the new classification (ISIC 4), which includes all commercial, industrial and service activities.

Under the patronage of HE Zayed R. Alzayani, the Minister of Industry, Commerce & Tourism, Undersecretary of Commerce Affairs Mr. Nader Al Moayyed opened Dose Café in Zallaq.

On this occasion, undersecretary praised the outstanding level characterized by Dose Café that serve the citizen and visitors, praising at the same time the efforts of the private sector in Bahrain and its keenness to add new various option to satisfy all tastes, which contribute to the revitalize trade movement and attract tourists and visitors to the Kingdom of Bahrain, confirming ministry’s support for these initiatives and steps.

It should be noted that Dose Café was first launched in Kuwait in 2016 and now expanding in Bahrain. Dose Café is a specialty coffee company, providing the finest freshest and most skillfully roasted coffee beans in the market.

The minister of Industry, Commerce & Tourism Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani received chairman of the Finance and Economic Affairs Committee at the Shura Council Mr. Khalid Al Maskati, accompanied by a number of committee members.

During the meeting, they reviewed various issues and topics related to the economic developments in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the minister expressed his appreciation to all efforts undertaken by the Shura Council to enhance the economic sector.  The minister stressed ministry’s readiness to provide all kind of support the Shura Council, noting to the keenness of the ministry to coordinate with all sides to achieve Bahrain Economic Vision 2030.

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.