May 06, 2015
Manama, 6 May 2015: As part of a four-day visit to Germany, a delegation organised by the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) and led by Mr. Khalid Al-Rumaihi, Chief Executive of the EDB yesterday attended the opening of the Munich Transport Logistic Exhibition, where a Bahrain Pavilion is showcasing the Kingdom’s favourable business environment to German and international investors.
The delegation attended a lunch hosted by Messe München GmbH and also held meetings with key officials and business leaders in Germany, including H.E. Alexander Dobrindt, the German Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, H.E. Parliamentary State-Secretary Dorothee Bär, and H.E. State-Secretary Franz Josef Pschierer of the Bavarian Ministry of Economics, Energy, Media and Technology.
The Bavarian Ministry of Economics, Energy, Media and Technology and the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Saudi-Arabia and Bahrain also co-hosted a dinner for the delegates, following a meeting with H.E. State-Secretary Pschierer where Mr. Khalid Al-Rumaihi and other members of the Bahrain delegation presented Bahrain’s economic story and key competitive advantages to Bavarian companies and ministry officials.
During the visit to Germany, Mr. Khalid Al-Rumaihi will attend a wide number of meetings with a number of public officials and senior private sector businesses.
Mr. Al-Rumaihi, Chief Executive of the EDB said:
“German companies are in Bahrain because they recognize what the Kingdom has to offer them, whether it is DHL’s Middle East headquarters, using Bahrain’s connectivity to service the wider region for the last four decades; BASF’s new state-of-the-art production facilities at the Bahrain International Investment Park; or regional offices of businesses like Allianz, Hannover Re, RMA, SMS Meer, Siemens, Deutsche Bank and Lufthansa Technik.
“They recognize that the GCC market has what all companies are looking for – business to be done and growth to be realised – and that Bahrain offers many of the factors that they need in order to be successful.
“At this week’s conference, we are looking forward to introducing a number of potential investors to Bahrain’s competitive advantages, whilst at the same time building on our existing relationships in Germany. Through continued cooperation we can help companies expand, create quality jobs and opportunities in Bahrain, and grow our local economy.”
A large number of German businesses have already established operations in Bahrain as a means of accessing the wider Gulf market, which is now worth US$1.6 trillion and expected to reach US$2 trillion by 2020. Leading German logistics companies with offices or facilities in Bahrain include: DHL, Schmidt Middle East logistics JLT and Talke Logistics.
Bahrain recently announced an update to its visa policy whereby visitors from Germany can now be issued a multi-entry visa that is valid for three months. This visa allows a length stay of two weeks per visit. Additionally, business visitors are able to spend longer periods of time in the Kingdom, as the new policy dictates that business visas are issued with a one-month validity and are multi-entry with two weeks of stay per visit.
