Delegation of Bahrain EDB in India

Mumbai Nov 4 : A delegation led by Bahrain's Economic Development Board (EDB) is currently in India to hold a series of meetings with businesses keen to explore investment opportunities in the Kingdom, the gateway to the trillion dollar Gulf market and thriving economies of the Middle East.

During the next 15 days, the delegation would hold meetings in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi wooing industrialists to take advantage of the region’s enviable levels of growth by establishing a base in Bahrain. Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its 2010 growth forecast for the Middle East to 4.2 per cent, rising to 4.8 per cent in 2014. The six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) alone represent a single market already approaching one trillion dollars in terms of GDP -- the equivalent of India.

According to the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), India’s total trade with GCC countries witnessed a four-fold increase in the last five years. And India and Bahrain have agreed to speed up negotiations to finalise an Indo-GCC Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that would see trade between India and the GCC exceed USD 40 billion by 2010.

EDB Chief Operating Officr Kamal Ahmed on his message before the commencement of the visit said Bahrain offered an ideal location for countries from India to access growing markets of Global Cooperation Council and wider Middle East. New developments such as the Bahrain Logistics Zone (BLZ) and Khalifa Bin Salman Port (KBSP), together with plans to treble the existing cargo capacity at Bahrain International Airport, only add to the opportunities for investment, he added.

The road show has been organised in partnership with Grant Thornton, the international accounting and business advisory firm, and will feature speakers from the Export-Import Bank of India, the premier export finance institution of the country; and the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK), one of the largest commercial banks in Bahrain, that has had a presence in India since 1986. Other speakers include Indian businesses that have already established a presence in the Kingdom including Tech Mahindra, one of the largest solution providers in the telecom space and India’s 6th largest software exporter; Polaris Software, the world's most sophisticated banking and insurance software company; and Power Engineering. Other Indian companies already in Bahrain include Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda and State Bank of India.

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
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