MANAMA, 31 October 2007 — Bahrain has a defined need to continue diversifying the country’s economy away from the energy-intensive basic industries, Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr. Hassan Fakhro said in a report entitled “Emerging Bahrain 2007” compiled and produced by Oxford Business Group.
Fakhro said “our industrial policy is part and parcel of the government’s overall economic policy and reflects to a great extent some of the opportunities presented to the economy and some of the constraints imposed on it. “We definitely need to continue diversifying the economy away from the energy intensive basic industries, since we are limited in our endowment of energy resources.
“We would like to see a greener and leaner industrial landscape in future that will have minimum environmental footprint and energy consumption. We aim toward more knowledge-based industry as against resource-based industry. Our emphasis in the last few years has been on subsidiary industries. The success of creating clusters of subsidiary aluminum industries based on primary aluminum has further helped the country in these efforts,” he said.
The new emphasis, he said, had helped the manufacturing sector as a whole to increase its contribution to the nation’s GDP to well over 13 percent by 2005. Looking at the advantages of the Bahrain International Investment Park, Fakhro said it had been designed, equipped and put under the management of an international consultant with the aim of implementing a vision of the future industrial landscape of the nation. He said: “We want to attract international companies who want to make Bahrain a regional hub for high-tech, knowledge-based industries. This will require that we latch onto the right international companies specialized in these fields and leverage them to bring with them the necessary technical and managerial know-how to ensure the success of these high-tech innovation driven industries and make these industries part of their global value-chain.”
This drive, he said, would be enhanced by the Bahrain Industrial Group and other similar organizations that can identify projects suitable to local conditions more appropriately as they are familiar with the realities of Bahrain’s market.
“One important role they can play is in tying up finance from the Bahraini institutions after locating the source of technology, thus accelerating the realization of industrial projects,” he added.
“Since the group will be employing professional business development managers, they will also be able to properly assess and negotiate business proposals,” he added.
Meanwhile, a banker said Bahrain has established its position as a leading financial center in the Gulf.
Dr. Joseph Torbey, chairman and general manager Credit Libanais, a leading Lebanese bank which opened its door for business in Bahrain, said the kingdom’s the banking sector “will continue to dominate in the East and Levant region.”
Torbey, announcing the formal launch of Credit Libanais in Bahrain, said the bank, being one of the largest banks in Lebanon, would work for Bahraini institutions as a window of opportunity in Lebanon.
