Industry Minister praised solid Bahraini-Indian relations

Manama, June 21 (BNA): Minister of Industry and Commerce, Zayed R. Al-Zayani, has expressed his pride in the spectrum of historical relations between Bahrain and India, which date back to over 5,000 years as they linked the civilisations of Dilmun and Sindh, and remained until present day distinctly prestigious on many levels and sectors, stressing both governments’ keenness on maintaining these relations. The minister made the statements while participating as a keynote speaker at the Luncheon organised by the Bahrain India Society in the presence of Piyush Srivastava, Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bahrain India Society, Abdulrahman Juma, and a number of members of the association and concerned parties. During the Luncheon, held at the Gulf Hotel, a number of topics related to the historical relations between the two friendly countries were reviewed. The minister reviewed a number of topics and issues of common concern, including the increase in the value of exports and imports between the two parties during the first quarter of 2022, the number of companies and investors working in the Kingdom of Bahrain, where the total value of the current Indian investments in Bahrain amounted to $514 million. He added that Bahrain is the ideal destination for Indian companies to benefit from the excellent links in transport and communications and its location among the GCC countries, in addition to the easy access it has to regional markets and Middle East and North Africa. He also noted that preparations are underway to start the negotiations of the FTA between the GCC and the Republic of India, where the GCC has prepared a unified position on the proposed terms of reference (TOR) for the FTA, and negotiations will resume once the two sides have finalised and signed the TOR. The minister noted that the Kingdom of Bahrain is recently witnessing a remarkable historical economic development, especially with the launch of its national strategy for post-pandemic economic recovery, which is based on the five main foundations of Bahrain's economic vision 2030. He added that there are many improvements at the commercial level, such as the launch of the upgraded version of SIJILAT 3.0, as well as new business laws being reformed with upcoming changes of trade laws and auditors and a new law being implemented to regulate e-commerce, as well as focusing on innovation and intellectual property where work is undergoing to make Bahrain a global hub for such sectors. A number of topics of common interest between the two sides were also reviewed.