March 29, 2015
Manama: The Economic Development Board (EDB) is hosting businessmen and trade officials from Hunan Province in the People’s Republic of China this week, who will meet officials and private sector counterparts during a two day visit to the Kingdom. The visit aims at strengthening bilateral economic and trade relations between the two countries.
The trip includes meetings with Bahraini businessmen and government officials including Tamkeen, the Bahrain International Investment Park (BIIP), and the Bahrain Chamber for Commerce and Industry (BCCI), along with visits to a number of cultural sites. The delegation is led by Mr. Xu Xiangping, Director General of Department of Commerce of Hunan Province, and includes twenty-three business representatives.
The Hunan Province is known for its top ten industries including steel, electricity, chemicals, nonferrous metals, building materials, transportation equipment, agricultural and sideline processing, specialised equipment manufacturing and petroleum processing industry. Hunan has in the past fifty years maintained its focus on heavy industry, which Bahrain’s private and public sectors can benefit from. The total volume of Hunan’s imports and exports in 2012 reached around 22 billion US dollars, an increase of 15.5% over the previous year.
In October last year, a high-level business delegation from Bahrain conducted a 10 day visit to the People’s Republic of China, which aimed at strengthening economic and trade ties between the two countries. The trip which included visits to four of China’s main commercial centres; Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong and followed on the successful visit by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa to China in September 2013, led to the signing of 13 agreements with various Chinese companies and trade entities. A NOGA delegation also visited China in December last year, where they met with high level officials from the China National Energy Administration (NEA) as well as leading companies from the oil, gas and petrochemicals sector in the country.
The two nations celebrated 25 years of bilateral relations last year.
In 2011, total bilateral trade between Bahrain and China, excluding hydrocarbons, reached US$1.7billion. Machinery and mechanical equipment led Chinese imports to Bahrain in 2011 followed by minerals while hydrocarbons led Bahrain’s produce exported to China in the same year.
The EDB established an office in China in 2013 as part of its strategy of attracting FDI into the Kingdom.
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For Further information please contact:
Bahrain Economic Development Board
Tel: +973 17589966
Email: nc@bahrainedb.com
